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Elly's clover nastar innovation as a PNM Mekaar customer
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(Courtesy of PNM)
R
esidents of Surabaya are certainly familiar with clover nastar, often made into pecel sayur shaped like a clover leaf and steamed and topped with peanut sauce. Many residents of Kendung, Surabaya, sell this clover leaf pecel snack. However, Elly Ermawati decided to innovate.
Living in Kampung Semanggi since 2006, Elly is a seller of pecel semanggi, which often experiences spoilage of raw materials. Elly explained that clover leaves spoil quickly if not consumed immediately after being picked. "Clover leaves don't last long after being picked and steamed. I thought about how to use up the clover leaves from the suppliers so they wouldn't go to waste," said this PNM Mekaar foster customer.
She thought of making nastar with added clover leaves. She blended the dried clover leaves into a powder and mixed it with the nastar dough. The initial journey was not smooth. Many complaints came because of the bitter taste from her clover nastar. Elly kept trying until her buyers praised the delicious taste of her nastar. However, she still felt the challenge of selling an unusual product.
"Is it hard to sell? Yes, but I'm proud to create something different from others. Who else will preserve Surabaya's culinary heritage if not us?" Elly said cheerfully.
Since joining PNM Mekaar, Elly has experienced tremendous growth in her nasgi (clover nastar) business. She often participates in free business development training from PNM and meets new people.
"Especially yesterday, as a micro-customer participant, I could sell, and thankfully, I made a lot of profit. Now I'm also in the process of getting free halal certification," she added. She also received help in making attractive packaging and feels more confident when selling her products.
Elly's creative business idea caught the attention of PNM president director Arief Mulyadi and won the Pernak-Pernik (cool and unique customer product) competition at the 25th pre-anniversary of PNM. Arief is proud of the efforts of ultra-micro customers who are enthusiastic about innovation and diligent in participating in PNM's business development programs.
"Mekaar customers should follow Elly's example, being creative and solution-oriented. Our job is only to provide programs that can help ultra-micro businesses to upgrade, but the growth of the business depends on each one's struggle," Arief said. PNM remains committed to providing three types of capital: financial capital in the form of money for business, financial capital in the form of training and mentoring, and social capital to build networks and exchange ideas among members. Through the Mekaar program, financing for ultra-micro customers is done in groups, along with continuous mentoring.
