Tanjungpinang's Signature Tempeh Chips SME Product Marketed to Singapore
Sarimas tempeh crisps are ordered directly by leading retailers in Singapore and marketed through their outlets.
Tanjungpinang (ANTARA) - A small and medium industry (IKM) product, Sarimas tempeh crisps from Tanjungpinang City in the Riau Islands (Kepri) province, is being marketed as far as Singapore, with monthly sales turnover reaching tens of millions of rupiah.
Sarimas owner Suratno said shipments of the tempeh crisps to the neighbouring country have gained momentum since 2023, with average sales of 300 to 400 kilogrammes per month.
“Sarimas tempeh crisps are ordered directly by leading retailers in Singapore and marketed in their outlets,” Suratno said in Tanjungpinang on Tuesday.
He explained that the packaged tempeh crisps are shipped to Singapore via Batam City. The products sent are original tempeh crisps and sago tempeh crisps, priced at Rp80,000 per kilogramme.
To break into the Singaporean market, Suratno said he had to adapt his products to the palate and tastes of residents there.
“They like spices, so we simply combine the savoury flavour of the crisps with traditional spices,” he said.
In addition, Suratno works closely with tour and travel agents, so foreign tourists, particularly from Singapore visiting Tanjungpinang, always stop to shop at the Sarimas outlet on Jalan Sucipto, Kilometre 12, Tanjungpinang.
The Sarimas outlet sells 300-gram packs of original tempeh crisps at Rp35,000 per pack, and 200-gram packs at Rp20,000 per pack.
Foreign tourists not only shop but also get to see first-hand the hygienic, high-quality production process of Sarimas tempeh crisps.
“From there, perhaps they tell their friends back in Singapore that Sarimas tempeh crisp production follows standard operating procedures and tastes savoury, which attracts their interest in our product,” he added.
Suratno said the export of tempeh crisps to Singapore would not have been possible without assistance from the Tanjungpinang City Government, which built the Snack IKM Centre Production House not far from the Sarimas outlet.
The 6x8 metre building, constructed using special allocation funds (DAK) from the Ministry of Industry, began operating in 2024 and now serves as the production house for Sarimas tempeh crisps, employing six workers.
In a month, Sarimas can produce for around 20 days, averaging 50 kilogrammes of tempeh crisps per production run. Its products are also sold in a number of national modern retail chains in Tanjungpinang and Batam, such as Indomaret.
“The raw material is soybeans, which are processed into tempeh and then fried into tempeh crisps,” he said.
M Endy Febri, Head of Industry at the Tanjungpinang City Trade and Industry Office (Disdagin), continues to encourage IKM players to increase their business capacity and competitiveness in order to penetrate export markets, especially given that Kepri geographically borders Singapore and Malaysia directly.
He noted that over the past two to three years, Disdagin Tanjungpinang has frequently held export-themed training sessions, inviting exporters as speakers to motivate IKM players.
In addition, Disdagin has facilitated Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification, a requirement for entering overseas markets, for a number of local IKM players. It has also organised packaging training oriented towards Good Manufacturing Practices.
“As a result, many of our IKM products have broken into overseas markets, which helps drive local economic growth and creates new jobs,” he said.