Speaking to FMT recently, Buvaneswary related how she was fascinated with the kacang putih business even as a young girl, following her dad around on his errands and when he went to sell the savoury Indian snacks to eager customers.
The second in a family of six children, she says, “I have worked with my father since a very young age. Once I was back home from school, I helped pack the products. I also helped on the production side – weighing the flour, the spices and such.”
“When customers came over to our house to buy muruku, I used to write out the bills although I was only seven years old,” she says with a laugh, adding that the business was started by her father, Jayabalan Chinnasamy, in 1963 in Buntong, Ipoh in an area called Kampung Kacang Putih.
Buvaneswary is a descendant of settlers from India, brought over by the British in the 1920s to help clear land in Malaya. These settlers set up home near a limestone hill in Gunung Cheroh, and started making two types of kacang putih to supplement their income.
“The business in Gunung Cheroh was done on a small scale. But after the collapse of Gunung Cheroh, the entire village relocated to Buntong,” she said, referring to the landslide in 1973 that killed 40 residents.
Rebuilding their lives and their businesses was tough but with time, their businesses grew so big that some residents even set-up factories to deal with the increasing demand.
“Later, we started the export business. At first, we exported our products locally – JB, Melaka, KL, Perlis. Now we export to Australia as well,” she explained.
Buvaneswary explained that the shop sells over 40 types of kacang putih, using recipes handed down through the generations. Some recipes are newer, having been created by her father himself.
“The Kari Muruku, Kalistar, Ramba, Star, Omapudi are my father’s own recipes. That’s why when customers come and buy our products, they say the taste is seriously different compared with muruku from other shops.”
Her father also recently put his own spin on the traditional pakoda and created another snack he named Mega Chips. “If you go to other shops, you cannot find these there. These are his products,” she says with obvious pride.
A graduate of Unitar College in Business Management, with a diploma in IT, Buvaneswary is all set to soar in the business world, believing that everybody has the potential to become a successful entrepreneur.
“Instead of working for others after we graduate, we can run our own businesses. I believe everyone can be an entrepreneur.”
That is the driving reason why her company offers business advice to budding entrepreneurs. “We encourage new customers to become entrepreneurs themselves. We advise and guide them on how best to market this product.”
She says that being a woman in a business mostly dominated by men has never been intimidating as the kacang putih business is family-run and there is great camaraderie among everyone in Kampung Kacang Putih.
Interestingly all the families involved in the kacang putih business in Kampung Kacang Putih are related to one and another. So there are no rivals. When weddings and birthdays come along, everyone celebrates together.
She is bursting with ideas on how to expand her market both locally and abroad. While exports at present are only to Australia, she has a five-year plan that she is meticulously working on to expand that market.
Like most successful entrepreneurs, Buvaneswary places a premium on customer service, believing it is crucial to the success of her operation. “The customer is always right,” she says, laughing good-naturedly.
There are also challenges aplenty, she said, explaining that selling kacang putih was no longer exclusive to just the Indians. “Everybody sells it now,” she says, stressing on the need to continue reinventing the snacks so her company can remain relevant to their customers.
The shop sells snacks in small packs for personal consumption and in huge packs for businesses. She keeps long hours as the shop is open daily from early morning till late at night.
Touching on the scepticism of some that women can’t make it in business, she says, “It is not difficult to achieve success just because you are a woman. You need willpower. It is wrong to say a woman can’t be successful – we just need to be hardworking.”
Sempurna Kacang Putih
174, Jalan Sungai Pari
Buntong
30100 Ipoh, Perak
Tel: 05-205 8077
Business hours: Daily, 8:30am-10.30pm