In collaboration with Convergence, VOICE OF ASIA is proud to present timeless articles from the archives, reproduced digitally for your reading pleasure. Originally published in Convergence Volume 11 in 2012, we present this story on Dato’ Steven Sim and how he grew Secret Recipe out of Malaysia.
There are times when you want to pamper yourself, when you want to relax at a place with a pleasant ambience, and sip a cup of premium coffee or tea, or even fresh fruit juice. You want to have a little bite to eat – maybe a slice of cake or a pie. Nothing too heavy, just something you can nibble on, savour, and enjoy. But who knows? Maybe you will start to feel hungry, in which case, you want a menu that offers you a choice between light eats and meals that will fill your stomach. And of course, you want the food to taste good and not burn a hole in your pocket.
That may sound too good to be true but it’s not; because at Secret Recipe you can have your cake and eat it too.
The Early Days
Dato’ Steven Sim has a broad smile on his face. The founder, CEO and Managing Director of Secret Recipe Cakes and Café recently came back from a trip to India, where he finalised a deal which will see Secret Recipe cafés make their debut in the southern region of the world’s second most populous nation. Along with another planned expansion into Cambodia, the Secret Recipe name will soon be found in 10 countries – Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, and of course its birthplace Malaysia.
Granted, he should be tired after his travels. Still, nothing stops Dato’ Steven Sim from talking to Convergence about his pride and joy – the café chain which he started 15 years ago in the SS2 district of Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, and which has since grown to become an internationally recognised brand with more than 250 outlets spread throughout the aforementioned countries.
The uninitiated may be surprised that Dato’ Sim – long considered a leader in the food and beverage (F&B) industry, owing to the success of Secret Recipe – came from an entirely different field than the one which has won him acclaim. As the marketing director of a hair-care brand, he travelled across the region, and during those trips, he saw a trend which was developing in Asia, but had yet to reach Malaysian shores.
“15 years ago, when Secret Recipe was founded, we didn’t have much to offer as far as casual dining was concerned. There were fast food outlets, coffee shops, mamak stalls, and of course, fine dining restaurants. I was travelling a lot at the time, and I saw the growing popularity of al-fresco cafés in other countries, as well as the opportunity to fill that vacuum in Malaysia by setting up a bakery/café.”
Fill it he did. Although he lacked experience in the culinary field, Dato’ Sim was a masterful hand at marketing and franchising, while his four nephews were avid bakers. It has so far been a dream team. That, however, is not to say that Dato’ Steven Sim is just the marketing or finance person in the organisation. Indeed, he plays a very important role in the creative process, whereby any new product has to pass his taste test in order to make it to the menu.
Changing Perceptions
Much has changed since those early days, and today, casual dining/lifestyle cafes are almost ubiquitous in many cities and towns in Malaysia. But that wasn’t the case in 1997. People only bought cakes when it was a special occasion such as a birthday, and the idea of buying a slice and eating it in the bakery while drinking a cup of coffee was very much unheard of.
Thus, Dato’ Steven Sim can be called a pioneer… a trendsetter even. But, as he told Convergence, the hardest part about being the first in the market is having to set the benchmarks. Coffee pricing was one example he gave. Prior to Secret Recipe, most Malaysians were used to drinking coffee that was brewed from local beans, and priced at RM0.50 a cup.
“We couldn’t meet that price point, because of the quality of our product and beans. So we had to set it at a higher price, which was around RM3 and RM4. People were not used to it, so it was a challenge because we had to educate people about quality, ambience, concept, and show them how they were getting value for money,” he said.
Perhaps one sign of just how highly regarded Secret Recipe has become is that many people, as Dato’ Sim revealed, do not believe that it is a Malaysian brand, mainly because of the misconception that foreign brands are superior to local ones.
“We do not try to hide that we are Malaysian,” he clarified. “We tell people that Secret Recipe was started, ground zero, in Malaysia, by Malaysians and registered in this country. In fact, I am most proud of the fact that Secret Recipe is Malaysian and has been able to penetrate into so many markets.”
From Malaysia to the World
While a number of Malaysians may have trouble believing that Secret Recipe is home grown, Dato’ Sim recalled how when Secret Recipe went to Singapore in 1999, the fact that it is a Malaysian brand was a factor that caused some scepticism there. Thus they had trouble finding a prime location to set up their café at the earlier stage.
“You have to understand that Malaysian lifestyle brands, especially in F&B, may not have stepped up enough to be recognised in the overseas arena. So, that was one challenge. And then Singapore is also a very crowded market, because a lot of international brands go there to position themselves. So, for us, we had to prove ourselves, and we did it by showing that we are as good as if not better, than the international brands as well as their local brands,” he explained.
It worked because today, Secret Recipe has become very popular in Singapore, as well as in other Southeast Asian nations. For Dato’ Sim, there are a number of reasons for that. One thing in particular is the consistency of quality, in particular the cakes and other baked goods which make up the mainstay of Secret Recipe’s business. This is achieved by having all the cakes baked, quality controlled, and packaged in a central kitchen located in Malaysia – before being despatched to the various outlets around the world.
He also acknowledged that the Secret Recipe cooked food menu, which offers a mix of Western, Southeast Asia, and fusion dishes was readily accepted in the region. However, China was a different story altogether. “Although our cakes were accepted, people there weren’t used to Malaysian or Southeast Asian food. So we spent two years researching the market and finding out what people there liked, and then we developed a menu to suit them,” he said.
Listening to Customers
This is another factor in Secret Recipe’s success, which is the ability and willingness to study the markets they are in, to listen to customers, and to adapt according to local needs and tastes, while still maintaining quality.
As Dato’ Steven Sim revealed, “We spent a lot of time and financial resources on R&D, and that has been the key to our success.” It is a modus operandi which has served them well, and undoubtedly they will do the same when it comes to setting up Secret Recipe cafes in their new ventures into India and Cambodia.
Overseas expansion is not the only way that Dato’ Sim has brought the taste, quality, and friendliness of Secret Recipe to non-Malaysians. Its café in KL International Airport (KLIA) for instance serves as a strategically located brand ambassador, and he told Convergence that he hopes that travellers to Malaysia who eat at the outlet will take their good experiences back to their home countries.
As a firm believer in giving back to society, Dato’ Steven Sim has also introduced several corporate responsibility initiatives at Secret Recipe. These include monthly visits by outlet managers to homes such as orphanages, old folks’ homes and those for disadvantaged or disabled people, where they will give material help such as food, clothes and furniture.
And as someone who is always looking to do more, he revealed one of his philanthropic plans to set up a Secret Recipe outlet, where disadvantaged people can find work and make a living, and in which all the proceeds will go to charity. This will happen sometime in 2012, and it is definitely a plan that deserves the utmost support.
After 15 years in the business, and having made Secret Recipe a household name in so many countries, one might wonder what drives Dato’ Steven Sim. He explained that his motivation comes from the encouragement that others have given him, as well as his desire to challenge himself. It was this which led him to venture into uncharted territory all those years ago, when he dared to dream a dream that has since changed the Malaysian dining scene.
