Wholesale Indonesia Says Thank You! - Ancient Wisdom - Giftware and Aromatherapy Supplier

Greetings from Bali, Indonesia

I really hope you are well and business is going well.

Last week I was telling you about the rampaging monkeys invading Ubud town, you can read about it here.

This week it's been all going on, far too many things happening to report on everything. But I will do my best..

In the UK more stock is arriving (all much delayed and/or in short supply) and this means we have been super busy as folk attempt to restock. Don't panic, we do have plenty more stock on the way.

The only problem is we are slipping behind with shipping times, the warehouse team are working flat out, overtime and weekends. Please be a little patient we are doing our best.

Normally at the busy times we would take on lots of temp staff, but as you know even temp staff are in short supply.

Now plenty of products are coming to fruition, samples made and approved, packaging sorted, prices and terms negotiated. So everyday this week we have been raising Purchase Orders and sending substantial deposits to much depleted bank accounts.

I have a sense of workshops, factories, home production all over Bali and also Java.. springing back to life on the back of our orders. In fact many artisan companies have been ticking over surviving on local trade or occasional re-orders from regular customers abroad.

Some have gone, closed down, but nothing like as bad as the tourist trade in Bali which has been devastated. The pure tourist area around the Monkey Forest area is a broken down ghost town. Whilst the wholesale showroom area of Ubud still supports cool coffee shops and lunch stops. Our favourite is Starbaxo.. which serves the best Bakso in Bali - simple street food with a cool Bintang beer and superfast internet.

Starbakso.

We had placed an order with one of the Molten Glass on Wood companies we deal with.. and since we hadn't visited in several years decided to go and visit and go over the product specs, packing etc.

The village is miles from anywhere almost on the banks of the volcano - the whole town seems occupied making the same range of products. The boss told us that he had an American customer that had boosted his business, but no orders recently. He had ninety people working with only a trickle of orders. So he was delighted to get our order, all ninety people working on it.. an absolute hive of joyful activity. One of the few businesses in Bali where the boss thinks big.

Meanwhile in Bali we are still in the midst of the Galuwan day festival period.. 10 days of the spirits coming down to earth to walk amongst us - tomorrow is the leaving day when the spirits go back to their realm and a big day of ceremonies.

One tradition is the Barung boys.. groups of young kids wander the streets banging drums, two or three in Barong costume. Ringo told me it evolved from the Chinese dragon dancers many years ago and adopted Bali mythology. The Barong is the mystical king of the spirits, if he dances for you you'd better hand over a little cash. The Barung boys have been draining my small change for days.. In Ubud alone there must be ten troops roaming the streets. I tried to escape into a small warung (cafe) but they found me..

So much more I could report on, it's all happening especially since Bondan joined the team.. we have upped the activity level and are really making things happen like never before.

Bondan with one of our suppliers and Ringo. We call this guy Mr Win-win, because he is always thinking up creative ideas to make products cost effective. He will message me everyday with "Hello Boss.. come and see me I have a win-win solution" followed by pictures of his latest designs. Like many of the artisans here he comes from another part of Indonesia, and his home village is really the back-up production area. Ubud is actually a hub of artisans from all over indonesia with different cultures and religions. We have suppliers from Java, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Madura and Lombok. The way it often works is raw unfinished goods arrive on trucks and the finishing is done here to the specifications of the customers.

I know you are busy..so more updates next week. But on behalf of all the artisans and small businesses of Indonesia I want to say a big thank you for your support.

You have no idea how much difference your regular orders make..

Take care.

David