The MCO (Movement Control Order) in Malaysia was not kind to many of us. This included Raj Krishnasamy and Siva Sachi, two 37-year-old friends who first met each other back in primary school in 1989.
This year, they ended up closing down their fine dining Indian restaurant in KL. Up until then, they had been in the F&B business for about 4 years.
Now, this might’ve been the end of the road for some, but not for this dynamic duo.
2 years ago, they found out about the concept of running a cloud kitchen from the US and the UK. And when their restaurant business came to a halt this year, they went back to the idea and decided to make it a reality.
And thus, KitchenCo was born!
We talked to Raj and Siva about how they made it happen and why they’re so passionate about paying it forward.
Giving chefs who lost their jobs during the MCO a platform to thrive
Raj shares that the idea behind KitchenCo is to serve good food and to help people.
He mentions that chefs who applied to work at KitchenCo had been unemployed between 4 – 6 months.
During the MCO period, a lot of chefs lost their jobs. And so we were thinking of how to help this community and also anyone else who wanted an opportunity, a second chance at life.
– Raj, K.
KitchenCo also went on to hire Nalvin Dhillon, a 23-year-old stateless college graduate, whose story on his 10-year struggle to secure his Malaysian citizenship was highlighted by The Star newspaper.
The birth of KitchenCo – Cloud Kitchen
KitchenCo is a delivery and takeaway-only cloud kitchen.
It launched recently on 4 December 2020, along Jalan Tandok in Bangsar.
We want to be a neighbourhood online food hall.
– SIvA, S.
Community is central to their F&B business.
Food options for their Bangsar outlet, for example, were created to cater to working individuals in nearby office buildings as well as families.
We will curate a menu based on what the neighbourhood wants.
– RAJ, K.
With up to 20 in-house brands, the KitchenCo Bangsar outlet offers a variety of yummy choices such as nasi lemak, fried chicken, pizza, salad, and desserts.
All menu items are created by KitchenCo’s team of about 10 chefs, who are given the creative freedom to come up with their own offerings.
Our chefs are local Malaysians. We want them to shine and to think out of the box. They now have the opportunity to play around with an empty canvas. And it’s really fun to work with them! They’re very nice people.
SIVA, S.
Raj shares that both he and Siva have had their fair share of tough times in life. And so they want to help people as much as they can.
We want to train people who are jobless. We just want to do our part and give back to the community. So if we have the opportunity to help, we help.
– RAJ, K.
A hopeful future that began with food by family
Raj shares that he and Siva are currently co-CEOs of KitchenCo.
He takes care of marketing and the user experience, while Siva handles finance and business development. They both share the responsibility of operations management, together.
Prior to being in the F&B industry, Raj worked as an IT consultant at a major pharmaceutical company, while Siva ran his own publishing company.
They decided to venture into F&B 4 years ago, because of their joint passion for food. Combined, they have a total of 8 years of F&B experience under their belt.
We actually found out that both our families were from Segamat, Johor, and that they knew each other. His (Siva) grandmother and my uncle also owned a restaurant each! So it’s like it’s fate. We have F&B in our DNA.”
– RaJ K.
In the near future, Raj and Siva plan on launching more KitchenCo outlets in other neighbourhoods like PJ, Shah Alam, Cyberjaya, and other states in Malaysia – with more in-house brands to suit the area’s demographics.
They also plan to take KitchenCo regional and international at some point in their journey.
So stay tuned for what this Beepin’ awesome pair have in-store!
View the KitchenCo Bangsar menu and order food now: kitchenco.beepit.com
Follow KitchenCo on Facebook and Instagram
Want good food delivered to your doorstep? Just Beep it!
This guys really know what people want from food. I went to their restaurant in the heart of KL last year. Beautiful set up, hearty meal, good food and happy belly. I have no doubt that their new idea and concept will be popular among Malaysian soon. I have tried some from the menu, really good. At this moment they only covers within 10km so they can maintain the best from their foods. Looking forward from KitchenCo to open their new establishments closer to me in Puchong. Kudos guys. Fly high and keep giving us excellent meals. Can’t wait to try everything else.
Need to open a cloud kitchen in Seremban
Sad because the delivery covers 10km only. Not a good choice!