BY NUR ASHIKIN LOUIS
KUCHING: Yacob Sahib Trading develops its own home-made spices in order to attract more customers and create longevity for the business by providing a bigger variety of spices.
Owner Mohamad Iskandar, 48, said his family has been working on home-made spices to make a name for his business and currently his shop is selling around 20 types of spices.
“We started small at first with only few powders. As time goes by, we focused on the spices that record higher demands from our customers.
“This is how we develop and come up with even more home-made products such as smashed fried chicken spice, home-made burger spice, satay spice powder, sambar curry powder and many more,” he told New Sarawak Tribune at his premises in Jalan Gambier, yesterday.
“The recipes to make those home-made products were also passed down in the family. The recipe is at least one of the things that we hold dear throughout the generations to make sure the originality of the products are maintained,” he said.
“Spices which are not packaged are sold according to its weight. All the spice shops here are like this. We do not have them in packages so that the customers could buy the spices in their own preferred amounts,” he added.
Yacob Sahib Trading was first established in 1933. It is a family business which was first pioneered by Iskandar’s grandparents before it was passed down to his father.
According to Iskandar, he gets his supply locally and from Semenanjung.
The locally-sourced products are usually peppers. Other spices were bought from Johor, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
The shop is one out of five spice shops in Jalan Gambier. These spice shops have always been an attraction among the locals and tourists.
Customer Saninah Sabli, 57, opined that the spice shops there are the best in town.
The alley in Jalan Gambier in which the five shops are located have always been her first choice whenever she needs to buy spices.
She stated, “They have all types of spices here. Even the spices which are not commonly used, they have them. They offer a complete collection of spices, powders, and herbs; most of which you could not even find in supermarkets.”
Saninah used to live across the Sarawak river at Kampung Panglima Seman before she moved to Matang. Although she has moved to a farther place, she still chooses to shop at Jalan Gambier for spices.
“The ride is worth it. Other than spices, there are nearby shops like barber shop, textile shops and restaurants. It gives all the more reason why people would choose to shop here,” she said.
Another customer Lily Johny, 60, expressed her admiration towards the spice shops in Jalan Gambier which sells products that are hard to find anywhere else.
“Some of the spices, you cannot get anywhere else. Even my relatives who live far from the town, they end up going to Jalan Gambier,” she said.
“The spice shops are very famous among locals. Not just for spices, but rare herbs which are used for traditional practices such as confinement after pregnancy,” she added.
