Uncle Don’s ventures abroad

Uncle Don's CEO and founder Ian Ong Ming Hock

AFFORDABLE casual dining restaurant chain Uncle Don’s, which has 44 outlets in the Peninsular Malaysia, is making its maiden regional expansion, with Cambodia being its first market.

Chief executive officer and founder Ian Ong Ming Hock says the location for the first outlet has been identified in Phnom Penh, and it plans to start operations by June this year.

“We are excited about our first overseas venture. After much research on the local culture and taste, Cambodia was identified as a very suitable location for our regional expansion.

“The operations in Cambodia will be undertaken via the franchise model, but for the first outlet, we are working with a local partner,” he tells StarBizWeek.

Besides Cambodia, the other promising market Uncle Don’s is poised to make inroads to is Singapore.

Uncle Don’s is an affordable restaurant chain where one can dine like a Don without breaking the bank.

A lot of Uncle Don’s popularity can be attributed to its affordable pricing yet delightful Asian and Western cuisines. A grilled chicken chop set lunch is only priced at RM19.20.

Thus not surprisingly, since commencing operations in 2015, the restaurant chain has expanded rapidly to 44 outlets to date.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was a habit for many franchisees to take up more than one Uncle Don’s franchise because of the efficient return on investment.

Ong attributes the group’s success to his team, especially his head chef Don Daniel Theseira. Interestingly, it was this head chef’s cooking prowess that led to the “Uncle Don’s” brand name.

Don Daniel is one of the shareholders and continues to lead Uncle Don’s central kitchen operations in Kota Damansara.

Considering the last two years have been brutal to the food and beverage (F&B) sector, Uncle Don’s has remained resilient.

Not only did Uncle Don's Holdings Sdn Bhd, the holding company for Uncle Don’s, return to the black for its unaudited financial year ended Dec 31, 2022, it also opened nine outlets.

This included The Lounge by Uncle Don’s. As response has been encouraging, there could be plans to open more lounges in selected locations, says Ong, adding that Uncle Don’s will likely hit 50 outlets by year-end.

Uncle Don's CEO and founder Ian Ong Ming Hock

“We shall aggressively introduce new local and Western items to the menu in 2023 on a regular basis,” says Ong.

For this year, he says it is going to be a busy year as the group plans to execute most of its delayed plans.

“Going regional and penetrating the Malay market are two of the big goals we have to achieve for 2023. There is a huge potential in the halal F&B market and we want to capitalise on that demand,” he points out.

Last month, Uncle Don’s tied up with celebrity chef Datuk Zamzani Abdul Wahab, popularly known as Chef Zam, for this purpose.

“We are joining hands with Chef Zam to set up our new halal restaurants and kiosks that will be owned by Lesung Tumis Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Uncle Don's Holdings,” says Ong.

He expects the first outlet to be opened by late first quarter or early second quarter of this year in the Klang Valley.

“In 2023, we aim to open at least five outlets under Lesung Tumis. We are also exploring doing it under the franchise model for faster growth.

“Uncle Don's Holdings has all the important halal production certification via our recently acquired 40% stake in Boss Brothers Sdn Bhd.

“It shall supply all products to Lesung Tumis for the upcoming halal projects, which offer exquisite east-coast kampung food at affordable prices,” he notes.

Established in 2017, Boss Brothers is a chilli sauce maker based in Selangor and its factory is certified by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia.

Uncle Don's Holdings completed the 40% acquisition of Boss Brothers in November 2022 with a call option to acquire another 10%.

This brings Ong to Uncle Don’s second goal. Uncle Don’s will be penetrating the export market by leveraging on Boss Brother’s chilli sauce manufacturing business.

Currently, Boss Brothers is already exporting to China and Singapore, serving as an original equipment manufacturer for other brands.

It is noteworthy that Boss Brothers also supplies the iconic Uncle Don’s homemade chili and tomato sauces to Uncle Don’s Manufacturing Sdn Bhd for distribution to all Uncle Don’s restaurants across Peninsular Malaysia.

Ong says the company will export its products to at least five new international destinations next year, namely, Taiwan, France, Hong Kong, Jordan and Dubai.

He says: “We will start off by exporting homemade chilli and tomato sauces and use it as a platform to expand Uncle Don’s brand internationally. All marinade paste will also be manufactured and exported to overseas restaurants to ensure quality and consistency.”

Thus the strategy is two pronged, where Uncle Don’s grows upstream (via the F&B outlets) and downstream (via the sauces), he adds.

The bigger picture is to turn Uncle Don’s and its group of companies into a sizeable integrated F&B chain with a regional presence, moving forward.

“At the heart of it, Uncle Don’s offers better value. We provide good quality food and a nice atmosphere at an affordable price. This is perhaps what gave us our business sustainability,” he explains.

His business acumen and ability to envision and articulate successful business strategies has also allowed Ong to bag various prestigious awards.

These include Entrepreneur of The Year 2022 under the SME and Entrepreneurs Business Awards, and CEO of the Year 2022 by BrandLaureate.