An Interview with Utari Octavianty, Chief Sustainability Officer at Aruna

Can you tell us about your organization and your current role?

Aruna is an integrated fisheries commerce and supply chain aggregator in Indonesia that revolutionizes the Indonesian fisheries supply chain, as well as connecting small-scale fishers to wider markets through technology. It also contributes to the encouragement of economic inclusion growth and the implementation of sustainable business practices. The company was founded by three people (Farid Naufal Aslam and I as Co-Founders and CEO and Indraka Fadhlillah as Co-Founder and COO) who share the same dream to make Indonesia the world’s maritime axis by 2045.

I’m Utari Octavianty, Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer at Aruna. The teams under my leadership and I draft and implement sustainable policies that specifically address environmental concerns in the business. 

What are your corporate sustainability commitments and goals?

Above all, we expect Indonesia to be a center of world maritime in 2045. We also focus on a number of other aspects, such as sustainably sourced seafood (100% seafood traceability, A score in FIP as well as Carbon Neutral by 2040), empowering stakeholders (80 million people impacted by our business growth), and advocating for sustainability (5 Score on ESG performance based on IFC PS). 

What have been your most difficult challenges in achieving those goals?

Developing communities, given that they believe what they’ve believed. Technology, innovation, and sustainability penetration can be the hardest ones. 

What opportunities do you see to address those challenges?

Empowering local youths to help Aruna get into them in a more genuine and understanding way. Usually, coastal young people will tend to go to bigger cities, where they expect to get better, more settled jobs. However, with the challenges, we get the best of both worlds, namely inviting more young people to be involved in the fishery industry and second is introducing new, worth-trying things to more coastal communities. We can also have more coastal communities on board and eventually help them make the sea a better livelihood for them, and for all.

What are the ESG material (environmental, social, and governance) issues that your organization focuses on, and how do you integrate them into your corporate sustainability?

SDG 1: No poverty, SDG 2: Zero hunger, SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth, SDG 10: Reduced inequalities, SDG 14: Life below water. We integrate them into our corporate sustainability by educating fishers and coastal communities in general (both male and female) about financial literacy, sustainability, commodity management, and others. We also promote one of our campaigns, namely #RevolusiProtein, where we invite people to consume protein in fish and seafood. 

How do you communicate your corporate sustainability strategy and initiatives to internal and external stakeholders?

Regular town halls, events for fishers and coastal communities (GAHAR/Gelombang Hadiah Aruna, Sarasehan/Silaturahmi Nelayan Aruna), continuous communications and collaborations with government bodies, strategic partners, and investors.

What were the most exciting initiatives and progress that you and your team have done in 2023?

Aruna has repurposed 82 tonnes of organic waste into fish feed, reducing our operations’ carbon footprints as close to zero as possible. We also have restocked more than 600 million crabs in the wild through our hatchery, extended our outreach to 35% more registered Aruna fishers than the previous year through our efforts, and involved capable coastal women who work as pickers as well as business owners (SMEs).

Additionally, while we are maintaining our stability and have our eyes set on sustaining our healthy business, we have recorded 0 workplace fatalities throughout the year of 2023. We maintain strong and constant education regarding workplace safety for anyone working in the field, including matters on sexual abuse. 

What are your plans for your sustainability efforts in 2024?

The year of 2024 may yet present us with plenty of opportunities for growth and new innovations that will help realize Aruna’s mission, that is to make the sea a better livelihood for all. More women involved, more educated fishers, more quality commodities, more countries to export. 

If you were to share advice you learned in your role that may be helpful to your peers and sustainability practitioners around the world, what would that be? 

I’d like to repeat what Paul McCartney said: “There must be a better way to make the things we want, a way that doesn’t spoil the sky, or the rain or the land.” Sustainability first, and business will follow. 

This publication is a part of Green Network Asia’s Leaders in Sustainability Special Report 2023.

Editor: Nazalea Kusuma

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