REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SURABAYA -- Retailer PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk. (Alfamart) posted a 20 to 30 percent increase in its turnover in East Java, following greater demand for various beverages and food products during the Eid holiday.
"We, as retailers, enjoyed consumers' enthusiasm to shop for Ramadan and Lebaran (Eid)," the corporate communications manager of Alfamart for East Java, Bali, Sulawesi and Lombok, M. Faruq Asrori, said here on Monday.
He added that to meet the huge market demand during the holiday season, Alfamart had planned a strategy two months in advance.
"The move was implemented with the aim to boost the national growth of our business," Asrori pointed out.
He also expressed optimism that they would see peak growth seven days before and after the festival.
According to Asrori, national growth was expected to rise 30 percent during the month of Ramadan.
"In East Java, there has been as much as 20 percent improvement," he affirmed.
So far, he noted, three branches have been serving the province, with the first covering Sidoarjo, Malang and Jember, he stated, adding that the Sidoarjo branch covered Gresik, Surabaya and Madura.
"The Malang branch covers Trenggalek, while the Jember branch covers up to Banyuwangi," he revealed.
The branches of Sidoarjo and Jember, Asrori added, contributed more than 50 percent to the growth, whereas the Malang branch's contribution was below 50 percent.
"During Ramadan, dates were one of the most-purchased products. Eating dates to break the fast has become a tradition," he remarked.
With people returning to their home villages, biscuits and syrup have become popular products, followed by tissue paper. Therefore, "We have increased our supplies by some 30 percent," he said.