Flour Power

When PT Sriboga Flour Mill discovered a setback in its operations, President-Director Alwin Arifin found another way to make his flour mill a stronger contender in the Indonesian market.

- Sharon Masige

There are two things Alwin Arifin attributes as the reasons why he was fortunate in founding Sriboga Flour Mill (SFM). “There was an opportunity and I made the right decision at the right time. These two are very rare,” he shares with The CEO Magazine. “I think it was a gut feeling, not based on my skills or influence from anybody else. I feel blessed that I was guided to make the right decisions, considering I dropped out of college at a young age. I found it really hard to concentrate on my studies when I was at Boston University, and Pepperdine University in California. My mind was busy with other interests.”

After leaving university, Alwin returned to Jakarta where his father, Bustanil Arifin, took him under his wing to learn about business. Bustanil was Minister of Cooperatives and Head of Government of Indonesia Food Logistics Agency. »

“I followed him everywhere; when he had a meeting or was travelling around Indonesia for business,” Alwin says. “I was inspired by his leadership, how quickly he made decisions and how he interacted with customers and employees. My father would say: ‘The more you give, the more you get’.”

Alwin’s mother, Suhardani Arifin, was another role model who shaped her son’s entrepreneurial skills. She started a simple dairy farm that grew to produce yoghurt, cheese and milk, now popularly known as Yummy, a leading dairy brand in Indonesia.