Oriental Kopi Holdings Berhad’s latest outlet in KLIA forms the crowning glory of Dato’ Calvin Chan’s empire
Self-professed kopitiam connoiseur Dato’ Calvin Chan is every bit as likable as his highly popular Oriental Kopi Holdings Berhad chain of restaurants, dotting sweet spots on the holy grail food trail in the Klang Valley and beyond, including the latest outlet opening in KLIA.
Quote: “In every business, you have to be very sincere… You cannot just want to seal the deal and need to disclose the negatives,” – Dato’ Calvin Chan, Founder of Oriental Kopi Holdings Berhad
BY YVONNE YOONG
The way to a man’s heart is through the stomach, goes the popular age-old saying. Similarly, for Dato’ Calvin Chan, Founder of Oriental Kopi Holdings Berhad (Oriental Kopi), he has discovered that the way to the heart of a nation, is through its stomach.
And, if the proof of the pie is in the pudding – then Oriental Kopi, having being listed on the IPO (Initial Public Offering) in record time, would by all means – be validation that the authentic Malaysian cuisine restaurant has found the secret sauce to success. Indeed, the year before the IPO listing that happened on 23 January 2025 itself boasted recorded impressive sales revenue of some RM133 million and profits of RM20 million.
现在写的是133 & 20, 2023的figures
Selected as one of the 53 popular restaurants by Grab HQ besides amassing a list of other accolades including the WOW Awards recently —- one of the latest honour too was the group clinching the 2025 Best IPO Award from Alpha Southeast Asia, an authoritative financial media outlet in South East Asia which is an affirmation and encouragement from the capital market and investment community.
And, even as the Year of the Horse prepares to gallop in at full speed, he is already well ahead of the F&B (food and beverage) race with his latest Oriental Kopi outlet having just opened at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
At 43, the charismatic and talented young entrepreneur is smiling all the way to the bank while basking in the fact that families across the nation will be meeting to savour authentic Malaysian recipes at his popular chain of restaurants.
And, that is perhaps the most authentic version of this amazing entrepreneur who takes most delight in families enjoying their meals together under his roof as his vision is to bring the authentic taste of Malaysia to the world by exporting their products to countries across the globe.
He recalls how – that in the midst of running his very first outlet in Puchong which is the first in Selangor – he had overheard a granddaughter coaxing her grandma to not worry about the pricing of the menu – but to just order whatever favourite dishes she relished having eaten as a child, to which her grandma broke intosweet smile while ordering, which warmed his heart.
Oriental Kopi – in a nutshell – is the realisation of a dream come true for this highly relatable and charismatic entrepreneur who determined from the very beginning that Oriental Kopi should be halal-certified to represent all three races.
“When we started Oriental Kopi, we wanted all races to be gathered to have a meal together under one roof. Since Day one, we don’t sell any pork as we want to represent Malaysia and one day, bring authentic Malaysian taste to the world. And, if we want to represent Malaysia, we must have three races so from Day 1, we already decided we must establish a halal kopitiam for Malaysia and wanted a halal restaurant for everyone in Malaysia,” he shared on his simple but profound conviction.
The ease with which he can relate to other races is rooted in his childhood growing up in a small Malay village where his father worked as a rubber tapper while his mother was a housewife raising a brood of four children. Chan recalls his father having to make several trips on the one lone trusty family motorcycle just to fetch the entire family to a particular location and back.
Incidentally, it was his hometown that saw the humble beginnings of the early rise of his entrepreneurial journey taking root – renting two glass cabinets at a small corner of a grocery store in 2003. After two years, success grew and enabled him to rent six glass cabinets to start a mobile phone business.
However, his customers would consistently complain after a week or a month later – that the bill from the operator — ranging between some RM300 and RM400 per month was too expensive – so they couldn’t accept it and would come to complain.
A young Chan discovered then, which is what he still applies to his Oriental Kopi operations now – that “In every business, you have to be very sincere… You cannot just want to seal the deal and need to disclose the negatives.”
“So, I always try my best. Even if you don’t purchase, it’s ok. I can spend two to three hours just to explain to you. If you’re ok, you can sign up. If not, no problem. Maybe next time, when you have a demand for us, you can come to us,” he explained.
The second principle in business he said, is to acknowledge the fact that “good things do not always come” as was the case in 2006 and 2007 respectively whereby two major floods damaged his handphone inventory.
However, being an eternal optimist, he persevered until he even managed to expand his business to the point of owning a shop lot.
“At that time, I had to try to start all over again. And, after many years I was still trying. I had dark circles under my eyes as I always work till 5am. After a few years, we opened more shops and I became a mobile phone reseller,” he said.
After that, he started to have “a bigger ambition” with the thought that – “just as food always come from other countries”, maybe he could similarly, create his own mobile phone brand.
From this brainwave, his self-established Malaysia Mobile Devices (MMD) brand was finally born.
“But, my phone always ‘hanged’ to the point that even I also couldn’t accept MMD. I couldn’t use it but still wanted to take photos and do a billboard,” he said in a colloquial, no-frill presentation – drawing peals of delighted amused laughter from the audience while showing an old photograph of himself proudly showing off his own brand of handphone.
However, the lukewarm reception here made him change the name of the mobile phone brand to Leagoo with the intention of selling them overseas as he thought he would be able to revive the mobile phone business there.
And, since he started to get acquainted with more business partners overseas, the desire to want to promote the Malaysian brand and travel to other countries to sell his phones was realised.
Also, because he was always travelling, he started missing a lot of Malaysian food as it was very hard for him to find authentic good tasting Malaysian cuisine served at restaurants in other countries.
At the same time, realising that producing his own mobile phone brand to be sold overseas wasn’t fruitful, he thought that maybe one day, he could open a restaurant that serves good Malaysian food overseas.
END OF ONE DREAM & THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER
“This is our journey in December 2008 when we tried to turn our mission into reality. We didn’t have a mission or the economics but we had a big dream to serve our community and maybe also promote this overseas. It started from five of us including my sister, my brother-in-law, and etc and I didn’t even know how to cook but I knew how to eat,” he shared of how Oriental Kopi was born.
Being very focussed and still very hardworking, he started on a relentless quest to experiment on making egg tarts. Being both a coffee and egg tart lover, he spent about one year on R&D (Research and Development) alone. A factory he had commissioned to produce egg tart moulds he related, had asked for RM100,000.
Though not knowing how to bake, he had contemplated what he would do should the venture not take off – but having made some money in the mobile business, he decided he could afford the risk anyhow and is thankful that his investment has already since recuperated the costs.
“I am an egg tart lover. The mould maker market is very small but finally, I found a factory which could make the moulds. But the problem was that the factory which could make the moulds asked for RM100,000 for the inventory. I thought to myself – that if I should fail, who will pay for this? But I thought I can still try as I can earn a bit from the overseas market,” he shared.
His troubles were far from over as after opening his first outlet, Covid-19 reared its ugly head. The pandemic could not have come at a worst time – with many business operations having to shut their doors to dine-in guests. However, takeaway orders saved the day with customers also packing orders for their friends and families to his relief.
And, such is the charms of Dato’ Chan, with Oriental Kopi being an extension of who and what he is and loves, in so much as seen in the perfection of the recipes – with the creation of the egg tarts alone, one of his personal favourite treat – taking him about one year’s worth of research & development (R&D) experimentation.
However, he did not have to worry as the proof of the pie is in the pudding and testament to its popularity, the restaurant has sold over 30 million egg tarts to date.
Meanwhile, its signature Polo bun has also been acknowledged by the Malaysian Book of Records while its coffee – unique to its chain of restaurants – comprising a blend of Arabica, Liberica and Robusta coffee beans – gives credence to the saying “Wake up and smell the coffee” – delivering a unique, fragrant and aromatic brew.
Not bad at all, for someone who could not cook or have any baking experience. But, even having discovered the perfect recipe – although the egg tarts taste good – he also still faced many problems as “not everything goes well for businesses”.
Disarmingly candid, it is easy to tell how his natural charm and childlike optimism, humility and ability to take life with a pinch of salt and failures in stride with a dash of humour has earned him a legion of fans which is a rarity in an age of inflated egos.
Warmth, Opportunity and Worth
Extending his gratitude in his address to the audience for their support at the “WOW” Conference in which he was given the Icon of Entrepreneur Leadership Excellence award by the Branding Association of Malaysia (BAM), he shared that this accomplishment in itself was especially meaningful as it all started with a dream.
Extending his gratitude in his address to the audience for their support at the “WOW” Conference in which he was given the Icon of Entrepreneur Leadership Excellence award by the Branding Association of Malaysia (BAM), he shared that this accomplishment in itself was especially meaningful as it all started with a dream.
Sharing his experience from the heart, his simple explanation, humility and sense of inclusivity won hearts and admiration that day, just as Oriental Kopi has won throngs of customers and has overnight exploded into a household name for this homegrown brand which prices itself on a nationalistic level.
This “WOW” Icon’s visionary journey as someone who levelled up his love for Malaysian food is extraordinary as he explained his breakdown for “WOW”.
“The first ‘W’ stands for ‘Warmth’ which is at the heart of what we do. Every cup of coffee, every plate of nasi lemak should feel like coming home. Just like Malaysia — comforting, comfortable and filled with care. At Oriental Kopi, we want every customer who enters our store to feel seen, valued and taken care of,” he said of this sincere expression from his heart.
“Warmth” he opined is the reason people return because they don’t just remember the taste but they “remember the feeling”.
Meanwhile, “O” is for “Opportunity” because every challenge and customer feedback, surprise issues and market challenge is a chance for them to learn and also for growth.
“So, we don’t ask why is this happening to us. But we ask what we can do to improve and what can we do better for our customers and also for country as truly, this is a treasure Malaysia should share with the world,” he enthused.
That is why he explained, they work so hard to bring Malaysian flavours to other countries. “We want other people from overseas to taste our food and say this is truly Malaysia. This is Malaysia. This is our home. This is our culture,” he elaborated.
The last “W” he encapsulated stands for “Work”.
“Everything we do must be worth it for our customer, our team and also our community. Work is about using the best ingredients, creating meaningful careers, preserving heritage, uplifting local culture and making a positive impact whenever we go. When our work touches lives, when our work brings comfort and when customers feel proud of Malaysian flavours — that’s when we know the work is worth it.
“To me ‘WOW’ is not just work or warmth but also how work connects people opportunity, helps us to grow and share our culture. Work gives meaning to everything we do and that gives power to ‘WOW’. That’s what inspires me and also our team every day. The last point is to bring Malaysian flavours to the world and to bring the food culture to the future generation,” he explained.
His journey he concluded “is very simple spanning from a deep love for Malaysian food and culture”. Who would have thought that one young entrepreneur’s passion for the kopitiam culture and a deep love for Malaysian food and culture could spur him to bring authentic Malaysian taste to the world by exporting its products to other countries.
“We have 28 outlets and 3 in Singapore now and we will try our best to see if we can bring Oriental Kopi to more countries next year. Hopefully, we can open more outlets and bring the outlets to six more countries in the upcoming three years to bring authentic Malaysian taste to the world,” he told Paparazzi360 of his wish list close on the heels arriving in the coming Year of The Horse.
