SisterS Crispy Popiah

(Post: English)
"Who would have thought that a piece of pandan-flavoured popiah skin with turnip, cucumber, carrot, egg, biscuit and peanut filling, spiced with sweet or chilli sauce can sell in shopping malls and draw a huge following!"

Christopher Foo and Theresa Lim, another husband-and-wife team, took a gamble of a lifetime by doing just that and the gamble paid off handsomely.

They got back their capital of RM20,000 and more in just over two-and-a-half months from their first SisterS Crispy Popiah outlet at Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur.

Three sisters, two brothers and their spouses contribute their individual expertise to run the business.

Having been in the marketing line, Foo looked around for a part-time business during the recession and decided to tap into his father-in-law's 17-year expertise in making popiah.

"We have our own secret recipe to make the popiah skin," he said.

"With the increase in demand, we will soon start production from our factory but there will be strict quality control," added Lim, who handles the production.

There are now 17 outlets. The family owns six of the outlets.

"As the business grew, we faced manpower problems. We also did not want to over-commit ourselves. Friends who saw the potential in the business wanted to be a part of it. That was how our first 'franchise' started in Johor in 2004. Since then, we have extended business opportunity to anyone interested in a low-capital, small business enterprise," said Foo.

"We prefer to call our business partners 'operators' because we are still working on the finer details of our would-be franchise," Lim added. The training period is approximately three weeks and a monthly management fee of RM500 is charged for the follow-up and localised marketing strategies.

"We don't want to take too much of our operators' profits because we don't want them to cut costs. We want their earnings to justify their giving up a cushy job. Many of our operators are professionals. If the operator is committed and diligent and the outlet is well-positioned, with a little bit of luck, he should see positive results after two months," Foo said optimistically.

"Customers don't mind paying a bit more for the convenience. They can shop and enjoy their favourite hawker food in a pleasant and cool environment."

Foo goes through great lengths to train his operators on service, food handling and product sampling.

SisterS Crispy Popiah's popularity grew strictly through word of mouth, even with tourists from as far as Europe.

The family's success at repackaging a low-end product has encouraged them to keep a look out for other similar but good family recipes.

"I'm from Penang. It saddens me that each time that when I'm back in my hometown, some of the food I enjoyed as a child is no longer available. I don't want to see these recipes lost when the old folks retire and the younger ones are not interested in carrying on the tradition," said Foo.

Source: The Star Online