When you mention the Queen of Comedy in Malaysia, anyone who is familiar with the local comedy scene will know that it is no one other than the fabulously hilarious Joanne Kam Poh Poh, who has been in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years now. BusinessToday gets the scoop on how this sensational comedy mistress and TV actress has been managing her ‘booming’ online food delivery business during the pandemic and what her future plans hold in store.
Starting her career in the late 90s at the trendiest local nightclub situated in the heart of KL known as the Boom Boom Room, Joanne popularised the sensational Paper Dolls cabaret shows with her brand of sassy and saucy comedy. Teasing the audience with her provocative leather get-up and feather boas, Joanne set the KL nightclub scene on fire in the early days of the Malaysian underground stage.
Since then, Joanne has developed her controversial brand of humour and evolved from cabaret shows to acting in a mini-series and performing stand-up comedy, still clad in provocative gear and mouthing off about things you won’t want your grandmother and mother to hear but still endearing herself to a massive fanbase of adoring fans who love her candid and female-forward humour.
These very same fans have since started supporting her in her latest production at a new and very different capacity since the pandemic started in early 2020. Having played various roles in her career journey, namely, cabaret queen, TV actress, theatrical showgirl, and stand-up comedienne, Joanne is now adding a different hat to her repertoire of achievements- online food delivery. Many of Joanne’s fans and social media connections are now virtually ordering her latest non-halal offering, Poh Poh’s Crack, her signature roasted crackling pork-belly dish popularly known as ‘Siew yoke’ to the Chinese.
“The first time we were in lockdown was in March 2020 and after 2 months of no income, I really felt the urgency and desperation as my savings were running low, but I started seeing a lot of home bakers posting up their cakes for sale. Even though there were roast pork sellers out there, there wasn’t an overload in the online and delivery market. So I decided to try and see if I could sell 10kgs a week. That was my start-up target.
Not expecting the business to last very long, she started promoting it on her social media. During the first few weeks, she targeted selling 10 kgs of only roasted pork during the weekends. With a startup capital of between Rm 600 – 1000, she invested in essentials such as the ingredients and boxes for packaging, stickers and fees for her four dedicated riders for the delivery.
“In terms of delivery, I now have 4 regular delivery guys who attend to my orders, as the food is hot, I entrust it to my regulars who are able to deliver on time. They charge about RM 1 per km but are very responsible and the food will arrive during the allocated period needed.
“My friends and fans were the first ones to jump on to purchase, then after about 2 months I started advertising elsewhere, in Facebook delivery groups like MY Food Directory & Delivery C19 and then everything exploded.”
“The siew yoke or roasted pork belly is a recipe that I had tweaked from a common recipe but what’s so special is it is mine. I buy a premium belly from my supplier that is slightly more expensive as the pork has no smell and is cleaned extra carefully. I also do not use ordinary salt, my salt is imported and I also use two different salts for marination and salt coating before roasting.
With customers’ feedback being extremely positive, she says that it is due to the salts used that gives it an extra umami taste. She adds that the belly is also another reason why the meat is tender and she has perfected the crackling to ensure it looks golden and not burnt.
When asked why she chose to sell roasted pork and not roasted chicken she says, “I think when one thinks of starting a food venture you must start with the best dish that you have on hand. Even though I can roast or cook chicken, it was my roast pork that stands out so I tweaked the recipe to this current batch. Also because of the crackling, I added that term to my name and POH POH’S CRACK was born. The name of the brand gives it a cheeky reference that is very uniquely me,” she says with a cheeky smile.
Being in operations for a year and a half now, Joanne says the response has been very good to a point that certain festive months boosted sales. She was filled with orders to the brim during last Christmas, Chinese New Year and during sales periods like the 11.11 that she had to stop taking orders as she couldn’t cope.
“Because I am working from a home oven, I need to ensure that all the pork can be roasted at certain times to be able to hit the lunch orders. I think there were a few times when my daughter was like “No more Mom, no more stop” only because during holidays like Christmas & Chinese new year we were roasting almost 50kgs per week. Also when I expanded the menu to add Nasi Lemak Crack which is nasi lemak with a side of my signature roast belly on the first week we had 76 orders of nasi lemak. We now also have expanded to ‘siu yoke cake’. That’s my latest creation,” she says as she beams with pride.
With average sales last year amounting to above RM 100,000, Poh Poh’s Crack made a good profit at a reasonably small expense. Joanne plans to expand her online food delivery business to a pop-up stall or cafe possibly when offline stores are able to get back into full swing.
“At the moment, for future plans, I would like to join more food fairs like the one I did in PUBLIKA under MARDI by Lynn. We did 2 sessions in Publika before the lockdown came again around May 2021 which sold very well too.
“I will still be continuing with this business especially next year when food fairs are allowed and people go back to dining so it is still an ongoing hustle for me,” she says.
Not letting go of her showbiz career, Joanne is currently preparing for 2 big shows in October and another is in discussion for November. She says more events are opening up, be it online or live these days now that restrictions have been eased.
