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Cookies afford women seasonal extra income
Triwik Kurniasari , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 09/17/2008 10:26 AM | City
As they prepare for the Idul Fitri holidays, many women, homemakers and professionals alike, line up at cookie stores across Jakarta. They often are buying cookies in bulk to resell to friends and make some extra income.
A popular place for Idul Fitri cookie bargain hunters in the capital is Jatinegara market, East Jakarta.
Marissa, 33, said she bought various kinds of cookies to repackage and sell to her colleagues. She puts the cookies in attractive jars and sells them at higher prices, making at least 50 percent profit from the new packaging.
"Of course, I also have to know the latest cookie trends before I offer them to my costumers," she said.
Marissa has been selling cookies as a seasonal side business for two years ago. She spends her profits on her family's Idul Fitri preparation.
Marissa said some of her friends sell cookies where they work and they do a good business.
"Working women sometimes have no time to prepare cookies for Idul Fitri, so we help them," she said.
Susi, a homemaker, came all the way from Tangerang with two friends to buy a variety of cookies to resell in her housing complex.
"I usually buy kilos of Idul Fitri cookies in the market, arrange them in jars and resell them in Tangerang. No Tangerang shops are offering the variety you can find in Jatinegara," Susi told The Jakarta Post recently.
"Nastar (pineapple jam cookies) cost Rp 65,000 (US$7) per kilogram. I can pack a kilo of nastar into three or four jars and sell each for Rp 35,000.
Susi's friend, Wati, said selling Idul Fitri cookies was a seasonal extra for her.
"I usually sell clothes back in Tangerang. I only sell these kinds of cookies during Ramadan," Wati said, who offers the cookies to office workers and her neighbors.
Homemaker Zubaidah Ibrahim from Bogor, West Java, has been in the seasonal cookie business for years.
The enterprise gives Zubaidah a little extra spending money for Ramadan. She said she too earned about 50 percent profit from cookie sales.
"I can buy new clothes for my children," said Zubaidah.
Shop owners are also busy netting more profits through the seasonal wholesale business.
One cookie vendor in Jatinegara, Sintia, 41, has converted her four wedding souvenir shops into cookie shops.
"During Ramadan people are out shopping for Idul Fitri cookies instead of wedding souvenirs. So I've decided to sell cookies every Ramadan," said Sintia.
She said the cookies, which she bought directly from suppliers in the city, were mostly homemade and usually only produced during Ramadan.
She said the higher prices for some cookie ingredients did not seem to affect the number of customers coming to her shops.
"Cookie prices are about Rp 10,000 higher a kilo than in 2007, but I'm optimistic plenty of customers will still be buying," she said.
"Last year, I took in more than Rp 35 million a week selling cookies. I hope I'll earn more this year," Sintia said. Her shop is open from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (naf)
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