'Bakpia', 'geplak' still favorite Yogya souvenirs
'Bakpia', 'geplak' still favorite Yogya souvenirs
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
"If you want to buy bakpia (baked cake stuffed with a mixture of green bean powder and cane sugar), you had better not buy it here.
It's expensive. I can take you to a producer that sells bakpia more cheaply, but with the same quality and taste. You can try it yourself there. Please come with me, I'll take you there."
Don't be surprised if you hear comments like these from bakpia brokers awaiting customers in front of bakpia stores along Jl. KS Tubun, or Pathok as the region is more popularly called, as that is the way they get customers.
Even the owners of most of the bakpia stores there do not see it as a problem. They let the brokers "hijack" their potential customers that way, arguing that the practice will not significantly affect their sales as long as the quality of their products is well maintained.
"That's the way they make a living. We can't just get rid of them," Weny Yuningsih of Bakpia Pathok 75 told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
The brokers, according to Weny, have emerged as the result of strong competition between bakpia producers who offer the highest incentives to brokers who can bring them customers.
Sometimes, the incentives can be 40 percent of the money spent by the customers they attract.
"But, again, we're not afraid. We believe our true customers will never run from us. They know that our products are more expensive but the quality is guaranteed. We only use pure sugar and green beans of the best quality for our products," Weny explained.
Bakpia Pathok 75 is just one of dozens of bakpia stores in Pathok, which is also renowned as a bakpia center.
The business was first pioneered by Weny's grandmother, Lim Bok Sing. In 1948 she started the business by producing not just bakpia but also other traditional cakes and snacks, including kue bolu, resoles, kue kukus and bakwan, which she sold from door to door.
In 1950 she settled down on Jl KS Tubun 75 and eventually produced only bakpia, mostly because it keeps longer than other items. As the product grew in popularity, more producers emerged in the region, such that Pathok eventually become a bakpia center. It is always crowded with buyers every holiday, especially during Idul Fitri (the Islamic celebration that marks the end of Ramadhan), when many people visit the city.
Bakpia Pathok 75 alone, according to Weny, with the two outlets it has -- the other being on Jl HOS Cokroaminoto -- can sell up to 400 boxes of bakpia containing an average of 20 cakes each, with over 100 customers visiting its stores every day.
During holidays, sales increase by up to 100 percent of those on normal days.
Pathok, of course, is not the only place where customers can buy bakpia. In fact, the cake can be found at many snack stores across the city as well as at modern and traditional markets.
Bakpia makers, too, not only reside in the Pathok area and its surroundings. Many, especially those who produce the items as part of a cottage industry, can also be found in villages across the province.
Another specialty of Yogyakarta's that has also attracted tourists to taste and local residents to buy is geplak, which is made from a mixture of sugar and grated coconut. Like bakpia, this traditional cake has also become one of the trademarks of the city.
As such, therefore, tourists or visitors to Yogyakarta will not be considered to have completely enjoyed the city of culture unless they have tasted these sweet cakes.
Bantul, in the southern part of Yogyakarta province, is the center of geplak production. The products, however, can be bought not just at the regency but at almost any snack store in the city, as well as traditional markets and modern supermarkets.
Many believe that geplak originated from Bantul, with Geplak Bantul Mbok Tumpuk, whose main store is located on Jl Wachid Hasyim, Bantul, as one of the pioneers in the business.
The company, according to Arif Dihamto of Geplak Bantul Mbok Tumpuk, was established in the 1960s by his mother, Mbok Tumpuk, at Badegak village, Bantul.
It was only in 1975 that the store moved to Jl Wachid Hasyim, where it has remained until now, mainly because the original location was considered not to be as strategic as that on Jl. Wachid Hasyim.
On weekdays, Arif says, his store can sell an average of 250 kilograms to 350 kg of geplak, which is priced at Rp 10,000 per kilogram.
During weekends and holidays, however, sales increase by up to 100 percent of normal days.
Purwanto, a buyer, told The Post that he never missed an opportunity to buy geplak every Idul Fitri.
"I always buy it ahead of Lebaran to serve to visiting families or relatives, and buy more by the end of Lebaran for them to take home.
They love it, for Lebaran is not complete for them without taking some geplak home," Purwanto said.