LONDON: WILLIAM Chew’s personal journey from being a food-loving mama’s boy to a chilli paste entrepreneur in Sheffield had tough, fiery “Dragons” from British television programme Dragons’ Den in tears, moving one of them to offer him £50,000 (RM257,000) to help him expand his business.
“I think the winning formula for my sambal is that it is made from the heart and has the best natural ingredients,” said Chew.
His pitch impressed Sarah Davies, one of the Dragons who founded a retail business while at university.
She was one of the contestants who benefited from the BBC2 programme, and now, her business has an annual turnover of more than £34 million.
Davies, wiping her tears and going against her parameters, offered Chew the £50,000 with Chew’s cousin, Ng Shang Yin, also offered a stake in the chilli paste business.
“There’s a lot of chilli paste and one Will. I want to work with you and I think someone needs to give you a break. I will give you the money — me, you and your cousin — we can have a third each.”
Chew was the last of five startup entrepreneurs in the programme’s episode three of season 17 on Sunday to try their luck in what was a nail-biting half-an-hour in the Den, facing some of the toughest in the business.
Dragons’ Den is a series in which budding entrepreneurs get three minutes to pitch their business ideas to five multi-millionaires, or Dragons, who are willing to invest.
The format of the show is based on the original Japanese programme, which has been sold around the world. The programme is produced by BBC Manchester and was first broadcast on BBC2 on Jan 4, 2005.
The pitch is over once each of the Dragons says: “I’m out.”
For Chew, the nerve-wracking moment was when he couldn’t come up with his sales figures.
However, he smiled through the rejections, pinning his final hope on Davies. He broke down when Davies offered him the funds he needed.
The 28-year-old entrepreneur from Penang, who did his MA in Psychology in Music at University of Sheffield, walked into the Den, clad in a banana green baju Melayu, complete with a matching sampin, with a guitar slung over his shoulder.
In spite of suffering from anxiety, he was intent on winning over the Dragons, not only with his toothy, cheeky smile, but also with his song and his Mak Tok’s chilli paste, whose recipe he admitted he “nicked” from his mother, Agnes Kong.
His positivity and honest answers won the Dragons over.
His story, journey, and song reflected his yearning for home-cooked food, especially his mother’s chilli paste. He had experimented with the paste and found that something was missing.
In an interview with Chew last year, he spoke about how his chilli paste got its name.
He said he was teaching music to the grandson of a kind Malay lady, the late Puan Sri Rohani, whom he called Mak Tok.
It was Mak Tok who came to his rescue and sent him the best quality anchovies that were missing from his chilli sambal.
With Ng’s persuasion, Chew started the chilli paste business with his cousin after he completed his studies.
Their products are made at a friend’s factory. They can be found in farm shops and local delis, as well as a chain of supermarkets across Yorkshire.
The paste, which can be used for anything — from making curry to spice up laksa noodles and fried rice — had won Chew several awards.
He was the winner of the 2017 Evolve business competition, Fine Food Digest Editor’s Choice last year and finalist for The Pitch by Deloitte.
He was also a finalist for the Sheffield Business Award in 2017.
Chew was awarded the Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Award last year.
However, things are not all sweet for Mak Tok’s chilli paste as there was a problem with Chew’s visa last year and his business faced closure, triggering a #savemaktok campaign.
However, he can put all that behind him and look forward to a future he has dreamt about, dominating the world with his chilli paste.
Chew said he was encouraged by his customers to go and try his luck in Dragons’ Den.
“It was a surreal kind of experience. I remember feeling anxious, excited, scared — all at the same time. Can you imagine the people who you watch on television sitting right in front of you? And they are not just ordinary people, they are the cream of the crop in their respective industries.”
On what he would do with
the funds, he said: “I will spend the money to give Mak Tok’s that boost it needs to be recognised not only in Yorkshire, but also the United Kingdom and possibly the world.
“The funds will allow us to run marketing campaigns we have planned, expand our market and hire people to join us on this exciting journey.”
On his eye-catching attire, he said: “I’m a Malaysian and what better way to show the world my heritage than through my swanky baju Melayu.”