Tambunan ginger products popular in Japan, Korea
TAMBUNAN Highland Ginger was started by a woman named Rusime Kulipang, a recipient of the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs 2015 special award.
Rusime began selling ginger drinks 12 years ago from her home at Kampung Tombotuon in Tambunan, where she noticed large numbers of orders from villagers and also outsiders being distributed on weekly basis.
Apparently, seeing a need for a locally produced ginger drink, Rusime started attending courses organized by the government and applying for grants to start a proper place to process her drink.
With a special grant provided by the government, she decided to lead a group of five women in her village to start the business on a bigger scale.
It was near her home that her group was given a grant of RM100,000 to build a simple factory to process their ginger drinks, about seven years ago.
With the collaboration of the five members, they expanded their products into four, namely ginger drink, candied ginger, pickled and soup spice.
“The five of us were given RM10,000 grant to start the products, which we packed in decorated bubble wrap packaging.
“After a few months, we began receiving orders from all over the country, and today we also receive orders from Japan and Korea,” she said, adding that their packaging had been improved since two years ago with high quality plastics.
The special award for Small and Medium Entrepreneurs 2015, was a recognition to the five women and their family members who had worked very hard to ensure that the Tambunan Highland Ginger brand is accepted by ginger lovers.
Rusime, who is now 55 years old, said she appreciated the support they received from their customers who also helped them promote their products.
“Although we have already received the award from the government, we are not stopping there. There are so many plans for the future, especially to penetrate the Muslim market,” she added.
Food products can be Halal (permissible) without being certified, but having the Jakim certification is good for their business profile.
According to Rusime, obtaining the Halal certificate in Malaysia is not easy, but they will try to get the confidence from Muslim customers as their products are from a plant.
Without the Halal certification, food products will face difficulties in attracting Muslim customers, because it is very sensitive to most of them.
Apart from the Halal certification, the new promotion strategy via online is another challenge for them because they are not Internet savvy.
“We are depending on exhibitions and entrepreneurship programmes to promote our products to outsiders.
“We are lucky because the government always invites us to its programmes and we often build networks with customers who buy in bulk,” she said.
Ginger drinks produced by Tambunan Highland Ginger is popular because of its health benefits.
With high levels of Vitamin C, magnesium and other minerals, ginger is extremely beneficial to health.
“Drinking a cup of ginger drink before travelling can help prevent nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness. It can also be taken at the first sign of nausea to relieve the symptom.
“Useful in improving digestion and increasing the absorption of food, ginger drinks can prevent bloating after eating too much,” she said.
After attending a number of seminars related to food nutrition and herbs, Rusmie said ginger contained antiinf lammatory properties that make it an ideal home remedy for muscle and joint problems.
In addition to drinking ginger, it can be used to treat joint inflammation.
As for their regular customers from Japan and Korea, they believe that the vitamins, minerals and amino acids in ginger drinks can help restore and improve blood circulation that may help decrease the chance of cardiovascular problems.
With those benefits from ginger, fats may be prevented from depositing in the arteries, helping to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
“To most women in Tambunan, ginger drinks are important because they relieve menstrual discomfort.
“Try soaking a towel in warn ginger tea and apply it to your lower abdomen. It may help relieve the pain and relax the muscles. At the same time, drink a cup of ginger tea with honey,” said Rusime, sharing her experience and knowledge on the benefits of ginger.
With hopes to improve the living standards of her members, Rusime also encouraged more women in her village, so that nearby villages will see their achievements as an example to do something with their skills.
“It is our aim to give the best products to our customers, but at the same time we want to inspire more women. If they cannot start a new business, they can join us to expand this business.
“We hope the economy will be better this year and our customers will grow.
“We want more women to benefit from this project so that we have bigger potential. We get our ginger supplies from our village and neighbouring villages. So at the same time, the more we improve, the more opportunities for the community in this district,” concluded Rusime, in an interview with The Borneo Post.
Tambunan, which is a twohour drive from the state capital, is the largest producer of ginger in the state.
Blessed with fertile soil and a temperate climate on high altitudes at the Crocker Range, Tambunan is ideal for cultivating ginger and therefore has tremendous potential to become a major producer of fresh greens in Sabah.
The government started a three-day Ginger and Bamboo Festival at the end of last year, to gear up Visit Tambunan Year 2017.
To ginger planters like Rusime and her friends, they expect more positive developments in the future.