Mr Kang Puay Seng and Mr Loh Jwee Poh - Mr Bean Group
WHEN Mr Loh Jwee Poh (far right), 37, and Mr Kang Puay Seng (right), 37, first announced that they were investing $3,000 each to start a business selling dao huay zui (Hokkien for soya milk), everyone thought they had gone crazy.
No one thought that it would rake in millions of dollars in revenue 10 years down the road.
Back in 1995, soya milk came in tubs from a remote factory and was available only in the morning because it spoiled quickly.
Mr Loh and Mr Kang had come across a new machine that could produce fresh soya milk on the spot. Armed with their new discovery, the duo opened their first mall outlet at Hougang.
Their healthy set meal, which pairs fresh soya milk made from the best quality beans from North America with freshly baked Japanese-style pancake, changed the 'perceived value' of soya beans and won over health-conscious Singaporeans.
Their team also spent months perfecting the Soy Soft-Ice machine, which made soft ice cream from soya beans. While it was targeted at children, it proved popular among the young and old alike, and it helped to introduce the wholesome goodness of soya beans to people who previously disliked soya milk.
Within a decade, Mr Bean has become a takeaway staple with 28 outlets islandwide. It is also the first fresh soya milk business to set up shop in an MRT station and an airport terminal.
The two co-founders attribute the success to their 'clan' of loyal employees - two-thirds of whom are middle-aged women who have been with the company since it started.
Mr Kang says: "In the beginning, no one would be caught selling soya milk except 'aunties'. In training them, we have come to appreciate attitude more than aptitude. Age is not a handicap.
"Whatever reward we receive today is really the effort of the whole team, and of the people who have supported us unconditionally."
On the company's management philosophy, Mr Kang believes that Mr Bean's mission goes beyond serving a cup of soya milk.
He says: "Elderly ladies would wait patiently in line just to see fresh milk ooze out of the new machine. We realised right from the start that our mission was to serve a cup of health."
Commenting on their status as co-founders of the company, Mr Loh says that his more gung-ho nature combined with Mr Kang's more thoughtful approach have produced an effective enterprise.
"Simply said, if you give me a task to accomplish, I can score from 0 to 50, but after that, I will pass to Kang, so he can score from 50 to 100," adds Mr Loh, with a laugh.
