KUALA LUMPUR - It all started after watching the Korean drama "Itaewon Class”, which is about a young man opening a restaurant and the various obstacles he had to face in managing the business, that led On Isa to produce a halal version of the IdaOn Korean Sauce, which is modified to suit the Malaysian taste.
The owner of IdaOn Trading, On, 54, said the idea came after he watched the Korean drama in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The drama is about a young man who opens a restaurant and the various challenges he faces in managing the business.
"The drama inspired me, how it motivates, inspires and gives me ideas, on how to make my business more successful. This is because what the young man in the drama went through was similar to my own experience in producing various sauces," he said when met at his factory in Taman Salak Jaya, here.
On, who is assisted by his wife and two children, aged 24 and 22, used to run a restaurant business, but ventured into producing various products including chilli sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, and green chilli sauce in 2018 because of poor business during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On said he named his Korean sauce 'IdaOn’, a combination of his name and his wife.
"IdaOn sauce is produced every two weeks, with 200 to 300 bottles per production to meet the demands of customers who order online through e-commerce platforms,” he said.
"Alhamdulillah, after nearly three years, more than 10,000 bottles of the Korean sauce have been sold," he said.
On is confident that his Korean sauce can dominate the market because not many halal versions of that food seasoning are produced in the country.
He said it takes years of the fermentation process to produce an authentic Korean sauce.
"My Korean sauce is produced under a process approved by the Malaysian Ministry of Health and the Islamic Development Department Malaysia (JAKIM),” he said.
On said his customers are from all over the country.
"Most of the purchases are by petty traders whom I believe use the sauce to produce Korean fried chicken, which is in high demand at the moment. Some of them (traders) also use it as a basic ingredient in cooking," he said. - BERNAMA