Interview with Yoshiko Tey, Administrative and Human Resource Director, Kedaiku

Perseverance, resilience and self-belief are the three qualities that exemplify the success of homegrown company Kedaiku.

Co-founded by locals Geoffrey Yap and Jacky Teo, Kedaiku’s origins hark back to 2015-2016, in the wake of a previous partnership’s failure, where the two started off with selling toys, food and beverages from other countries.

“When our previous venture failed, we moved on to thinking about how to provide high quality products to Bruneians,” said Kedaiku’s Administrative and Human Resource Director Yoshiko Tey.

Kedaiku is now in its seventh year, providing high quality premium products to the local market, featuring a broad product range from international brands such as Sttoke, Fressko, Quinto, Hello Lulu, Jansport and Alpaka. In addition, Kedaiku is also a Liverpool Football Club official merchandise reseller.

“When you go to Singapore, to get this same product you’d pay, let’s say, BND35 or BND39.95,” said Yoshiko. “Then for us in Brunei, usually you’ll pay BND50 or BND60 for the same item or a bit more, and that’s why we decided that we want to bring these products in and offer the same price, but without you needing to travel out to get the item.”

High quality with an eye on being eco-friendly

In addition to importing high quality premium products, another key aspect of Kedaiku’s vision is to provide customers with as many eco-friendly options as possible.

Thinking about how many cups end up in the bin or even thrown in the sea after just one use, and seeing growth in terms of the number of cafes in Brunei, the Kedaiku co-founders zeroed in on reusable drinkware and foodware.

Taking a Sttoke cup as an example, Yoshiko explained, “It’s eco-friendly, as you can bring this anywhere you go. At cafes, for instance, I will bring a cup like this and use it for take-away or dine in. We encourage our customers to use this everywhere.”

Aside from drinkware, Kedaiku also sells other eco-friendly products, such as sanitary pads by Enya which use organic cotton.

Adding a personal touch

Another key aspect of Kedaiku’s success is the personalisation they provide for customers’ purchases, which saved the company in 2018.

At the time, the company had nearly gone bust so the founders had to restrategise their business model. A key inspiration was a conversation between Jacky and his niece, who told him that people don’t like to use plastic straws anymore and asked if he would consider selling stainless steel alternatives in Brunei.

Deciding to give it a try, Jacky and Geoffrey also thought of ways to make these straws different, and it was then that they went into personalisation and engraving for reusable drinkware, adding another unique selling point to their business.

So far, the response from customers has been positive. “It’s great and the knowledge and awareness on eco-friendly products has been on the rise as seen by the increased usage of reusable cups and eco-friendly products among our customers,” said Yoshiko.

Having both a physical and online presence, Kedaiku has received strong support from their customers, with Yoshiko noting that they have a balance of both.

“I think online shopping has been catching up. We have a lot of repeat customers who already know and have used our products. Online shopping is very convenient for them, and if they purchase above BND100, it’s free delivery nationwide.”

Continuing to grow

A key part of Kedaiku’s growth was the strong reception they received from customers during the pandemic, as customers wanted to purchase overseas products without needing to travel.

During this period, while Kedaiku’s website had been set up, it didn’t have any checkout functions. It was here that Baiduri Bank was of great help through its e-commerce solution, MerchantSuite (by Linkly), which provides businesses with a secure and reliable card payment channel, in addition to other digital features.

Another crucial aspect of Kedaiku’s growth has been its people. As Yoshiko highlighted, “Kedaiku is a homegrown company founded by Bruneians. We hire local staff and that is one of the keys to our success. We are very proud of this.”

“I think the i-Ready programme has also helped us a lot,” Yoshiko added. “Through our on-the-job training, we help to develop their skills to perform their job more effectively. We hope to see increased productivity and ultimately, success for the company.”

“At the same time, we have challenges as well,” she shared, noting that one difficulty has been retaining local staff who are exploring employment opportunities beyond the private sector. “So that’s our challenge: how can we provide better benefits to our staff to make them stay and work with us longer? Because they are really capable. We just need them to be with us and grow with us.”

Looking ahead, Kedaiku aims to continue supporting both local employment and the country’s economy. In addition, Yoshiko shared, “We’ll be looking for more brands and also at other business strategies, to see how we can expand not just within Brunei-Muara, but to other districts as well.”