Or start up a business so you can help settle their financial debt with the profits you make? Bella Goh and her colleague Michael Cheah did precisely that when their friend Jack Lim ran into hard times.
FMT caught up with Penang-based Goh recently to find out all about AyoMayo, a healthy spread to enjoy with toast, waffles and pancakes, and the centre of their new business together.
“A colleague under my team needed help to pay his rent because his income was severely affected during the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said, adding that she and Cheah got down to work immediately on their new business venture in the hopes they could help Lim financially.
Using their ‘lockdown time’ wisely, Goh said their first product, Matcha milk spread, took about a month to research and develop.
Since Matcha is an expensive ingredient, quite a lot of money went into experimenting with different brands and grades of matcha powder before deciding on which to go with.
“Why matcha? The simple answer is because I myself love it!” Goh chuckled. She also said the cheeky brand name AyoMayo was derived from Hokkien, and roughly meant ‘want or don’t want?’
Despite some space constraints, the trio researched, prepared and cooked the milk spread at Lim’s tiny hostel kitchen until they perfected the recipe.
“Feedback from customers were all different, some claiming it was too sweet, others saying it was not thick enough, stuff like that,” Goh said.
But everything worked out well in the end, and the two friends were able to help Lim financially with the profits they did make.
In fact, the spread was such a success, that orders still kept streaming in even after the lockdowns were over, and everyone was back at their regular jobs.
Pleasantly surprised at how well their business was faring, Goh and Cheah took a leap of faith and quit their jobs to pursue their new business full time. Lim however, opted out.
Soon Jesmine Ong joined them, making them a trio once again. By 2022 they decided to branch out to Kuala Lumpur and Goh, in charge of sales and marketing, took charge of this move.
“Here in KL, we can take part in a variety of flea markets and the like, so that we can reach out to more people.”
AyoMayo now boasts a total of five healthy spreads, namely almond butter – pure, classic, espresso, matcha and genmaicha.
The 26-year-old said their original milk spread was scrapped due to its relatively short shelf life as no preservatives are used. They also switched to organic molasses as their choice of sweetener.
Since the brand first originated with the intention of helping those in need, the team started the AM Project that channels 2% of AyoMayo’s profits to a different charity each year.
“We are a small locally-owned business, so we believe that being involved in and serving our community is a vital part of our mission.”
With Lim rejoining the group late last year (to the team’s delight), Goh said she hoped to expand their product range and create different flavours for their nut butter in the future.
“We are working towards becoming Malaysia’s first choice when it comes to plant-based food brands.”