The Story of Bandeng Juwana Elrina: Semarang's Signature Souvenir That Advances Thanks to BRI Empowerment
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Among the many choices of typical souvenirs from the city of Semarang, there is one famous brand, namely Bandeng Juwana Elrina, which is sought after by travellers returning home.
For many such travellers, stopping by Semarang feels incomplete without taking home this particular pre-cooked milkfish. The souvenir shop has even become part of many people’s homecoming journeys for decades.
Jason Nathaniel Kusmadi, the grandson of the founder of Bandeng Juwana Elrina, recounted that his late grandfather wanted to have his own business so he could educate his children up to higher academic levels. The initial plan to open a bakery business was abandoned due to limited capital, until he was inspired to sell milkfish because there were many milkfish sellers around his house at the time.
Seeing the potential, the family finally tried cooking milkfish themselves and selling it in front of the house. The business officially started on 3 January 1981, but in a very simple form.
“It wasn’t a big shop like now, but just a small stall attached to the house that also served as a residence and a doctor’s practice,” he explained.
The business development turned out to progress quite quickly. Three years after its establishment, in 1984, the small stall in front of the house finally developed into a souvenir shop. The main product remained soft-boned milkfish or pre-cooked milkfish, which is their signature.
Over time, product variations continued to increase. Now customers can find various milkfish preparations such as smoked milkfish, milkfish in a cage, milkfish brain cake, and boneless milkfish. However, Jason realised that selling just one type of product would not be enough to survive in the souvenir business competition.
“Milkfish is still the main product, but if we only sell milkfish, it would be hard to compete with others. So, we innovate by producing wingko babat, lumpia, tofu meatballs, and bakpia,” said Jason.
In addition to producing their own items, Bandeng Juwana Elrina also opens opportunities for SMEs around Semarang to consign their products. Various local specialty products such as moci, jenang, chips, and shredded meat are now available at the shop. This concept has made Bandeng Juwana Elrina develop into a one-stop shopping destination for souvenirs for tourists and homecoming travellers.
“So the idea is that if people come to Bandeng Juwana to look for souvenirs, they can find everything here,” he continued.
Collaboration with BRI Helps SMEs and Customers
In running its business, Bandeng Juwana Elrina also collaborates with various parties, one of which is BRI. BRI provides various supports from access to financing, financial management training, to helping with business permits such as the Household Industry Food (PIRT) and halal certificates.
In the shop area, there is also a BRI Corner that sells various crafts and trinkets not available in the main shop. This collaboration also brings various promotions for customers, such as cashback, point exchanges, and cheap redemption programmes.
Jason also highlighted the increase in the number of shop visitors during the Ramadan and Eid season like now. Interestingly, the peak crowd at Bandeng Juwana Elrina actually occurs after Eid al-Fitr.
“For Eid, the crowds actually happen after Eid, during the return flow. People returning to their hometowns usually stop by to buy souvenirs,” Jason concluded.
On the other hand, BRI Corporate Secretary Dhanny stated that BRI continues to provide support for business actors with adequate financing and access to capital so that business actors have greater opportunities to increase their business capacity, create jobs, and strengthen regional economic competitiveness.
“The story of the Bandeng Juwana Elrina business actors in Semarang is one example of how, with business funding and empowerment from BRI, business actors can continue to develop their businesses and become an inspirational story that can be replicated by business actors in other regions,” he added.