Snakeskin fruit goes international

Snakeskin fruit goes international

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

The old saw "Don't judge a book by its cover" might also apply to salak pondoh. This ugly looking fruit of the Zallaca palm seems to have a beautiful future with a new initiative to dress it up in nice cans and sell it overseas.

Salak pondoh, known as snakeskin fruit because of its scaly appearance, has long been associated with Turi subdistrict in Sleman regency, about 20 kilometers north of Yogyakarta. The area, located on the slopes of Mt. Merapi, is blessed with fertile soil and good weather.

Bali is known for its sweet-sour tasting salak Bali, but salak pondoh is of a totally different class. The fruit is crispy, juicy and wonderfully sweet.

Turi is the main producer of salak pondoh in the country, producing more than 24,000 tons of the fruit worth about Rp 85 billion (about US$10 million) per year.

However, just like any other agribusiness product, salak pondoh producers have to deal with the problem of sharply declining prices during the peak harvest time.

"Salak pondoh is really priceless," says Tomon HM, chairman of an association of organic fruit farmers.

Worst, farmers are unable to keep the harvested fruit for longer than three days, because the fruit becomes withered and dry. It is inedible in less than two weeks.

Farmers therefore must sell the fruit as soon as possible after harvesting it, even if the market is already saturated.

"So we agreed to find ways to maintain the fruits' freshness and at the same time stabilizing prices to generate income for the farmers," Tomon said.

After some market observations and discussions, the association hit upon the idea of selling canned salak pondoh.

There have been earlier efforts to preserve the fruit to extend its life. Among these efforts were producing salak pondoh crackers and cake, and candied salak pondoh. However, the market response was not as promising as expected.

"By putting it in cans, hopefully the fruit will have a chance to be tasted by a wider market. No longer will only the domestic market be able to enjoy the fruit, but also people abroad," said Tomon, adding that canned salak pondoh could last for two years after the packaging process.

Produced mainly for export, the association is working with the Yogyakarta branch of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) to can the fruit.

A member of LIPI Yogyakarta, Kurniadi, said they had a great deal of experience canning commodities like pineapple, baby corn, tempeh, and quail's eggs, but not salak pondoh.

After dozens of experiments, the right process was finally hit upon. The result was a 500 gram can containing 430 grams of processed salak pondoh and the solution water.

Kurniadi said a kilogram of raw salak pondoh could fill up to three or four cans. Nutritional information on calories (77 cal), protein (0.4 grams), carbohydrates (20.9 grams), calcium (2.8 mg), phosphor (18 mg), iron (4.2 mg), vitamin B1 (0.04 mg) and vitamin C (2 mg) is available on the can for those who are concerned.

The technology used in the process, according to Kurniadi, was pretty simple. He said that to produce a tasty can of salak pondoh, the most important ingredient was good raw materials.

Compared to other processed salak pondoh products such as crackers, cake and candied salak pondoh, in Kurniadi's opinion, the canned version is closest to the delicious flavor of the raw fruit.

"It tastes quite the same as freshly harvested salak pondoh," Kurniadi said.

The association has set a price of US$1 per can for overseas markets. The canned fruit will hit the road later this month. The association has already received orders from the Netherlands and England.

One buyer has ordered 40,000 cans, and top supermarkets in Jakarta are considering stocking the product.

The only remaining problem is that LIPI Yogyakarta only has the capacity to produce 2,000 cans a day.

"We are inviting investors to invest in the business. Hopefully some will be interested in investing here. The business is good. And what is more important is that it will also help the farmers here find a solution to their recurring problem of selling their salak pondoh during the peak harvest time," Tomon said.