Irresistibly unique products By Women, For Women. Meet the fab faces behind some really, really awesome business ideas.
TEE REI – CONFECTIONER / ENTREPRENEUR
Life for the creative Tee Reei is full of adventure, just like the adventurous flavour combinations of her artisan potong popsicles.
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On the surface, Toh Tee Reei looks like your typical Kuala Lumpur city girl. Clad in a cute doll dress in tones of light spring, you wouldn’t expect this bright and petite girl with shining long locks to be such an adventurous risk-taker.
Despite her fear of the ocean, Tee Reei has pushed herself to get an open water diving license. She’s even gone skydiving! Indeed, it is with this fearless attitude and her life philosophy of “no harm trying” that saw Tee Reei courageously step into the shoes of an entrepreneur.
Discover how an adventurous road trip turned into a viable business for Tee Reei, proving that anything can happen when you’re unafraid to try new things!
ON THE ROAD TO ADVENTURE
“I have always wanted to run my own business, ever since I was a kid,” quips the friendly Tee Reei with a sparkling smile. “With my love for food, I thought I would run a coffee shop one day, or something to do with baked goods. But fate led us down the ice cream path instead!”
Fate sure did have different plans for the adventurous 30-year-old entrepreneur who, with her friends, pioneered gourmet artisan pops that puts a modern twist on the Malaysian childhood favourite, the potong popsicle.
It all started with a food road trip to Ipoh with her two friends, and now business partners, Ivan and Victor. While in Ipoh, the group of friends with a shared passion for food met a traditional potong popsicle maker. He lamented that the art of handmade ice cream was dying amidst the saturation of mass-produced commercial ice cream. This inspired Tee Reei, Ivan and Victor to explore the craft of handmade potong popsicles.
A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF GOODNESS
There have been challenges for Tee Reei, especially when consumers don’t understand how “The Potong” is different to the normal, commercial, red bean potong popsicles that they’re more accustomed with.
Armed with optimism, a creative nature and marketing expertise, Tee Reei has successfully educated consumers on how their popsicles takes potong pops to a whole new level of goodness, as they are made with seasonal fresh fruits instead of artificial syrup, and boasts creative never-licked-before flavour combinations.
Her creative campaigns include seasonal themes, such as a “Candy” theme. One of the unique flavours marketed was a candy cane potong pop, which featured layers of strawberry and peppermint-infused cream to recreate the look of the classic red-white striped candy that is bursting with flavour. They’ve even created vodka-infused pops and pina colada cocktail pops for private parties and events.
Tee Reei’s advice to those who dream of starting their own business is, “If you never try, you will never know what could happen. So just try.” Who knows, maybe an experimental adventure could turn into a viable business for you too!
Want to rekindle your childhood with these fresh potong pops? Get all the details below, and start licking!
SHE’S NOW SERVING UP…
Gourmet pops in seasonal flavours to rekindle your favorite childhood treat, The Potong. Made with fresh fruit. No syrups, preservatives, or any other horrids!