KUNDUR -- Kelulut honey has many health benefits, such as preventing infection and preventing chronic diseases and other benefits. No wonder kelulut honey is much sought after by the public.
Realizing the many benefits of kelulut honey and also the potential for cultivating kelulut honey that can be done in his area, Amir, a resident of Mengkuse Hamlet, Sawang Selatan Village, Kundur Barat District, tries his luck to become more cultivators who produce kelulut honey.
Amir said that in their hamlet they still have natural forests with various kinds of plants that can be used as a place for cultivating bees to produce kelulut honey.
At first, Amir and his family only consumed kelulut honey for family needs. However, after knowing the many benefits of kelulut honey and the high demand from the community, he began to develop a kelulut honey cultivation business.
Until finally they marketed kelulut honey products with the brand Honey Kelulut Bukit Indah. Amir said that he had difficulty with capital to develop a business such as adding a honeycomb even though there was quite a lot of consumer demand.
"Initially, we only used it for our consumption, but there were many enthusiasts because this honey has many health benefits. Finally, I thought about adding a honeycomb but I was constrained by capital at that time," said Amir some time ago.
However, he soon heard information about PT Timah Tbk's Micro Small Business Funding (PUMK) program. So he took advantage of this program to increase his business capital.
"After getting information about PT Timah's program to increase business capital, I tried to immediately complete the requirements file, because I think this program is very interesting," he said.
The capital received was used to increase the number of kelulut honeycombs and to procure bottles imported from Batam.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed the community's economy, Amir's kelulut honey had many local and foreign customers, so sometimes it was unable to meet consumer demand.
"The Covid-19 pandemic that hit my business was also affected because, in addition to the weakening of people's purchasing power, several sea transportation routes were closed so that goods could not be sold out," he said.
He admitted that in carrying out this business, he also experienced many obstacles, such as rising prices of goods and transportation costs.
He hopes that PT Timah Tbk's PUMK program can continue so that it can help MSME players like them to be able to develop their businesses.
"I hope that PT Timah's PUMK program can continue to roll out so that it can help the community, especially small business actors who want to develop their business because I have experienced the benefits and some relief from the program," he said.
