Space Seed Holdings Meets the Regent of Gorontalo to Discuss Upgrading the Coconut Industry
On August 11, 2026, Space Seed Holdings Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Kengo Suzuki; “SSHD”), together with PT Awina Sinergi International (Headquarters: Jakarta; President Director: Ananda Setiyo Ivannanto; “Awina”) and Firman’s Group (PT Firmansyah Khatulistiwa Group; President Director: Hendra Firmansyah), paid a courtesy call on Sofyan Puhi, Regent of Gorontalo Regency in Gorontalo Province, Indonesia. The parties exchanged views on making use of the regency’s assets and on upgrading the coconut industry.
The meeting followed the cooperation agreement signed the previous day, August 10, by SSHD, Awina and the Faculty of Marine and Fisheries Technology at Universitas Negeri Gorontalo. After the academic partnership with the university, it opened a dialogue with the regency government.
Background: keeping value in the region
Gorontalo Regency is a major producer of corn, coconut and other crops. Yet much of this output leaves the region unprocessed, and the value created by processing does not sufficiently return to local communities. Indonesia’s national strategy of “hilirisasi” (downstream industrialization) aims to change this structure.
Coconut is a typical example. Most of the regency’s coconuts go to a single use such as copra (dried kernel), while other parts of the fruit and processing residues are sometimes discarded without being used. That is where value that could stay in the region lies.
Meeting overview
- Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2026
- Place: Gorontalo Regency (Kabupaten Gorontalo), Gorontalo Province, Republic of Indonesia
- Host: Regent of Gorontalo (Bupati Kabupaten Gorontalo)
- Participants: Kengo Suzuki, Representative Director and CEO, Space Seed Holdings Inc.; Ananda Setiyo Ivannanto, President Director, PT Awina Sinergi International; Hendra Firmansyah, President Director, PT Firmansyah Khatulistiwa Group; and others
- Main topics: using the regency’s assets; upgrading the coconut industry
Discussion
Mapping the regency’s assets. The regency explained the land, facilities and other assets it holds, and the participants discussed how these could serve as bases for industrialization. Locating processing and research within the regency is a precondition for building up value without shipping raw materials out.
Adding value through “cascade use” of coconut. A coconut can be seen as a bundle of useful materials, each with its own outlet: the kernel (copra, coconut oil and virgin coconut oil, coconut milk), coconut water, the shell (charcoal and activated carbon), the fibrous coir and coco peat (materials and horticultural media), the sap of the flower cluster (coconut sugar), and residues from oil pressing and processing (feed, fertilizer, fermentation feedstock, and biomass fuel). Rather than ending with a single use, designing a cascade that uses every part step by step can substantially raise the total value that stays in the region from the same harvest. SSHD explained designs based on this idea, including returning residues to the soil at the end to circulate nutrients and carbon.
Applying Japanese engineering and agricultural know-how. Making cascade use real requires both engineering—process design for each part, drying, oil pressing, separation and refining, use of residual biomass and renewable energy, and quality control—and agricultural science—cultivation management, renewal of aging trees, soil fertility, post-harvest handling, fermentation and microbial use, and conversion to feed. SSHD proposed that combining Japan’s accumulated engineering and agricultural know-how with local resources can make production better for both the global environment and the region. Turning residues that were discarded or burned in the open into resources reduces environmental impact and raises local income at the same time.
Next steps
Building on this exchange, SSHD and Awina will advance concrete studies on cascade use of coconut and other regional resources, alongside the joint research and human-resource development under the tripartite agreement with the Faculty of Marine and Fisheries Technology, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo.
About Space Seed Holdings Inc.
Space Seed Holdings Inc. is a space-focused deep-tech venture builder whose mission is “Turning science fiction into nonfiction.” Through investment, research and venture creation—centered on operating the “Fermentation and Longevity Fund” program, which supports the social implementation of fermentation and longevity technologies—the company creates businesses that address societal challenges. Together with diverse stakeholders, it aims to assemble by 2040 the technologies humankind needs to live in space.
https://ss-hd.co.jp/