LeafChoco: From Bay Leaves in a Backyard to KMI Expo XVII 2026

Starting from a bay leaf plant in her grandmother's backyard, a Biology Education student from the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) turned an ingredient long associated with cooking spice into a food innovation with economic value. Through LeafChoco, a dark chocolate-based snack made with bay leaves, the UMS Biology Education P2MW team qualified for KMI Expo XVII 2026 in the Food and Beverage category.

The team, made up of Laura Hardinantasa, Hermalla Ridho D., Ghendis Anggista, and Yolanda N., is presenting an innovation titled "LeafChoco: A Herbal Dark Chocolate Snack for Blood Health Based on Bay Leaves." The idea behind the innovation isn't just to create a chocolate product, but to introduce a new use for a local ingredient that's easy for people to find.

Hermalla Ridho Devara said the idea for LeafChoco began with a simple observation of a bay leaf plant in her family's surroundings.

"The idea for LeafChoco actually started from something simple, from my grandmother's backyard, where there was a bay leaf plant. Bay leaves have mostly been known and used as a seasoning in everyday cooking. From there came the thought that a plant so easy to find nearby actually still has the potential to be developed into a product with added value," she said, Sunday (20/9/2026).

According to Hermalla, dark chocolate was chosen as the innovation's medium because chocolate is familiar to the public and holds appeal as a food product. After discussion, research, and a number of formulation trials, the team developed a combination of dark chocolate and bay leaf. The biggest challenge, she said, was finding a formulation able to maintain a balance of taste, aroma, texture, and product characteristics that would be well received by consumers.

Supervising lecturer Endang Setyaningsih, S.Si., M.Si., said LeafChoco's strength lies in its effort to combine scientific knowledge with product development and entrepreneurship. Students didn't just learn to make a product for sale, but also went through evaluation, formulation improvement, production control, testing, and early validation of consumer acceptance.

"In my view, LeafChoco's academic strength can be summed up in three things: science-based product development, local-resource innovation, and evidence-based entrepreneurship. Students learn to turn academic knowledge into a product, then test whether that product has a chance of being accepted by the market," Endang said.

During development, the team studied technical aspects of chocolate processing, including tempering, fat crystal formation, rheology, viscosity, glossy/snap/melting characteristics, and the effect of stevia on texture. The team also carried out content testing and consumer acceptance testing for the product. On the early market side, the mentoring team recorded 40 pieces pre-ordered by 16 buyers in the first wave, and 42 pieces by 14 buyers in the second wave, with six customers placing repeat orders.

"These numbers can't yet be read as proof of a large-scale market, since the figures are still limited, because the scale is still small. But that data represents positive early market validation. The product hasn't stayed a student prototype, it has already started generating transactions and even repeat purchases," Endang added.

She added that further development needs to strengthen raw material standardization, formulation consistency, quality and safety data, shelf life, legal compliance, production capacity, and branding.

The lecturer's mentoring is also aimed at helping students learn to make decisions independently. Endang's role is as facilitator, scientific advisor, and critical reviewer, while also providing quality control, while the decisions and execution remain with the students. The mentoring covers issues of chocolate stability, raw materials, tempering, mixing, cost of goods sold (HPP), branding, target market, packaging, content testing, acceptance testing, business registration number (NIB), copyright, promotion, and marketing.

Endang hopes KMI Expo won't be an endpoint, but a transition toward a more independent and sustainable business, with evidence-based product development and increasingly mature business management.

"We want to show that student innovation can start from something simple and close to everyday life, then be developed into a product with added value," she said.

Writer: Alvian Rizky Prasetya

Editor: Fika Annisa’ Sholihah

Translator: Farizal Luqman Majid