Deli Maslina
Adibah (2nd Generation Owner)
Could you share with us about Deli Maslina?
Deli Maslina was started by Mr Ahmad and his wife Mdm Maskijah back in 1982. We produce traditional Malay kueh, cakes and cookies, and take great pride in maintaining the authentic taste of our products.
Our first outlet was in a coffeeshop located in Bedok North, before moving to a bigger space at Bedok Reservoir. Since then, we’ve expanded to another outlet at Our Tampines Hub as well as a central kitchen to help meet larger orders.
What made you decide to continue the family business?
My parents were getting old and expressed their wish to retire. Looking at how strong and long the brand has been around for, I felt that it would be a pity to let go of the business entirely. At that point, I was the obvious choice among my siblings to take on the role since my sisters are teachers, and my brother is based overseas. So, I decided to quit my job as a marketing executive to assist my parents. My brother also supported with business planning and administrative matters.
Image with Caption
Adibah (centre) together with her parents (right), niece (far left) and aunt (second from left) at the Our Tampines Hub outlet of Deli Maslina.
A typical day for Adibah involves checking in and coordinating with the kitchen and outlets on the day’s orders and deliveries.
What is a typical day like for you, and what is it like running a family business?
On a typical workday, I will check on all orders for the day and week, and coordinate with our kitchen. I will visit our outlets and lend a hand with daily operations where needed. Additionally, I will head to the kitchen for quality check and Research & Development of upcoming products, as well as a quick meeting with the marketing team.
Running a family business which has been around for many years has its own set of challenges. Making changes take time, be it implementing new things or fixing a current issue. Confidence is strengthened as things fall into place, even if it is deemed as far-fetched or new.
Can you tell us more about the project you developed through the Organisation Transformation Grant (OTG)?
With the Grant, we explored updated packaging options for our
kueh lapis (layered cake) and its rebranding to appeal to a wider market. While we maintain the traditional flavours of our
lapis, we also introduced new flavours that are evergreen.
The high costs of Research & Development, lack of manpower and finances had previously hindered us from taking on this project, but thanks the Grant, we were able to have the confidence to finally embark on this new line of products and package re-design.
Convincing her parents to adopt new packaging designs and lapis flavours was a challenge, but Deli Maslina has since received favourable reviews and even new customers thanks to their innovation efforts.
As lapis are often great gifts for family and friends, Adibah made it a point to create different colours and sizes of packaging to fit the needs of different customers.
Ice cream, prune and rempah are just some of the new flavours developed through Rearch & Development efforts supported by the Organisation Transformation Grant (OTG).
What have the results of the project been like?
Customers are drawn to purchase our lapis as gifts, and we also gained new customers who have not heard of our brand before. We are also able to increase production and manage our resources better.
We hope to increase and stabilize our lapis production enough to supply Business-to-Business and improve on the packaging further so our products can even be sent overseas.
How has Deli Maslina benefitted from the Organisation Transformation Grant?
As we go through the process of training, production and rebranding, we have also managed to streamline certain processes along the way, making it less time consuming and achieving savings in operational costs.
Any words of advice for other heritage businesses looking to innovate?
Product innovation and being up to date is important in business continuity, but always remember to maintain the essence of the tradition alive through your products.
Find out more about Deli Maslina at Website or on Instagram @delimaslina