“People queue for hours to have a bite of my delicious Kleja,” Um Anas said as she and her daughters prepare fresh Kleja and serve the customers.
A number of visitors have expressed their admiration of the Kleja being baked by Um Anas and said the product was not only tasty, but also prepared hygienically. “She (Um Anas) is clean, and always wore gloves and is ever welcoming., while even providing samples to taste before buying,” a customer recounted.
The Kleja is a traditional Saudi food that is famous in the Qassim region. It is made of flour, sugar or salt, spices, eggs and other ingredients.
“My experience in making Kleja has extended to more than 11 years. I inherited the trade from my mother who in turn got it from her mother. The industry runs in the family,” she said, adding that her husband encouraged her to continue the family trade.
Um Anas said at the beginning, her daily sales did not exceed SR150 and her customers were close relatives and neighbors. “Now I have regular customers as far as the United States and the United Kingdom,” she said.
Um Anas explained that she would deliver by courier quantities of Kleja requested by customers living outside on condition that they deposit the price in her bank account.
“I started making Kleja as a hobby but it has now become my profession and a steady source of income for me,” she said. “I have participated in many festivals with my Kleja,” she added.
“This is the second time I am participating in this festival which has enabled me to achieve a lot as a productive family in marketing and fame,” she said.
Um Ali Al-Traiman, another Saudi woman selling traditional Saudi food at the festival, said she started her business with a SR3,000 loan from the Productive Family Center and which she had to repay in installments of SR250 a month.
“The festival has made us confident about our products. It has opened doors of income for us,” she said.
Um Toulain Asl-Arfaj, a university graduate who studies home economy at Al-Wasim University, said she was also selling traditional food and making enough money to meet her daily expenses.
