Roaring sales for Siti Raya’s cheese kuih bangkit
BATU PAHAT: What started off as a small business selling kuih bangkit (tapioca cookies) during the festive season has transformed into a full-fledged enterprise marketing traditional cookies all-year round for Siti Raya Bachok, 57.
Famous for her cheese kuih bangkit, Siti Raya started the cookie business 25 years ago to supplement the income of her husband, an odd-job worker.
With the extra earnings, Siti Raya could have afford to sit back. However, that was the last thing on her mind.
She set her sight on expanding her business to not only provide jobs to the local community, but also to help other women entrepreneurs to generate more income.
She set up a stall near her house in Kampung Bagan Laut, Rengit, 35km from here, to sell cheese kuih bangkit, as well as cookies baked by women in the locality.
Due to the limited space, she could not keep large quantities of stock in her stall.
She planned to open a bigger sales centre in a new location.
The state Agriculture Department has agreed to assist her.
“I have secured a plot of land near Rengit and will discuss my next move with the department,” Siti Raya said, adding that the centre would market the products of entrepreneurs in Rengit, Batu Pahat and Johor Baru.
“It’s my dream to see Hari Raya cookies and biscuits being sold all-year round. This will ensure a steady income for entrepreneurs who otherwise will only earn money during the festive season.”
The mother of six said it was the traditional kuih bangkit recipe shared by a neighbour that opened the doors to her lucrative income.
To attract customers and improve sales, Siti Raya experimented with different flavours of kuih bangkit by adding ingredients like palm sugar, pandan, green peas and cheese.
Her cheese kuih bangkit, introduced eight years ago, is a hit and shores up her annual sales. For this Hari Raya, Siti Raya has received orders for hundreds of thousands of jars of kuih bangkit.
Her success has spurred other women in the community to venture into the business as well.
Siti Raya, who embarked on the business single-handedly using her own savings as capital, now has 20 workers to assist her to fulfil orders from more than 500 agents.
If she is unable to cope with the large number of orders, she seeks the help of other entrepreneurs in her village.
“I need their help because some times I do not have enough workers to meet the large number of orders.”
Besides cheese kuih bangkit, Siti Raya’s bestsellers are santan kuih bangkit and gula melaka kuih bangkit.