Lee Huey Ping was by no means an enormous fan of avocados. In reality, she thought the fruit was luxurious and finicky—not one thing she’d purchase frequently. Her husband, Kah Wai, had by no means even tried it earlier than.
However throughout a visit to Da Lat, Vietnam, the couple’s lives can be modified.
Generally known as Kem Bo, the dessert is actually an avocado mousse ice cream. In Ping’s phrases, it’s also referred to as the “most mind-blowing avocado dessert”.
After returning to Malaysia, the couple nonetheless couldn’t get the dessert out of their thoughts. They might even speak about the potential for beginning their very own avocado-based F&B chain regionally.
Their daydreams become a actuality throughout the pandemic. In September 2020, the 2 determined to give up their full-time company careers. Ping was a monetary analyst whereas Kah Wai was within the banking trade.
“Regardless of the massive danger with the affected economic system, we determined to go together with it and follow our intestine feeling,” Ping shared. “We simply had a hunch that there’s a enormous marketable potential coupled with the change in tendencies of consumption given the pandemic.”
Sowing the seeds for the startup
Paying homage to their favorite avocado dessert, the couple determined to call their enterprise Bo The Avocado. Plus, it gave the impression to be a catchy title and made for mascot.
In reality, the model’s avocado mascot is definitely made up of a “b” and an “o”. Can you see it?
Based on Ping, Bo The Avocado began with a variety of avocado smoothies from the get-go. There was the standard authentic Avo Milk smoothie in addition to extra distinctive flavours such because the Avo Mint Darkish Choc.
In early 2021, the couple welcomed a 3rd enterprise associate to the equation. Safwan, a highschool good friend of Ping and Kah Wai, now handles operations for all of the shops.
“Enjoyable reality, all three of us are from Melaka and went to the identical highschool and college!” Ping added.
The three Melakans aimed to supply a novel expertise and introduce the thought of avocado consumption in numerous methods. They wished to painting Bo The Avocado because the “purveyor of all issues avocado”.
Aligning with this, the model not solely produces avocado drinks however all types of dishes. There’s the Avo Lime Cheesecake, the Mac & Bo (mac & cheese with avocado puree), avocado fries, and quite a lot of of avocado toasts.
“Our focus is especially on creativity, flexibility, development, and improvisation to create the perfect worth for our buyer which we consider that units us aside from the competitors,” Ping stated.
A ripe marketplace for competitors
If you happen to’re a fan of avocado drinks, you’ll know that Bo The Avocado isn’t the primary avocado-based F&B model in Malaysia. As an illustration, there’s Avocadian, which was launched in 2017.
Avocadian additionally has quite a lot of avocado drinks, from matcha to chocolate-flavoured ones. However the basic one is the Unique AvoShake, which is the bestseller in keeping with the model’s BeepIt page. At RM13.90, it’s barely dearer in comparison with Bo The Avocado’s RM11.90 Avo Milk.
From its BeepIt web page, Avocadian appears to make use of avocados from the US, whereas Bo The Avocado will get its provide from down south.
“There are just a few avocado origins out there in Malaysia, particularly Australia, Mexico, US, Kenya, and the Philippines,” Ping defined. “Our avocados are from Australia for the time being, however we have now beforehand sourced from Mexico and the US as effectively.”
Attributable to sanctions within the US, nonetheless, Ping stated Mexico and US avocados have elevated in worth by 200%. Thus, Bo The Avocado has determined to make use of Australian Hass avocados, which supposedly have a creamy, buttery style and an extended shelf life in comparison with avocados from Kenya and the Philippines.
Because the model offers with produce, high quality management generally is a fairly tough factor.
“As avocados are such tough and finicky fruits in nature, we ripen them in-house naturally at our headquarters and distribute [them] to the shops,” Ping defined. “We test on the avocados each single day to make sure we retailer and categorise them correctly at every stage of their ripening course of.”
Fortunately avo after?
Whereas avocados are extra commonplace in Malaysia now in comparison with round a decade in the past, it’s nonetheless considerably of an acquired style.
To curb this problem, Bo The Avocado goals to introduce non-avocado merchandise resembling espresso, matcha, mocktails, juices, and different sorts of smoothies on the menu.
“Nonetheless, we are going to preserve avocados as our core product and we are going to proceed to curate extra upcoming meals and desserts now which are extra distinctive.”
The model’s new recipes sometimes come from “loopy concepts” by the workforce. Ping oversees the entire R&D and product curation course of, although she stated anybody within the workforce can attempt to give you their very own concepts.
Maybe the creativity that the founders have instilled within the model performs an element within the progress of Bo The Avocado. In two years, the F&B model has opened 5 shops throughout Klang Valley.
“This achievement alone has solely led us to consider that we’re definitely transferring in the precise path regardless of solely beginning this model for a brief time frame,” Ping shared.
Down the highway, the workforce hopes to proceed increasing, both domestically or internationally, however erring on the aspect of warning. Ping additionally talked about that the model is open to provides of licensing.
On prime of this, the founder additionally gave us some updates—Bo The Avocado is about to open a few new shops quickly, particularly in 1Utama Purchasing Mall and IOI Metropolis Mall.
“Our major aim is to create a brand new bubble, a brand new more healthy indulgence development which may complement the opposite well-established tendencies resembling milk tea, espresso, and juices,” Ping concluded.
There’s nonetheless an extended technique to go earlier than avocado drinks can attain the extent of these different drinks. However contemplating Bo The Avocado’s rising presence within the Klang Valley, it looks as if the model may simply be one of many driving forces for the fruit’s recognition in Malaysia.
Featured Picture Credit score: Bo The Avocado
