I just got back from Sunway Pyramid. My wife and I wanted to catch movie, but there was nothing particularly interesting. We ended up trying Ireland’s Potato instead.
Ireland’s Potato serves potatoes with toppings like Honey Mustard, Cheddar Cheese, Meat Sauce, and Sour Cream. It’s not a restaurant, it’s more of a small kiosk. While waiting for our orders, we talked to one of the guys at the cash register. I think he’s either the owner or manager there. We learned that Ireland’s Potato is a franchise, and is new in Malaysia. It has only been operating there since 1 month ago.
Lessons learned:
1. Location, Location, Location.
If you’re in food business, location is very important (right after product and price). Ireland’s Potato is located at the very entrance of the cinema in Sunway Pyramid. Trust me, if you’re going to the movies there, you can’t help but notice it. It’s the perfect place since it targets young adults and movie goers are typically from that category.
Although premium locations come at higher costs, natural traffic can easily boost your initial sales. Even with low marketing budget, you can still catch the passers by. But don’t forget you must have great products and good service to retain them. With sites like Views.com.my, feedbacks and reviews (especially negative ones) are easily shared. Word of mouth travels fast nowadays.
2. Appearance
What initially attracted us to Ireland’s Potato was its appearance. It has large pictures, attractive mascot and good color combination. We immediately understood what it had to offer: potatoes. Its whole concept was clear. Humans, by nature, don’t like ambiguity. We hate being clueless in any situation. If your customers don’t know what you have to offer, how can you sell?
Anyway, we tried the Special Cheddar Cheese Potato and the BBQ Chicken Ball. The food was okay. The cheese wasn’t salty enough to my liking. I love potatoes, but for me, anything without meat isn’t a complete meal. With 2 drinks, the total price was slightly more than RM20. I think it’s a bit too pricy for snack foods, since you can easily get a couple of decent meals at that price.
3. When in doubt, go Western.
At the kiosk, its wallpapers are full of Ireland ‘history’. And its slogan is ”In Ireland, there are 2 things in the world that can’t be joked: 1. marriage 2. potatoes”. But Ireland’s Potato is not from Ireland. The guy I talked to revealed that it actually originated from Hong Kong, and is now in Taiwan, Macau and soon Singapore. I think the fact that its own website does not reveal where it originated from shows that they really try to pretend it’s indeed from Ireland.
Malaysian brands have also started to capitalize on the public mind set that anything western is good. For example, most Malaysians think that 1901 and Manhattan Fish Market are American brands. They’re not. They’re 100% Malaysian, even though they have western logos, western settings and the whole shebang. 1901 calls itself ‘American hot dog pushcarts and kiosks’ and boasts a menu that consists of items like New York Chicken, Chicago Beef and Minnesota Bites.
No wonder we have Nasi Goreng USA.
Posted by Khairul.
Filed under Business & Management, General
Posted on Thu, 03 September 2009 at 1:15 am
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definitely not from Ireland. never saw one there. do u know that in ireland, there aren’t many McD and KFC as u can find in any other countries. well, u can find McD quite easily alrite but KFC is scarce. Coz Ireland has its own successful fast food brand, Supermac’s. pretty cool huh! ah, missing its fries with garlic sauce, yummy.
03 Sep 09 at 5:27 pm #even kat kentucky pun kfc tak banyak macam kat malaysia.
btw for kfc lovers, please compare these pictures:
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/7346/shrimp.jpg
04 Sep 09 at 1:05 pm #and
http://lot.my/catalog/view/skin/chillis/images/KFC.jpg
definitely a must try. i havent been to pyramid for ages! nway, the tips are very useful. tho i dunt have a physical shop, not yet at least, think they r applicable as well.
04 Sep 09 at 2:17 pm #Fine Dining: Westerners eat Asian cuisines, Asians eat Western foods.
06 Sep 09 at 5:39 pm #is it halal? just wanna know. i want to go and try.
05 Apr 11 at 2:16 am #according to one malay worker masa tu, yes halal. tapi tak perasan pulak logo halal.
11 Apr 11 at 5:09 pm #You’re totally right on this writing.
11 Nov 11 at 8:18 am #it’s funny because i seriously thougt it was an Irish restaurant.Lesson learn from here is,if the restaurant try to promote the country where it wants you to think it’s from.It’s obviously a malaysian or some asian brand.Because you would never see McD or KFC over promotes United States.Though sushi restaurant is kinda exception
22 Jan 12 at 3:02 am #