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Gula Cakery founder Nor Arieni Adriena Mohd Ritzal recently became the talk of social media for her latest dessert offering, Cekodok Nani.
While many criticised it as too expensive when it was sold at the Malaysia Choco Fest at The Curve last weekend, Nor Arieni’s booth still drew long queues, and some visitors lamented their bad luck when it sold out.
Cekodok is a traditional Malaysian banana fritter made by mashing ripe bananas into a sweetened flour batter, then deep-frying spoonfuls until they turn golden brown and crisp on the outside.
Cekodok Nani was priced at RM15/200g, which was roughly about nine balls, a price many thought was too steep for the local fried snack.
During the festival, Nor Arieni sweetened the deal with free chocolate, salted caramel, and hazelnut chocolate toppings.
Taking to Threads, Nor Arieni shared her views regarding the price. She recounted how, when she embarked on this food business venture of selling frozen cekodok balls, people told her it was just a simple “cekodok” and that they could make it themselves. They also questioned why anyone would buy frozen cekodok.
She shared that what people don’t see is the months of research and development behind one pack of cekodok. Arieni said she wasn’t trying to make a simple cekodok. She wanted to make one that stayed crispy outside, soft inside, and still tasted homemade after being frozen.
Her goal was to make meal preparation a little easier for busy families, and it took a lot of long hours and hard work to make it happen. Arieni shared about frying cekodok from 11 am until night when she opened a booth. She sold almost 3,000 packs over four days. By Day 4, she said she could barely walk properly after scooping 27,000 pieces. She wondered how the uncles and aunties manning the stalls did it.
Arieni shared that making good cekodok isn’t as easy as people think. To make a good product, she had to make sure everything, down to the detail, is right. She thanked her team for working hard without complaining under the hot, scorching sun. She also thanked loyal customers for believing in Cekodok Nani.
People agreed that Cekodok Nani is good
Some customers came to her defense and shared that Cekodok Nani tasted really good. They liked that the cekodok has enough banana flavour and they’re not just tasting flour.
Threads user @ainunskh_mdakhr said she’s impressed that Arieni managed to elevate a simple traditional snack until it became a topic of discussion.
Another user agreed that not many can make good cekodok like Cekodok Nani, while someone else said those who bashed Arieni have never gone through the same journey. They reminded Arieni to ignore the critics and to keep promoting the local snack.
However, it still raises a fair question, though: at what point does a basic kuih cross the line from reasonably priced to overpriced?
Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Threads.
