Kampung Kacang Puteh gets cracking for Deepavali

IPOH: The Buntong Kacang Puteh business is back in full swing with the presence of visitors after interstate travel was allowed since Oct 11 ahead of the Deepavali celebrations soon.

A walkabout by Bernama in Kampung Kacang Puteh, Buntong, in the city centre, found that the Kacang Puteh industrial area, which is run by locals, is crowded with people out to get their supplies of sweets and muruku to celebrate Deepavali in their respective hometowns.

According to a fourth-generation entrepreneur of the business, T. Seenivasagan, 27, the longing to serve visitors including tourists from all over the country is now fulfilled as the number of arrivals is increasing from day to day.

The owner of Selvam Malar Enterprise, which is over 100 years old, said among the best-selling products ahead of the Deepavali Day celebrations were the regular Muruku, Achi Muruku and various types of cookies in plastic containers.

"We are very happy that business has recovered and sales revenue has increased by 70 per cent, which is three times higher than during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period," he told Bernama.

Seenivasagan who is assisted by his wife G. Ellil Vinootteni, 27, had previously reduced working hours for two of his staff to stabilise expenses and operating costs even though the premises are open from 9 am to 8 pm, but he has since added several new employees when orders started pouring in.

He said the additional staff was to help the process of making, packing and selling products at the premises which have now extended operation until 10.30 pm as there are more than 3,000 orders of assorted nuts, muruku and cookies to meet besides walk-in customers every day.

The secret ingredients for his traditional items have been passed down from the generations while Seenivasagan has expanded his range of items to more than 40 types of nuts and chips that have their own fans, especially for the best-selling products, namely 'kerepek ubi' (potato chips), pagoda and mixed bags of chips.

Prior to this, sales at Kampung Kacang Puteh, which is often the destination of choice for tourists to the city to get various types of snacks run by locals for centuries, were reported to have declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic and interstate travel ban.

-- BERNAMA