Kek & Co. Pioneers In Cake Decoration Industry

Kek & Co is founded in 2015 by Satira Diana Borhanuddin, 38, and Farah Melissa Aniah, 33, where they have been in the industry for 11 years in their previous online cake companies, which are Pearl Cakes Events and Raindough before they collaborated.

Farah and Satira went from competitors to collaborators and before they worked together, they were just bakers who only contacted each other on the internet and often passed orders to each other.

According to Satira, she was not even a culinary student in the first place, she is an architecture, art and design, and mass communication dropout.

“Cake decorations came to me by chance, it all happened when my friend had to complete an order of 200 pieces of cupcakes and she asked for my help to pipe buttercream and I was able to pick up that skill easily,” she said.

After helping her friend for a year, she then decided to take the business seriously because she felt that she was more content in the cake business.

Kek & Co. started with their first kitchen in an apartment at Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur and then they moved to Taman Tun, which then they settled in Petaling Jaya.

At first, the goal of Kek & Co. was to educate and to change the perception of local consumers on the ability and credibility of local cake artists, proving that they have the same quality as international cake artists.

Kek & Co. stands out a bit more because the concepts or design have a very signature, bright and quirky colours that other people may not be able to replicate unless they copy exactly.

They always want a difference in their products, which is why when an order comes in, they make sure that customer’s requests are fulfilled by figuring out the best way to execute them, which includes experimenting with different techniques, figuring new methods that may produce a better outcome.

Back in 2017, their unicorn cake went viral globally to a point where their cake designs are seen in malls overseas.

When it comes to Kek & Co, they truly practice the saying of ‘when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade’ by constantly being flexible and adapting to changes especially in this challenging time as we are facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

They had to pivot to small celebrations at home, where custom orders are reduced to focus on predesigned cakes, which are under Kue by Cake, and bringing experiences to people’s homes via the DIY cake kits.

That would be the future direction of Kek & Co until the pandemic is over. As for the custom cakes, the request is always there, but the budget has changed as people’s buying behaviour is different now.

“At times like this, we see that everyone is a bit more cautious about their spending priorities in terms of what they should be spending on.

“Ever since the Movement Control Order (MCO), a lot of people are baking cakes at home and starting cake businesses, where the market is getting saturated and having to compete with home bakers is another challenge for Kek & Co,” Satira said.

They manage customers online as for Kue by Cake it is much easier, where customers can just browse and order on their website.

The predesigned cakes only need one day's notice. It is a much easier process, where the design is as it is.

As for Kek & Co. custom cakes are required to order at least one week before to complete a cake on time.

The process of completing an order is still quite traditional in terms that they have to find out more information on the cake requests, which is why they are reducing on taking orders for custom cakes.

Currently, they only have six kitchen crews, where they used to have nine or ten before the pandemic.

The crew consists of different expertise such as cake bakers, decorators for buttercream, and handling fondants, meaning teamwork is necessary for completing a custom cake.

They had more revenue before MCO as they have more platforms from seasonal occasions such as Chinese New Year, Ramadan, and Hari Raya Aidilfitri, where sales are good and could cover back their revenue.

As the MCO continues, they are still recovering and are still at their worst state which they have to pay their staff in full despite not having any business running.

As a committee member of the Food and Beverage (F&B) support group, Satira and her fellow group mates wrote a letter to the Minister of Finance, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, and had a meeting with him.

They yield the PRIHATIN help by the government which lasted for a few months but then they have to figure out the other solution to sustain their business.

“It is impossible for two people (Satira and Farah) to cover the cost and the revenue due to MCO and that is the reason why they are still recovering.

“It’s no longer about what you want to sell. Right now, is just about survival. It’s not about big goals; it’s just achieving small goals,” said Satira.

Another challenge is when Satira had an intention to leave Kek & Co. as the current situation has really affected her mental health.

Before the pandemic, on average, Kek & Co. gains RM50,000-RM60,000 per month but now it is down to half.

Kek & Co. has always been receiving positive feedback from their customers.

“The custom cakes are pleasant to the eye, what more indulging it,” according to Ruqayyah Hashim, 32, the cake she ordered for her little daughter’s birthday celebration was scrumptious and fun.

“My daughter really enjoys decorating by herself,” referring to the cake decorating kit from Kek & Co. A customer who wants to be known as Nadhirah, 35, is very satisfied with the service served by a worker named Azie and the environmental friendly packaging from Kek & Co.

With the helpful assistant from the competent staff of Kek & Co., they managed to deliver the request by Nadhirah for her daughter’s birthday.

“The cake itself tastes great and it is really convenient that I do not need to keep it in the fridge. Overall, I love the service and the cake. No complaint,” said Nadhirah.

However, Kek & Co. targets to go more into the mass market and cut down on custom cakes. It is hard for them to go mass as they have been in the urban market for so long, this is where Kue by Kek comes in.

Their focus currently is to survive until the end of the year and not put too much pressure on themselves as their mental health is more important.