KEDIRI - Lilik Rahayu (40), a resident of Doko Village, Kediri Regency, East Java, made innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lilik is pursuing a business by processing banana stalks into chips.
Lilik admitted that initially he had a business to make mendoan tempe. The side dish is sold in raw form. He looked for banana leaves to sell the mendoan tempeh, and took the initiative to try to process banana stalks so that they would have a selling point.
"When looking for banana leaves, the stems have been removed. I took the initiative to try to produce them from banana stems. Not making chips," he said in Kediri, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, November 18.
At first, Lilik was trying to make chips from banana stalks for fun. Starting when he brought a banana trunk which is 1 meter long to his house, Doko Village, Ngasem District, Kediri Regency. When they get home, the stems are cleaned, cut open and then the meat is mixed with flour and fried.
"No fried, no delicious variants (taste of food). I also took the initiative to sell it online and everyone likes it," he said.
Lilik admitted that he was very happy because the banana stem chips he made were so popular. In fact, there are also quite a lot of requests to be sent abroad. The chips they make are sent to distributors and then sold abroad.
Some of these countries are Taiwan, Hong Kong, Brunei Darussalam, to Malaysia. Meanwhile, the domestic market was sent to Pekalongan and several traders from East Java.
Lilik's business has only been around for three months. However, it turns out that the products they sell are very popular, so that every day there is a lot of demand.
In a day, Lilik delivers up to 25 bales of goods. One bales contains 5 kilograms and each kilogram of banana stem chips is sold at a price of IDR 65 thousand.
He admitted that he was very grateful because during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was given a smooth fortune. Not only this time making an effort. Previously, he had tried various businesses such as catering services.
The orders are quite a lot, especially when the celebration season such as weddings. However, due to the pandemic, orders fell very drastically.
Lilik also had a food stall. However, because the slander given by an irresponsible person, finally chose to close his business. Until then, six months ago he made tempe mendoan and developed a business to make banana stem chips three months later.
Lilik admitted that he was overwhelmed by the piling up orders. He was assisted by 15 neighbors to make the chips. In fact, they are also forced to work overtime to fulfill orders.
He has also taken care of his business license. Lilik was also helped by government programs, because it made it easier for him to apply for a business license.
He hopes that his business can be more advanced so that more people can work. With that, they can get income, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic like now.
Lilik also admits that he will continue to innovate so that his selling products are increasingly known. Currently, there are six flavors of banana stem chips. From consumers, they also have a variety of taste choices and one of them is the most in demand for the spicy balado flavor.
He also wants to expand his business by buying a number of tools such as spinner machines, cooking stoves, and frying pans. Currently, he is still constrained by budget, so he still uses existing goods to meet customer demands.
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