23
november-december. 2019 | @Halal
Eats
C
By Syed Zaid
akoi, also known as Yoo Tiao,
is perhaps one of the most trea-
sured snacks among Malaysians.
While it is usually obtained
from roadside stalls or in our
night markets, the shop known
as I Love Yoo!, took it into the next level by
having it available in our shopping malls too.
The founder, Gian Lim, says he knew
the potential of a commercialised Yoo Tiao
business when he started his first outlet at
Food Republic, Pavilion Shopping Mall back
in Sept2007.
“Yoo Tiao has over 800 years of history as
one of the traditional Chinese snack food.
Normally, we get Yoo Tiao from coffee shops
and roadside stalls,” says Lim.
“We are the first ones to bring this snack
into shopping malls, and to have a better,
hygienic, safe and comfortable dining area
for customers to enjoy our food.”
All eyes
on Yoo
Local Yoo Tiao chain serves scrumptious halal
Malaysian snacks for the masses
Yoo for everyone
With over 50 outlets located around Malaysia,
I Love Yoo! is one of the few Chinese cuisine-
based brands that puts a strong emphasis
on being halal. According to Lim, he wants
everybody to enjoy his product.
“Before this we had less than 15 per cent
Muslim customers. We believe that we can
share the love by obtaining the halal certifica-
tion to attract more Muslim customers,” he
says.
The application for halal certification
for the entire chain is still being processed,
though some of the outlets have already been
certified halal.
Mohamad Hairull Anuar, The Assistant
Manager cum Halal Excutive of I Love Yoo!,
comments: “We are still waiting for JAKIM
to finish the process of certifying all of our
outlets. We are not allowed to advertise our
brand as fully halal until we have certified
each and every one of our outlets nationwide.
“We wish to have it done as quickly as pos-
sible to help put our customers’ mind at ease.”
The board of directors share the same
sentiment.
According to the chairman of I Love Yoo!,
Datuk Ahmad Zaki: “From a business stand
point, it helps us in creating a bigger market
reach. To appeal more to the local Muslims, we
have added a lot of Malay and Indian cuisine
like Rendang Ayam, Hot Chicken Masala,
Dried Curry Laksa and Sakura Shrimp Cake
into our menu. We want to make I Love Yoo!
something that is truly Malaysian by adding
the Muhibbah aspect into our brand name.”
Fresh fried snacks
I Love Yoo! prides their brand on being fresh.
The doughs are handmade and cooked at the
store.
“Maintaining the quality and serving good
food to our customers are our main priority.
All of our menu items are made from scratch
the traditional way, it brings out the nostalgia
in some of our customers who grew up having
them. The traditional way of making things
is very synonym and near to our customer’s
heart,” says Lim.
Spreading the love
I Love Yoo! aims to have a more Muhibbah
board of directors and franchise holders.
“Lim founded I Love Yoo!, and now that we
have a Malay chairman, we are encouraging
more Indians and Malays to become franchise
holders too,” says Zaki, with humility.
The founder says he is proud of what they
have achieved so far. He hopes the brand can
continue to expand in the next five years.
“For now, we have a total of 70 outlets
HARDWORK SHOWS:
Standing from left: Mr
Jeffrey Leong (COO),
Zaki and Lim.
(Top left) One of I Love
Yoo!’s signature – store-
made Yoo Tiao fried in
fresh palm oil.
all over Malaysia and we are confident the
brand will continue to grow continuously
and rapidly in the next five years – the halal
certification would really be helpful to our
growth,” Lim says with a chuckle.
“In addition, we have received positive
feedbacks from other ASEAN countries and
they have expressed their interest in bring-
ing the brand into their home country. We
currently have outlets in Singapore and
Brunei.
“We are negotiating with interested par-
ties in Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines.
The brand really has grown bigger than when
I founded it more than 10 years ago.
“We hope that I Love Yoo! will become a
well-known Malaysian brand in the eyes of
the world in the future. We also hope that the
readers can come by any of our outlets to grab
a bite and if you’re looking to be a part of our
family, feel free to contact us and we can talk
shop.”