Jesher Loi, heir to Ya Kun Kaya Toast, reveals the moment he knew it was time to bring the brand overseas

Mention the quintessential Singaporean breakfast, kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs, and one of the first few names that is bound to pop up is Ya Kun Kaya Toast. 

Founded in 1944, the chain now operates in a myriad of countries from Japan to United Arab Emirates.

On Sept 23, YouTube channel HatchnHustle had the chance to sit down with Ya Kun's director of brands and marketing, Jesher Loi to chat about the brand's growth over the decades.

Jesher is also the grandson of Ya Kun's founder Loi Ah Koon, and son of current executive chairman Adrin Loi.

And the reason behind why Ya Kun chose to scale regionally can be traced to a single noticeboard at their first-ever outlet.

@hatchandhustle

Reminds me of passing notes to talk to your friends during class 🥹 It's amazing how a simple noticeboard paved the way for Ya Kun to expand to 14 more countries 🤩 Hear more fun stories about Jesher and Ya Kun in our podcast, link in bio! #podcast #entrepreneurship #yakun #tiktoksg

♬ original sound - Hatch & Hustle Podcast

The noticeboard came with a caption: "Leave your thoughts. Tell us where you are from."

Pieces of paper and pen would then be placed near the noticeboard for customers to respond.

"This is before Facebook," Jesher said, before pegging the time period to be between 1999 and 2003. 

His mum would painstakingly take down all the notes and write out a personalised reply at night. His dad then takes over by pinning back the responses on the noticeboard.

This "old-school chat room" method of customer feedback also had them realise how many foreign customers were fans of their products.

Jesher recalled how it wasn't long before Ya Kun were seeing customers from a long list of countries, all the way to Mexico.

"People were coming here. Before we knew it, it was time for us to go overseas," he said.

Presenter Denise Teo asked Jesher if he ever got sick of the food at Ya Kun and the response was both politically correct and truthful.

"To this day, I'm still not sick of it. I still love it," he added passionately.

Challenges such as how popular and vibrant Singapore's cafe scene has been of late does not seem to bother Jesher too much.

"Strangely enough, I do welcome it because variety creates creativity," he claimed. 

Jesher wants to provide assurance that if anyone is craving local coffee, they can simply head to a Ya Kun outlet to satisfy their cravings.

ALSO READ: 'A lot more than what I expected': Zermatt Neo downs 58 servings of kaya toast to commemorate National Day

amierul@asiaone.com