‘Rempeyek Wak Tunot’ From Mother's Recipe, A Roadside Snack To Crunching Sales Abroad

By Kamarul Halim M Kamal

KLUANG, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- Starting with street sales, ‘Rempeyek Wak Tunot’ is now not only a popular traditional snack brand in this district, but has ventured into the international market and currently even exported abroad.

The owner and founder of Wak Tunot Enterprise, Tulos Joyo, 72, said at the beginning of its sale in 2004, rempeyek, using the traditional recipe, was only sold by the roadside but now it has entered international markets such as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

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“Previously, my husband, Mihat Tahir, 81, and I opened a stall selling mee bandung and nasi goreng kampung (village fried rice), and I sneaked in selling rempeyek that I made myself for side income, but I never thought it would get a favourable response.

“Apart from wishing to continue the recipe I inherited from my mother, the sale of this rempeyek is also a response to participate in the government’s campaign of ‘1 district 1 industry’,” she told Bernama at the Wak Tunot Enterprise factory in Kampung Tengah Kluang here recently.

She said that in the local market, the deep-fried Javanese delight of rempeyek has now been sold in several well-known supermarkets and even has agents in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, besides making a foray to enter the market up north in the country.

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Tulos said her cottage industry company is now able to produce up to 1,200 containers of rempeyek in a day using 100 kilogrammes (kg) of flour in a home-made factory with 40 employees.

She said in addition to maintaining the traditional method of manufacturing because it is tastier and the quality better maintained, her company has also received halal certification from the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (JAKIM) in 2006.

“The rempeyek that my company produces consists of two types, which are horse-pea flavoured and peanut-based. I’ve also tried to diversify it by using some other types of beans through experimentation but with less success.

“In order to maintain quality, I encourage walk-in customers because this crispy rempeyek is a bit fragile to be posted,” said Tulos who also sells more than 400 kinds of traditional cakes and snacks at her company which is also known as a centre for the collection and sale of cottage industry small-medium enterprise (SME) products.

She also thanked the government for helping her business expand by channeling some assistance from the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), the Department of Agriculture, the Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board (LPNM), the Rubber Industry Smallholder Development Authority (RISDA) and the Malaysian Agricultural Research & Development Institute (MARDI).

-- BERNAMA