SOUTH SUMATRA — Who would have thought that behind the savory taste and distinctive aroma of smoked fish is an inspiring story of a single mother named Azizah Samsuddin. From being downtrodden during the pandemic to rising up with her fish selling business, Azizah proves that an unyielding spirit can change lives.
Before the pandemic, Azizah ran a canteen near her campus. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and the departure of her husband hit her hard. In the midst of economic difficulties, Azizah tried various ways to support her children. Starting from selling stir-fried noodles online to finally finding great potential in a specialty food from her region, namely fish sale. Sale ikan is fish preserved by smoking.
With her courage and knowledge from childhood, Azizah started the smoked fish business “Sale Aziz”. Despite initially facing challenges such as higher selling prices and stiff competition, Azizah did not give up. She continued to innovate and promote her products through various means, from direct sales to friends to participating in bazaars.
Faced with various difficulties, Azizah never gave up hope. She continued to look for solutions and opportunities to increase her income. Destiny brought her together with Dompet Dhuafa. As a philanthropic institution, Dompet Dhuafa provides business assistance from the empowerment program to single mothers with 5 children who are still in school.
In 2017, Azizah tried to open a cafeteria near the campus. This was motivated by the fact that she had many children, so her small family needed more money. She admitted that she could not rely solely on her husband’s income.
“So in 2017 I tried selling at a canteen near campus. Well, after three years of running, thank God, it was normal. Suddenly we were hit by a disaster together, Covid-19 in 2020. Lockdown then. During the lockdown, the canteen was closed. Automatically we have no more activities. I remember the first day of lockdown on Saturday. Monday is automatically no longer selling. Then, God gave another ordeal after the shop was closed on Saturday, on the Sunday my father died. So the second day of the lockdown died, “Azizah told the Dompet Dhuafa team during a visit to her residence in Palembang, Friday (09/13/2024).
Azizah then thought about how her children could still e; at in such a difficult situation. There was one dish in her stall that she thought would sell well: stir-fried noodles. She tries to sell it online from home. According to him, this menu is a favorite for students. However, it turns out that selling online has more challenges for Azizah. Not only was she unfamiliar with how cyberspace works, but she also had a lot of competitors.
“But as time goes by, as we are new to online, it turns out that online competition is also tough. Sometimes there are orders, sometimes there aren’t,” she said.
Unable to rely on online, she then sells them only if there are orders via WhatsApp or word of mouth. In addition, she also wanted to increase her income. So he thought of the food he loved as a child, namely fish sale.
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As it turns out, fish sale is a specialty of Azizah’s native Pali Regency. Azizah said that since she was a child, she lived near a river. Every day her diet consisted of fish and vegetables.
“We in Pali are very familiar with fish sale. I have known fish sale since I was a child, and I understand how to make it and process it. Finally, I tried to develop it here. We don’t get bored eating sale even though we eat it every day,” he continued, reminiscing about his childhood.
Azizah then tried to offer the fish sale to her friends. It turned out that they liked it too. She then decided to focus more on selling fish sales. Unfortunately, the price was quite high, which was an obstacle for the woman.
“If it’s directly online, people will be confused about what it is. So I introduced it to my friends first. People know it’s smoked fish. But now it’s normal,” she said.
To maintain quality, Azizah buys the freshest fish in the market. Maybe even the ones that are still alive. After cleaning, the fish is seasoned and then smoked in a large stove in her house. The most important thing is that the fire for smoking should not be large. However, the duration of smoking is extended, which is at least 10 hours.
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In terms of competitors, Azizah is very confident that there are no competitors like her. Perhaps the closest is ordinary smoked fish that is not seasoned.
It’s just that something that is still a challenge for her until now is that she has to introduce this fish sale dish to people. Because it is not yet popular. Introducing it by word of mouth to relatives and neighbors is an effective strategy for him in attracting customers.
In addition, she has another strategy, which is to participate in MSME bazaar events organized by the local government. Meanwhile, to increase the escalation of this business, she has participated in training from the local government office. However, it was only limited to seminars or general materials. There is no special coaching with regular meetings.
Destiny then brought him together with Dompet Dhuafa in the UMKM Naik Kelas Satu program at the end of 2023. This first-class MSME program is in the form of training for MSME players so that they have more insight into their business class.
“There are many changes that are felt. I am more motivated to learn again, can come up with better products. Relationships have increased. In terms of what is visible to the eye, the packaging has become more attractive,” said Azizah.
“I received training on business finance and marketing. The finances are more organized, the opening is better, and it’s no longer careless,” she continued.
After she participated in the training and became more active in promoting and selling online, her merchandise became increasingly recognized. So that he can then continue to participate in the next program, namely UMKM Naik Kelas Dua in August 2024.
“They get coaching, so they get more detailed knowledge related to branding, packaging and so on,” said Penta Agustina, South Sumatra Dompet Dhuafa Team.
This program is still ongoing. Currently, there has been one offline meeting and 2 online meetings by a business mentor from Sidoarjo. Furthermore, there will be online meetings every two weeks. In addition to mentoring, in the UMKM Naik Kelas Dua program, Azizah and several other beneficiaries also received benefits in the form of business production equipment.
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According to Azizah, the mentor said that the product “Sale Aziz” was good enough. However, there might have to be some improvements, one of which is that the brand name needs to be changed. At the mentor’s direction, Azizah agreed to change it to “Ikan Asap Le Aziz” to make it sound more familiar. Philosophically, Aziz is named after her youngest son, Muhammad Aziz (6). Le is taken from the word Sale. Or Le Aziz could also refer to the word laziz, which in Arabic means delicious.
“Then also on the packaging, it should be filled with two fish per box. It is also necessary to change the color of the packaging. I was also given the task to make chili sauce. Because so far, I’ve only sold fish,” said Azizah.
“Alhamdulillah, there is a slight increase in income, the income has also increased,” she continued.
In the future, Azizah would like to target the smoked fish market for souvenirs. “Sale Aziz” products have also received halal certification. Perhaps in the future, this packaged food product will be encouraged to get P-IRT and BPOM to expand its market. Therefore, he plans to build a production house in his village in Pali. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photo: Riza Muthohar
Editor: Dhika Prabowo