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Kertan Akhbar Dipetik Daripada : Utusan Malaysia (10 Oktober 2008)
By Rohana Mustaffa Bernama - Wednesday, October 8
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8(Bernama) -- It was a Saturday and Hikmah Food Specialities Sdn Bhd's outlet operated from 9 am to 6 pm like any other day. Several workers were seen busy packing an assortment of pre-cooked ingredients, mostly made from a mixure of seafood and beancurd, that is used in the tantalising yong tau foo delicacy.
Each of the packages contain fish balls, crab meat and squid balls, lady's fingers (okra) and chili stuffed with fish paste (surimi), wantan and fucuk, fish curry puffs and fish fingers and up to soup flavouring, soy sauce, chili sauce, fried shallots, seeds and ground nuts, and all destined to a leading hotel in Jalan Ampang.
At the same time a number of Malay customers were seen busy buying the yong tau foo of their choice. This is no surprise as the popularity of the Chinese delicacy has transcended the ethnic lines in Malaysia. The only difference is that Hikmah Food Specialities's offering is produced by a Malay entrepreneur with his own secret recipe to success.
Hikmah's yong tau foo spread is ubiquitous in the night markets, farmer's market and supermarkets all over the country.
A MALAY WHO VENTURED INTO THE YONG TAU FOO BUSINESS
But why choose yong tau foo? Asked the writer to the managing director of the company Syed Abdullah Syed Hassani, 48, when he was explaining how he started the venture.
“I wanted to do something different,” he said admitting that many of his friends suggested it was better he ventured into tom yam business but he was aware that the halal yong tau foo produced by a Malay had big potential.
“Initially it was quite difficult to find halal ingredients used for the delicacy and this problem provided me an opportunity to find a niche,” he said adding that it was no easy task for the company to achieve success like what it is enjoying now.
The father of four children residing in Seremban admitted that he had no knowledge in producing yong tau foo, thus he looked for business partners – a night market trader Zainon Hashim and Low Pik Woon who had worked in a tofu making factory.
LEARNT FROM OWN MISTAKES
No banks and agencies except Bank Pertanian wanted to lend him a helping hand at that time in 1999, beginning of the economic downturn, so he started the business with his own capital and RM100,000 loan from the bank.
While his partner Low taught the workers on the basics of making fish balls, Syed Abdullah wore different hats - the boss and the worker.
At the same time he attempted his own recipes to produce the tantalizing spread for the yong tau foo, complete with the soup flavouring, sweet sauce and the chili sauce.
“Initially I experimented, wasted a lot of raw material, was even chided by the customers over quality control issues like overcooked sauce and so on.
“I worked with some Chinese entrepreneurs to learn the right process and as a reciprocal gesture I helped them to obtain halal certification. But they all have their own secret recipes,” he explained.
Nevertheless, Syed Abdullah perservered and in four years time his yong tau foo had established its market niche. He procured new machineries and expanded the production and sales at his premises at Taman Industri Bolton, Batu Caves.
The company now manufactures and distributes yong tau foo using about 500kg of fish daily with the sales figure reaching between RM250,000 and RM300,000 monthly.
“My profit margin is small because the price is set by the market forces,” he said. Now Hikmah Food Specialities has 40 workers and its own branch in Subang.
MOVING TO A NEW SITE
The company will shift to a new and bigger area at the Kompleks Industri Makanan Mara (Kimar) in Kampung Batu Muda, Batu Caves, probably by the end of the year along with 17 other small and medium scale entrepreneurs.
Syed Abdullah has invested RM3 million to buy new machinery and other necessities for the new premises.
He has been waiting for this opportunity from Mara to expand his business, including venturing overseas, and distribute his products to hotels, restaurants, more supermarkets and so on.
In staying ahead of his competitors he is now working hard to attain the HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Point) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certifications from the Ministry of Health.
Syed Abdullah who has a degree and masters qualification in finance and business, hopes that the recognition will help enhance consumer confidence on products and help widen the market.
HALAL STATUS THE HALLMARK
Syed Abdullah is now proud of the fact that the standard of his halal yong tau foo is equivalent to the ones available in the market.
In ensuring his products are 100 percent halal, he avoids using unverified chemicals or animal proteins often used to thicken or soften the fish ball or fish cake.
Syed Abdullah was never deterred by the slow pace of progress and described his achievement “like being in a marathon, slow but never give up”.
HIS SUCCESS AUGURS WELL FOR OTHER MALAYS
In retrospect, the road to success was not an easy one.
In the beginning nobody wanted to share the trade secret and even the Malays were reluctant to support him by supplying halal material or buying his products.
They were lots of setbacks for example a quill's egg supplier who agreed to supply between 30,000 and 40,000 eggs daily failed to supply in the third month and the sales promoters that he employed at hypermarkets failed to turn up and open their stations to promote his products.
But Syed Abdullah believes he has a role in helping other Malay entrepreneurs while building up his own business.
He had tried to assist unemployed Malay graduates help him sell the yong tau foo, but the effort was short-lived as they were not keen.
He even planned to help others by offering them distributorship in other states but with a condition that they have to come up with an initial capital of RM20,000 to set up a cold room. However, many were reluctant to take up the offer.
Why not share the space with stockist of frozen food of well known Malay brand?. Syed Abdullah indicates his idea in establishing his own supply chain.
“I don't want to see my product as the second best, because my ambition is to see that my yong tau foo brand has its own place,” he said.
Syed Abdullah has been working hard to secure continuous fish supply and is now negotiating with the fishermen in the Tok Bali jetty in Kelantan to procure supplies of small fishes like kelisi for the fish paste.
Syed Abdullah's main aim now is to build up his fish based yong tau foo business, tofu and koay teow at three locations - Batu Caves, Subang and Seremban.
-- BERNAMA
