MELAKA: While everyone else is fretting over the hot weather of late, traders selling cendol (iced sweet dessert) and cold drinks are enjoying brisk business, thanks to the extra customers scurrying to their stalls for cool relief.
Muhamad Azrul Das Abdullah, 45, who sells cendol and rojak (a saucy mixture of fruits and raw vegetables) in Ayer Keroh here, said the sale of his cendol had doubled to more than 100 packets a day, thus boosting his income.
In a bid to capitalise on the increasing number of customers, he has even introduced several menus to attract their attention, among them being ice-cream cendol, tapai cendol, corn cendol and durian cendol.
“It’s common in this line of business to have a fluctuating number of customers, depending on the season and time. But we get more customers when the weather is hot,” he told Bernama here yesterday.
The father of two children said he has managed to raise the family’s income since he started the business 20 years ago after being offered compensation under the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) by a factory near here.
Forty-two-year-old Adzhar Azhar, who sells drinks and snacks, said he too had been receiving more customers at his stall situated by the side of Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama due to the extremely hot weather.
“I can sell about 60 to 80 packets of drinks a day compared to around 40 before this. Maybe it’s because of the hot weather.” – Bernama