A Glimpse into the Bustling Tempeh Village in North Jakarta, a Three-Generation Legacy

Kampung Tempe in Sunter Jaya, North Jakarta, continues to bustle with tempeh production. This hereditary business supplies surrounding markets with the processed goods of around 100 artisans every day. Centred in RT 12 / RW 03, Sunter Jaya sub-district, the home-based tempeh production business was pioneered by migrants and has been passed down through three generations. To overcome the limited land, the artisans use a communal kitchen with a capacity for four to five people. The area is constantly busy from morning to evening with the processing and drying of soybeans into tempeh. Rows of tempeh laid out to dry adorn the Kampung Tempe Sunter Jaya area. Each artisan can process up to four large plastic drums of soybeans per day, earning a profit of around Rp 400,000. ‘The tempeh produced in the afternoon and evening will be sold to the nearest markets the next day,’ one artisan told CNBC Indonesia. It is estimated there are around 100 tempeh artisans here, originally from Pekalongan, Central Java, with the business now continued by their children and grandchildren. The produce is distributed directly every morning to various nearby markets, such as Pasar Sunter, Pasar Sumber Batu, and Pasar Karanganyar.