Processing Food Sources in Central Bengkulu

By Nova Krisnanto.          

Indonesia is recognized as a fertile country, many plants grow and can be processed as food. During the Stube activity (Sunday, 30/04/2023), we went to a village in Rena Kandis, Central Bengkulu Regency. There is one village occupied by transmigrants, a beautiful inland area with limited access roads that need to be built, which can be reached in 2 and a half hours from Bengkulu city. There we met Anik Pananti who makes several foods from local products, such as crackers, smoked bananas, banana chips, sweet potato chips, banana taffy, and peanut crackers.

The story of Anik's struggle to start a business is very inspiring. As a biology graduate, he dared to change her mind from being a teacher to be a business woman because she saw a good business opportunity in managing plantation-based foods. The production started in 2010 because she saw an abundance of cassava and bananas in her home which had not been optimally managed. As a migrant resident from Java, Anik can be said to be keen on seeing business opportunities. The products are marketed in stalls in Central Bengkulu, even now orders are coming from Bengkulu City.

Her products were selected to take part in culinary exhibitions as representatives of Central Bengkulu, such as the PKK culinary exhibition at the Regent's official residence in 2022, the 2023 UMKM exhibition commemorating the anniversary of Bengkulu city at Balai Buntar, and other culinary exhibitions. The food products on display attracted visitors.

When we asked why she chose to produce these foods, Anik explained that the food produced comes from agriculture in Central Bengkulu, the basic ingredients are easy-to-find and affordable. Furthermore, banana taffy, crackers, sweet potato chips, and banana chips are not easily rotten and are quite durable to store. Finally, many people are interested in these food products.

I also asked one question, "If there is no rice, can the food that you manage to be rice substitute?" "Yes, of course, because as we know sweet potatoes, cassava, and bananas can be the most appropriate choice to replace rice. Moreover, this food is widely grown in Central Bengkulu, so it's not difficult to find it," she answered firmly. “If it is seen that chips and crackers are not filling enough, then these ingredients can be made into getuk, combro, misro, or banana cake. So the answer is yes," she added.

We got an opportunity to observe the production site at her house. The place is not very large, because they are transmigrants, but from it, we witnessed the manufacturing process and the materials managed.

At the end of the meeting, Anik gave a message and motivation to the participants, especially students, "Don't be shy selling local food or agricultural products even though you are already a university graduate. Whatever around us, can be material for doing entrepreneurship as long as there is a will. Don't be afraid of loss or failure because in business, there could be a loss, but it's like a wheel, when you lose, wait for the time to make a profit. Losses and failures drive us to think and find solutions that lead to innovations." ***