YKGI, which was listed on the Singapore Exchange S68 ’s (SGX) Catalist board in February 2023, currently has nine brands under its portfolio. These are Yew Kee Duck Rice, My Kampung Chicken Rice, Kampung Kopi House, XO Minced Meat Noodle, Victoria Bakery, Fine Food and My Kampung food courts, Chicha San Chen and PastaGo.
While the business started through Yew Kee Duck Rice when the Seah family began selling Teochew-style braised duck rice from a simple push cart in the 1950s at Nee Soon (now known as Yishun), it was YKGI YK9 ’s founder and executive chairman, Seah Boon Lock, who grew the duck rice brand his father started. The company opened its first Yew Kee Duck Rice stall at Yishun in 1987 and opened its first Yew Kee Duck Rice standalone shop at Liang Seah Street in 2003. It also incorporated its subsidiary, Yew Kee Duck and Noodle House in 2002.
Today, the group is run by siblings Seah Qin Quan and Seah Kun Miao, who are YKGI’s CEO and marketing director, respectively. The siblings are the third generation to manage their family’s business, taking over from their grandfather and father. It was also their idea to bring in the master franchise for the Chicha San Chen bubble tea brand from Taiwan, as well as introduce new concepts such as PastaGo, a halal-certified kiosk that serves pasta for takeaways, and Victoria Bakery, which serves a variety of baked goods spanning Hong Kong-style pastries to French croissants.
When The Edge Singapore spoke to the siblings on Jan 13, 2023, they revealed that several expansion plans were in place, including the upgrading of the group’s central kitchen.
“We’ve got more brands coming in, so we need a bigger space [and a] better process. Our central kitchen currently supports the cooking of the braised duck for Yew Kee Duck Rice. It also serves as our warehouse. The upgrade will enable it to support the other brands under our group,” says the siblings.
They were also looking to expand their business beyond Singapore, focusing on the Southeast Asian region. At that time, the siblings said they were planning to open their first outlet overseas within the next five years. The siblings also revealed that they were eyeing mergers and acquisitions with brands that they were “keen on working with”.
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In its annual report for FY2023 ended Dec 31, 2023, YKGI says it has 77 retail outlets across Singapore under its nine brands.
In its last 1HFY2024 results, the company reported earnings of $2.5 million, nearly 6.6 times higher than its previous earnings of $375,000 in 1HFY2023. This was mainly due to the increase in revenue of $31.9 million, 7.6% higher y-o-y. The increase in revenue was mainly due to higher revenue from the group’s new and existing retail outlets, higher revenue from its food court business and higher contribution from its franchise business.
In April, the group entered into a master franchise agreement to operate and manage the Chicha San Chen brand in Macau. The agreement will last for eight years from April 26.
