Bandrek – Traditional Drink: Bandung, West Java

Nana was leading a quiet life until two years ago, when she was invited to join some other women in Cimahi regency, West Java, working for a small business. The 78-year-old mother of three, who lives with her husband and married children, now fairly vibrates with energy. She no longer feels old or that her life is about to end.

She now spends four hours a day, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., packaging powdered bandrek, a traditional drink made from ginger, with 29 other women in Girang village, Cibabat district.

The head of production at the Bandrek Hanjuang factory, Sampuroh, 29, a local resident hired by the factory, arrives bringing with him thousands of plastic and recycled paper packages. He said around 60 villagers were involved in packaging the powdered drink.

They are divided into 30 groups. The final product is sold in major cities from Bandung, the main destination, to Bali and Batam.

“We have been producing bandrek for four years, but we’re overwhelmed now due to the increasing demand from supermarkets and outlets. We had to hire the villagers,” said Sampuroh.

The women earn a meager sum of money for their work. They are paid Rp 50,000 for sealing 3,000 small paper packages, or for filling 2,000 packs of bandrek.

“Besides passing the time, we are happy because we can earn an extra Rp 50,000 per week, a reasonable sum to cover our daily needs,” said one of the women, Komariah, 52.

Producing bandrek is just a sideline for Eddy Permadi, 55, owner of Cihanjuang Inti Teknik (Cintek), the company that makes the drink. The company, established in 1992, started out as a small-scale hydropower generating company.

Eddy, who graduated from Politeknik Manufaktur Swiss Bandung in 1980, before pursuing his engineering studies in Germany, established the business after retiring as a lecturer.

“We started by producing turbines due to our expertise in the field. I was concerned about the power crisis beleaguering the country, with around 120 million people across Indonesia still not linked to the power network,” said Eddy.

Eddy is building a special laboratory for students and officials to explore how the turbines work. The lab is located near he Leuwi Layung River in Babut Girang, North Cimahi.

The lab, sponsored by the Swiss government, is now in the construction stage and is set to become the largest turbine lab in Southeast Asia.

Because he ran a medium-sized enterprise, Eddy had trouble obtaining bank loans, despite the demand for his turbines, with 90 percent of their components made of recycled aluminum.

Now Eddy and his team can produce three types of turbines — the cross flow T-14, open flume propeller and tubular propeller — from 100-watt capacity turbines to produce a current for six households to 250,000-watt turbines for large-scale industries.

Since being introduced to the market in 1998, the factory has produced hundreds of turbines and sold them across the country, from Java, Sumatra to East Nusa Tenggara. The company has even exported turbines to Switzerland and their spare parts to Tajekistan.

Cintek production manager Eri Eriadi said the company could produce up to 60 turbines per month. The company has been producing multipurpose devices that can be easily operated by people in rural areas since 2000.

“At times we are overwhelmed because we often have to start the machines during a study tour by students. But now that we are involved in the food business we can keep the machines running all the time to grind the ingredients for the bandrek,” said Eri.

The business now has 85 employees, from turbine to bandrek makers, 90 percent of them from Cihanjuang.

Bandrek — initially used to demonstrate the capabilities of the turbines — has now been developed into a serious business.
Eddy said bandrek is not only a unique beverage but its production can employ workers and help improve the welfare of ginger farmers.

There are now nine bandrek flavors, from coffee and tea to chocolate. The company has enjoyed turnover of Rp 4 billion in the four years it has been producing the drink.

Yuli Tri Suwarni