By Khairul Khalid
Two enterprising sisters took their homemade spring rolls from roadside stalls to wet markets. Now, it is a fast growing franchise called Sisters Crispy Popiah. With outlets in malls nationwide and plans to expand overseas, the business has developed an avid fan base in just over a decade.
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Siblings Theresa Lim and Mei Lim founded the Sisters Crispy Popiah franchise in 2003 with their first outlet in the upmarket surroundings of the Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur but the history of the business is rooted in the much humbler beginnings of their family.
“The popiah recipe was created by our mother when we were very young. She used to sell mixed rice at a roadside stall in Jalan Ipoh. When we grew older, we moved to a wet market, which is now called Imbi Market near the Tun Razak Exchange.
I followed my mother into the business in 1996 when I was just 16 years old. I loved eating popiah. She taught me how to make them. She gave me all the ingredients and created a lot of recipes. My grandmother also loved to make popiah as well as other traditional chinese cakes. Gradually, I experimented with other popiah recipes to suit my tastes,” said Mei who is in charge of the production and procurement in the business.
Mei Lim (Left) & Theresa Lim
The Lim sisters always had the ambition to take their business to the next level, but it took almost a decade for their plans to come to fruition.
“We talked about it for about 10 years. After Imbi Market, we sold popiah at the Pasar Malam (night market) for two years. Then in 2003, I told my sister that there was an opening in Mid Valley and we should grab the opportunity. I saw the potential for us to offer a home cooked product in a shopping mall environment, which was rare at the time. That was the basic idea,” said Theresa who oversees operations and marketing of the business.
Both sisters were eager and excited. It did not take them too long to kick start their venture into shopping malls. They started with about RM20,000 capital.
“It took us less than a week to set up shop. We submitted our profile to Mid Valley management on 1st July 2003. The next day, they called us up to say that to our proposal for a kiosk set-up was approved. We told them to give us two days to prepare everything. On 4th July 2003, we started business. It was that quick,” said Theresa.
She said that it helped that the mall management was also excited about their product, giving them the edge over other food and beverage vendors that were clamouring to do business in the popular shopping mall.
“We were one of the pioneers of local street food products in a shopping mall. We introduced a snack that was predominantly bought and sold on the streets and replicated that in a mall. It was unheard of those days. Now it has become quite common.
We also changed the recipe of our popiah to broaden its appeal. The old-style popiah is mostly for adults. Kids in general don’t like the traditional popiah because it contains a lot of vegetables like taugeh. We added the crunchy elements to make it more palatable for kids. Adults love them too,” said Theresa.
The good word-of-mouth on Sisters Crispy Popiah spread very fast and soon they set up other kiosks and pushcarts through franchisees in other malls
“We have twenty outlets now. There are sixteen in KL, one in Johor Bahru, two in Terengganu and one in Alor Setar. We would love to enter the Penang Market in the future but the food market there is a bit more complicated. They are not used to our style of popiah. They still prefer their street food and wet popiah. The support base is not there yet, “said Theresa who adds that they are also planning to penetrate overseas markets such as Australia, Indonesia and Europe.
Business was so good that after just three years of running the business, the sisters had bought their own factory in Bandar Tun Hussein Onn in KL that now serves as Sisters Crispy Popiah’s central kitchen.
“Our sales tend to spike seasonally. Our business is volume based. On average, we produce about 1,500 to 2,000 rolls daily at the central kitchen for our outlets. The amount can easily double during holiday season, such as Hari Raya, National Day, Deepavali and Christmas. During these festive periods, our production can go up to 3,000 rolls daily. The outlets will order on a daily basis, based on their requirements, and we will deliver to them,” said Theresa.
Around 70%-80% of Sisters Crispy Popiah’s existing outlets are owned by franchisees. A roll of popiah at the outlets will currently cost RM3.90 including GST (Goods and Service Tax) and the promotional price for two rolls is RM7.20.
According to Theresa, their product appeals across the board among adults and children but has a strong Malay customer base due to its Halal certification.
“The Halal certificate gives our Malay customers more confidence to try out our products. Our research and development team are also constantly trying new products and adding to the menu. For example, to capture the younger generation, we might use the same ingredients but it might come in slightly different appearance or presentation. The sauce might even be different,” said Theresa.
The quality of the popiah is paramount to the sisters and something that cannot be compromised, says Theresa. She says that it is one of the secrets of their success.
“Our secret recipe is the most important thing. Our popiah is very different from others. It is dry and crispy. Even if it is kept overnight, it can still be eaten.
The conventional ones are wet and soggy. There is a technique to keeping the popiah crunchy. The main ingredients of a Sisters Crispy Popiah are turnips, cucumber, carrots, flour, eggs, peanuts, biscuits and the special sauce. We use premium ingredients to ensure that our quality is consistent. Our special popiah skin is hand-made, we don’t use machines,” said Theresa.
The sisters say that other than the raw materials, maintaining a consistent quality of popiah requires dedication and close teamwork between the partnership of franchisor and franchisees.
Tomorrow: What makes a good popiah franchisee?
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