Kay Kay of Kay Kay Foods on starting your own food business
By Kay Kay Li
Lunar New Year is my favourite time of the year and my most memorable times are celebrating it in Hong Kong during my early years. The buzzing of the flower market, going to the temple for blessings of good luck for the coming year, lion dances, family gatherings, the guarantee of lucky money and the food!
Vegetarianism isn’t new to Chinese cuisine – traditionally the first day of Lunar New Year (LNY) will be meat-free and my late gran would always cook Buddha’s Delight, which was her signature dish (a tradition that we still uphold today).
My gran is from Tai O and often told stories of Po Lin Monastery where we would visit the nunnery and eat vegetarian food. If you get a chance to visit Hong Kong, I highly recommend visiting Tai O, Po Lin Monastery and the Big Buddha which is on Lantau Island.
My plant-based journey started when I participated in Veganuary 2017 and that is when I first started veganising the food I grew up with and the food that I enjoy eating. I shared these dishes with close friends, who then encouraged me to start selling. At the time, there were not many vegan Chinese food places. The journey to veganism wasn’t an easy transition – having grown up in a Chinese household, it’s not easy to change your palate. I am one that enjoys meat alternatives because for me, my motivation is that I love all animals and that we should treat them all the same, not just dogs and cats.
My first experience was running a three-day pop-up. The menu consisted of Biang Biang noodles with cumin seitan, dumplings, Taiwanese pop-corn chick’n, mapo tofu, etc. Everything was handmade!
I didn’t do it by myself. I partnered with someone who taught me a lot, for which I’m grateful . It was an adrenaline-fuelled experience and a business was formed off the back of it. It was a steep learning curve, for sure, like all start-ups. One of my favourite Chinese sayings is “starting a business is hard but keeping a business running is even harder”. Like most second generation Chinese, my parents had a Chinese takeaway where I had a part-time job in my teens. It was something I really hated and I vowed never to work in a kitchen. Having now done a stint of running a food business, I appreciate the hard work and long hours my parents put in.
The challenge I faced was juggling my time – as I did, and still do, work a full-time job. My late gran also was very ill and I was her carer. On top of that, running pop-ups, markets, residencies and festivals eventually took its toll. On the business side however, the opportunities presented themselves quite easily at the time and I think this was because there wasa lack of vegan Chinese offerings – and I like to think the food was good!
Since starting a vegan Chinese food business, this coming LNY will be my fourth LNY pop-up. Last year during lockdown, I created an eight-course food parcel which sold out not long after launch. The theme each year doesn’t stray away from the traditional dishes too much – and I also like to add a twist. There will be dumplings, noodles, turnip cake, Buddha’s Delight, etc. With the majority of dishes, you can replace the protein with a plant-based one and it would taste just as good. Last year my favourite dish was 芋头扣肉 veganised using OmniPork. However, my favourite New Year’s dish will always be some form of dumplings. I enjoy spicy food from the Sichuan and Xi’an region even though I grew up on Cantonese food. The Kay Kay menu is a combination of these.
At the start of the first lockdown, I started Kay Kay (my Chinese name) and was running a delivery-only business at Dinerama via Uber because dining-in was not allowed. Business wasn’t great and I was very lucky to have my parents helping. This lasted a few months until Dinerama closed down for good. For a few months, I did home deliveries every Sunday. Some weeks were good and my dad had to help with deliveries but some weeks were not so good. This would be my whole Sunday: On The Road. Eventually, I moved over to postal delivery. In a space of a few months, I had to adapt the business like many others during the pandemic. The great thing about hospitality is that everyone looks out for each other and I think more opportunities arose for small businesses during lockdown. New platforms such as Pippy Eats, Alta Food and Pezu to name a few, provided start-ups with opportunities…
I was very well aware that many existing East and South East Asian (ESEA) businesses struggled during the pandemic and some unfortunately never recovered. For Kay Kay, we may have inadvertently experienced boycott but we were also a new business, started during the pandemic. Considering we relied on word of mouth, we have had immense support with lots of repeat custom as well as new custom.
I would say that if you want to start an ESEA food business, go for it. Don’t wait to perfect your offering before you start selling. There are many places that offer help such as Foodhub (online ordering service) on Facebook and most fellow businesses I know have their own WhatsApp groups, communities for self-help and helping others. You will find information on your local council website and with catering associations such as The Nationwide Catering Association (NCASS). If you wish to adopt a more plant-based diet, start with your favourite dish and think of how you can replace the meat —most of the flavours come from herbs, spices and monosodium glutamate anyway ;) Sometimes, removing the meat leaves it tasting just as good. It is also a fun challenge!
Kay Kay is British-born Chinese and spent some time living in Hong Kong during her early years. Although she moved back to live in the UK permanently when she was six years old, she was still able to enjoy food from Hong Kong cooked lovingly by her grandparents. Since turning plant-based she has ‘veganised’ the food she grew up with and misses dearly, sometimes with flavours and ingredients inspired by other cultures she loves. Her hope is, through experiencing her food, you will be transported to the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong.