KEJADIAN di pengujung 2005 itu tidak mungkin dilupakan Adji. Satu masalah sepele memaksanya mengundurkan diri dari perusahan pengolahan ikan di Tuban. Padahal, waktu itu dia sudah jadi kepala pabrik dengan gaji luma- yan. “Uang pesangon cuma Rp 2,5 juta, habis untuk biaya makan anak-anak. Tapi saya yakin, ibaratnya ayam saja bisa makan asal mau ceker- ceker. Masak kita yang punya otak tidak bisa,” kata Adji, salah satu mitra binaan Semen Indone- sia, membuka kisah.
Situasi kepepet memaksa otaknya bekerja lebih keras. Lelaki kelahiran Purworejo, Jateng, ini pun rajin mencari ide-ide bisnis. Dalam kebingungan itu seorang kawan lama, yang juga bekerja di pabrik pengolahan ikan, menunjukkan limbah kulit ikan kepada Adji. Kata sang teman, “Ini lho kulit ikan, silakan mau diolah jadi apa.” Gagasan cemerlang langsung muncul di kepala Adji. Pikir dia, kalau kulit sapi saja bisa diolah jadi rambak, masak kulit ikan tidak?
Maka mulailah dia mengolah limbah kulit ikan laut seperti kerapu, lencam, kakap, dan kaci. Biar makin lezat, Adji memberinya bumbu bawang putih, ketumbar, merica, jinten, penyedap rasa, garam, serta jahe untuk mengusir bau amis. Modal awalnya cuma Rp 300 ribu, karena hanya itulah yang tersisa di kantong Adji. “Saya belikan bak air untuk mencuci dan merendam kulit ikan,” beber suami Tri Wulan Agustina, wanita kelahiran Tambakboyo, Tuban, ini.
Semula, harapan tak segaris dengan kenyataan. Kerupuk kulit ikan berhasil dibuat, tapi cepat me- lempem. Adji tak patah semangat, terus mencoba dan mencoba lagi. Sebulan kemudian produk benar-benar sempurna, namun masalah lain mun- cul. Penampakan kerupuknya yang mirip kulit ular dipertanyakan konsumen, sehingga mereka ragu membeli.
Adji Purwanto never forget the circumstance in late of 2005. A trivial case forced him to resign from a ish processing company in Tuban. Unfor- tunately, he at that time had the position of head of the factory with a decent salary. “Severance pay was only Rp 2.5 million, and spent quickly just for my children’s daily need. But I believe in old say- ing; ‘chicken can eat fully just by scratching their claw to earth surface.’ Then, why I who have brain can’t eat?” said Adji, one of the trained partners of Semen Indonesia.
Being destitute forces his brain to work harder. Adji, who was born in Purworejo, Central Java, was also diligently searching for business ideas. In the confusion, an old friend dropped by. The friend, who was also work in a ish processing plant, showed waste skin. “Here is the ish skin. Take it. You can process it into whatever you want.” Suddenly, Adji got a brilliant idea. The father of three kids thought, “Cow’s skin can be processed to be rambak, then why people never try to do the same with ish skin?”
So, he began to treat the waste skin of marine ish such as grouper, lencam, snapper, and kaci. To make the crackers more delicious, Adji put some seasoning from garlic, coriander, pepper, cumin, lavor, salt, and ginger to expel a ishy smell. His initial capital was only Rp 300,000, because that was the only money left in his pocket. “I bought a plastic tub to wash and soak the ish skin,” said the husband of Wulan Tri Agustina a woman born in Tambakboyo, Tuban.
Initially, his hope was not in line with the real- ity. Fish skin crackers indeed were successfully created, but they were quickly izzled. Adji, not discouraged, kept on trying and trying again. A month later, the crackers were perfectly made.
But, another problem arose. The crackers’ appearance looked like snake skin. Consumers hesitate to buy.
Tak kurang akal, Adji membawa bahan baku produknya dan ditunjukkan pada pedagang yang sering kulakan di tempatnya. “Baru mereka percaya bahwa kerupuk ini benar-benar dibuat dari kulit ikan,” ujarnya.
Praktis, usaha barunya itu baru benar-benar jalan di tahun 2007, tepatnya setelah Adji mengikuti pameran dagang yang digelar Semen Gresik pabrik Tuban.Waktu itu kerupuk merek Du-Tra alias Dua Putra buatan Adji ludes seluruhnya. Ternyata warga Tuban banyak yang doyan dengan kerupuk kulit ikan dan cumi-cumi, termasuk para karyawan Semen Indonesia.
“Pameran itu membuat produk saya langsung booming. Sehari saya bisa menghabiskan bahan baku 200 kuintal, itu khusus kulit ikannya,” beber Adji, yang ketika itu belum menjadi mitra binaan SMI. Pabrik kerupuk Du-Tra yang terletak di Desa Kenanti, Ke- camatan Tambakboyo, Tuban, makin sibuk.
Sebanyak 13 pekerja terlibat dalam proses produksi. Tapi jumlah mereka bisa berkurang, bergantung hasil tangkapan ikan di laut. Bila bahan baku di Tuban ludes, Adji mencarinya ke Sidoarjo, Bangil, Probolinggo, Semarang, Jakarta, Makassar, bahkan sampai Tual, Maluku. “Kita tinggal pesan, nanti mereka yang kirim,” sebut pria 67 tahun ini.
Kerupuk kulit ikan khas Tuban itu kian meroket setelah Adji menjadi pemenang III lomba UKM Bidang Pengolahan Peri- kanan yang diadakan Departemen Kelautan dan Perikanan (DKP) Pusat tahun 2009. Sebelumnya dia sudah mejuarai lomba tingkat kabupaten dan provinsi. “Sebagai hadiah, saya berhak mengikuti pelatihan pengolahan ikan di Jepang selama 12 hari. Sejak awal saya memang yakin bakal menang, sebab bisa mengolah limbah
Well, Adji thought hard. So, he carried along and showed the raw materials to the wholesale traders in his home. “Then, they believe that these crackers are really made from ish skin,” he said.
Practically, his new venture was completely on the way in 2007; right after Adji participated in trade exhibition by Semen Gresik plant in Tuban. His crackers with Du-Tra brand were sold out entirely. It turned out that many Tuban citizens, including the employees of Semen Indonesia, likes ish skin crackers and squid crackers.
“The exhibition made my products directly booming. Only in a day, I spent 200 quintals of raw materials speciically the ish skin,” said Adji, who at that time was not yet a trained partners of Se- men Indonesia. Du-Tra cracker factory, in Kenanti village, Tambak- boyo district, Tuban, suddenly worked harder.
Today, there are 13 workers for production process. But, the number could be up or down, depending on the ish catching from the sea. If the feedstock in Tuban was run-out, Adji look for it to Sidoarjo, Bangil, Probolinggo, Semarang, Jakarta, Makassar, even to Tual in Maluku. “I just send order, then they send the skin later.”
So, Tuban typical ish skin crackers got more popularity after Adji become the third winner of SME national competition in ish processing division held by The Ministry of Marine and Fisheries (DKP) in 2009. Previously, he won the same competition in district and provincial level. “As a winner, I have the right to participate in ish processing training in Japan for 12 days. Since the beginning I was convinced to win, because I can completely process ish waste
ikan menjadi tiga ‘produk’ hingga benar-benar tidak tersisa,” te- gas ketua KUB (Kelompok Usaha Bersama) Sumber Makmur yang menaungi 60 UKM makanan dan minuman ini.
Ketiganya adalah kerupuk kulit ikan itu sendiri, lalu sisa daging yang menempel di kulit. “Sisa daging itu kita ambil lalu dijual ke peternak lele, satu kilogram laku Rp 1000. Sedangkan sisiknya dilempar ke Cepu, nanti mereka ekspor ke Jepang untuk bahan kosmetik,” jelasnya.
Kini Adji bisa memetik hasil jerih payahnya. Sehari dia mampu mengirim 200-300 bungkus kerupuk ke sejumlah daerah di Jatim, Jateng, Jabar, hingga Jakarta. Per bungkus dibanderol Rp 11 ribu sampai Rp 20 ribu. Selain itu, Adji juga memajang aneka produknya di Rest Area Tuban. Dalam sebulan omzet penjualan- nya menembus Rp 50 juta.
Adji tak memungkiri, sukses usahanya tak lepas dari sokongan Semen Indonesia. Sebagai mitra binaan, dia pernah mendapat pinjaman dana Rp 12,5 juta yang digunakan untuk memperbaiki sarana produksi. Belum termasuk bantuan uang saku saat mengi- kuti pelatihan di Jepang, pinjaman modal usaha, serta bimbingan manajemen pemasaran maupun keuangan.
“Pameran yang saya ikuti bersama Semen Indonesia membuat kerupuk kulit ikan makin populer. Antara lain di Semarang, Jogja- karta, Jakarta dan Blora,” bebernya. (*)
Pemilik : Adji Purwanto Produk : Kerupuk kulit ikan, kerupuk kulit cumi-cumi Rumah : Perum Karang Indah Blok BJ-16,
Karangsemanding, Tuban Workshop : Desa Kenanti, Kecamatan Tambakboyo, Tuban Gabung Semen Indonesia: 2008
Omzet : Rp 50 juta per bulan HP : 081231357151
into three products. Absolutely nothing left,” said Adji, the chair- man of KUB (Joint Business Group) Sumber Makmur that houses 60 SME foods and beverages.
The three products were ish skin crackers itself, the meat attached to the skin, and ish scales. “I take off the waste meat then sell it to catish farmers Rp 1,000 for one kilogram. I send the scales to Cepu, and they export them to Japan for cosmetic ingredients,” he explained.
Now, Adji can reap the rewards of his labor. In one day, he sends 200-300 packs of crackers into many areas in East Java, Central Java, West Java, to Jakarta. The price is Rp 11,000 to Rp 20,000 per pack. Adji also displays various products at Rest Area Tuban. Within a month, his sales turnover may reach Rp 50 million.
Adji admits, his business success can’t be separated from the support of Semen Indonesia. As a trained partner, he had received Rp 12.5 million loans and used it to improve his production facili- ties. He also got allowance from Semen Indonesia while undergo- ing training in Japan, working capital loans, as well as marketing and inancial management guidance.
“The exhibitions, which I follow along with Semen Indonesia, make my ish skin crackers increasingly popular. Among others in Semarang, Jogjakarta, Jakarta and Blora,” he explained. (*)
Owner : Adji Purwanto
Product : ish skin crackers, squid skin crackers
Home : Perum Karang Indah Blok BJ-16, Karangsemanding, Tuban
Workshop : Kenanti Village, Tambakboyo District, Tuban Join Semen Indonesia partnership : 2008
Turnover : Rp 50 million per month Mobile phone : 081231357151