Jesher Loi believes in the idea that each person must travel their own unique paths. His own journey saw him initially pursuing music before he joined Ya Kun, the iconic Singaporean coffee-and-toast chain founded by his grandfather, Loi Ah Koon, in the 1940s.

Loi, who grew up playing the violin, always harboured a passion for music. Through the course of his musical studies at The Master’s University in the US, this passion only grew. “Practicing composition, attending concerts, planning them, I had found what I truly loved to do,” he shared.

But duty called. At the time, his parents were running the business together with his uncle. “My parents understood my passion for music and they saw how energised I was by it. But they were slowing down from running the business, so they asked if I would consider returning and doing both,” Loi recalled.

A deal was struck. Loi would come on board, if he was allowed to pursue music on the side. He first joined the business in 2010 and is now director of branding and market development at Ya Kun, a role he balances with his external music endeavours. Outside the family business, he coaches youth string ensembles in two schools, among other interests. “It’s a privilege to be able to do both,” Loi acknowledged.

“Leading a heritage business is a lot of responsibility,” he added. “Ya Kun bears my grandfather’s name. For my family to build so much, I owe it to them to take the business forward.”

NAVIGATING TRADITION AND INNOVATION

This year, Ya Kun celebrates its 80th anniversary. It’s a poignant time for Loi to reflect on all that the company has achieved and the path that lies ahead.  

His earliest memories of Ya Kun include visiting his aunts and uncles at the Lau Pa Sat outlet on weekends as a child. As a snack, “they never gave me kaya toast!” quipped Loi. “They always gave me crackers, cut up into pieces and served with toothpicks on a styrofoam plate.”

While it was Loi’s grandfather who started Ya Kun, it was his parents’ generation who expanded the business and grew it into a household name in Singapore. There are currently 83 Ya Kun outlets in the country, with overseas franchise outlets in markets such as China, Dubai, Myanmar, Philippines and more.

Even after joining the business, Loi admitted he didn’t originally intend to stay for long. “When you are young, it’s hard to see yourself doing the same thing for 30, 40 years. I wanted to take everything one step at a time. Who knew, it has already been 14 years since I joined,” the 39-year-old said.  

Loi was determined to gain his credibility beyond being just the boss’ son (his father, Adrin Loi, is currently executive chairman of Ya Kun). “People knew me as Mr Loi’s son. As a fresh graduate, I was clueless and I admitted it. But whatever ideas I had, they wouldn’t be so quick to shut it down. I tried to make sure that my suggestions had value, and that people weren’t giving me respect just because of who I am,” he said.

Some of the changes Loi has introduced to the business involve a shift towards digitalisation. In 2018, Ya Kun launched its own app, enabling customers to make in-store payments and accumulate loyalty points. Loi acknowledges that implementing changes in a heritage business is no easy feat. "Sometimes it feels like we're an elephant. We're quite steady, but when we need to change direction, it takes persistent nudging before things start moving."

But it is a delicate task to balance modernisation and tradition. Loi is nostalgic about preserving the quintessential Ya Kun experience. “In becoming more digital centric, the difficulty lies in how far do we go? How fast do we go?” he mused. When Ya Kun first introduced buzzers for order collections, “I was very unhappy”, he admitted, but practicality won. “We are all about serving our customers and in the past, my grandfather would personally walk over to customers. Staff would be shouting out orders in the kitchen. But as the number of outlets and scale of the business grew, we couldn’t do this any longer.”

“We have to manage what has to go and what we can preserve,” Loi asserted. “We know that people still want to see their coffee hand brewed in front of them, and we do strive to maintain that. We know that people see our outlets as a space to come in, sit down and have their coffee and toast, and we preserve that experience as much as we can.”

A BUSINESS FOR GOOD

Beyond the customer experience, Loi’s role today also involves shaping the company culture and “helping staff find meaning in their day to day”. “When I look at my team, there are some aunties and uncles who are very happy doing the same thing every day, but there are also others who are more ambitious. They want to learn about P&L, they want to learn how to run their own shop,” he said. “How do we engage our staff to dream bigger, and how do we walk with them through their career journeys? We challenge them, encourage them to push boundaries.”

Where Loi derives the greatest sense of purpose and joy is in using the business as a vehicle to give back. As a long-standing, decades-old business with numerous outlets across the island, Ya Kun has weaved itself into the fabric of Singapore society. “When you have over 80 brick and mortar stores, you can use that for good and to connect with customers,” Loi reflected.

By leveraging its brand visibility and customer base, Ya Kun strives to make a meaningful impact on various social causes. “Over the years, we have built a certain level of trust and consistency through our brand and our products. But that trust can be expanded. If Ya Kun says that we will donate a certain amount to charity, you can trust that we will.”

Through the years, the company has collaborated with several charities both locally and internationally. Initiatives include reading programmes in the Philippines, as well as water and sanitation projects in Vietnam. In Singapore, it has collaborated with organisations such as Boys Town, which works with at-risk and disadvantaged youths. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company started a digital “pay it forward” campaign titled Fuel A Frontliner, where customers can use their in-app points to treat frontline workers to a hot drink.

80 is just a number. Where the company is getting to next is much more important.”

HARMONISING PASSIONS

Outside the family business, Loi, who is married with three sons, finds the time for his other passions. He describes coaching youth string ensembles as his “happy place”. Aside from his music activities, he presently sits on the board of the National Museum of Singapore and is also an executive committee member of the Singapore Business Federation’s Young Business Leaders Network.

“I joke that these are my CCAs (co-curricular activities), not work-related, but good exposure where I get to learn and meet new people. When I take on a new project, I am all-in,” Loi shared.

His love for music translates into his work with Ya Kun. “Timing is crucial in both business and music. Understanding your audience and customers is key, along with touching the emotional side of people."

Other hobbies include training for a triathlon. “It is a lot of alone time and long distances, but I enjoy it. And one thing about me is that once I start something, like running, I cannot stop, even if I’m going at a slow pace. But that’s a part of my personality as well, where I am prepared to go slow to go distance.”

There will always be a predecessor and a successor. My job is to be a good link and to prepare the business for the next successor.”

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Reaching 80 years in business is a major milestone, one that prompts the question – what’s the secret recipe behind Ya Kun’s enduring success through the decades?

After all, as Loi concurs, “the product is a simple one”. “You can find kaya toast, coffee and soft-boiled eggs in many coffee shops, not just at big chains. It’s not a complex meal.”

Loi attributes much of Ya Kun’s earlier success to timing. “We expanded the business at a providential timing when the local F&B scene was picking up. You had your Old Chang Kee, your bubble tea shops coming up. We caught on that wave,” he reflected. “Culture also dictates company direction. We have a culture of excellence and we don’t compromise on our values. We do our best to put our customers first,” he continued.

Acknowledging the challenges on the horizon, including industry-wide concerns such as the rising cost of ingredients, “which is out of our hands, but can keep us up at night,” his vision for Ya Kun remains clear. “We want to preserve our heritage and our menu. We want our kaya toast to look the same and be prepared the same, so that it tastes the same.”

To achieve that, Loi sees himself as “a link in a long chain”. “There will always be a predecessor and a successor. My job is to be a good link and to prepare the business for the next successor, whoever that may be,” he explained.

Each link, Loi believes, has the responsibility to steer the business as best they can during their time, and to put their own spin on it. “For me, I am big on social work so as long as I am in the business, that will be my focus. I will leave future generations to figure out their own priorities.”

“It’s a proud moment for us to reach our 80th anniversary,” Loi reflected. “But 80 is just a number. Where the company is getting to next is much more important.”

Leading a heritage business is a lot of responsibility. Ya Kun bears my grandfather’s name. I owe it to [my family] to take the business forward.”