As someone who has a sister, I know firsthand that siblinghood often comes with challenges, even though it’s all love at the end of the day.
That said, I’m not sure a business could survive our fickle fights and healthy disagreements.
Such is not the case for Boo and Jia Zhi. The eldest son and youngest daughter of their family, the duo grew up in a small town called Triang in Pahang.
Now, at age 33 and 29 respectively, the two decided to open a bagel shop together in SS15 called Five Plus Bagels.
From accountant to F&B
Five Plus Bagels’ baking mastermind is none other than Jia Zhi. As an introverted person, Jia Zhi often struggles to fully express herself in front of others.
“That’s why she loves baking—it allows her to focus completely and quietly work on her creations,” Boo explained. “She feels a deep sense of accomplishment whenever she successfully bakes something that looks beautiful and tastes great.”
After earning her diploma from Famous Chef Professional Baking & Culinary Academy, Jia Zhi went on to work at several well-known bakeries, including Lavender, Tous Les Jours, and Komugi.
Meanwhile, Boo is a chartered accountant.
“I’ve always had this dream—to create something of our own, something that could contribute, even just a little, to the world,” Boo expressed.
“I’ve always wanted to leave something behind in this life, no matter how small or simple it might be. As long as it’s the result of our efforts, it gives meaning to the journey and makes life feel less empty.”
He didn’t always know what that “something” would be, though. It was only when Jia Zhi started studying baking that he thought maybe bread could be it.
For years, the duo would talk about owning a bakery someday. After the pandemic ended, they finally took action and quit their jobs to start Five Plus Bakery.
“It just felt like it was time. There wasn’t a specific push. It was simply the moment to take that first step toward a long-standing dream,” Boo said.
So they set up Five Plus Bakery, the name referencing their surname Boo. Boo Family translates to “Wu Jia” in Mandarin, which sounds like the word “五加” meaning “Five Plus.”
From bread to bagel
So, the business started in May 2022 as a home-based bakery.
Being new to business, they didn’t dare to invest heavily in a physical store and instead rented a terrace house in Kepong for their bread production.
“With a few basic tools like a single-deck oven and a mixer, our entrepreneurial journey began,” Boo quipped.
At the time, they weren’t even selling bagels yet. It wasn’t until November 2022 that the siblings saw the potential of bagels.
In 2022, the bagel landscape locally was still sparse, and the siblings felt that options in the market often tasted like normal bread, just shaped like a bagel.
“We wanted more people to understand what that iconic bagel texture is all about. And with Jia Zhi’s years of baking experience, we believed that if we really put our hearts into it, we could make it work.”
After months of trial and error, the siblings finally launched their bagels online in May 2023.
From home to store
Six months into the business, the siblings realised the limitations of being home-based. Efficiency tended to suffer, and online orders were mostly made-to-order and delivered by courier, so product creativity was heavily restricted.
“We couldn’t use ingredients like cream or meats, for example, because they might spoil before reaching the customer,” they explained.
Another challenge was the lack of interaction with customers. Since most people had never met the duo in person, it was hard to build relationships.
Moreover, they felt that many people were hesitant to trust a home-based food business.
A physical store would allow customers to walk in, see and smell the food for themselves, and also enjoy fresher products.
Believing SS15 to be a well-known food hub that’s accessible to delivery orders too, they decided to set up shop there.
From home to store
Here at the store, it’s all about bagels.
They offer two main types of bagels. The first is the classic bagels such as plain, poppyseed, and multigrain. The second type is filled bagels, which come in both sweet and savoury flavors.
Some of their signature flavours for the filled bagels include Hazelnut Nutella (a hazelnut bagel filled with Nutella and cream cheese), Onde-Onde (pandan bagel filled with gula melaka), Mala Chicken, Garlic Cheese, and more.
Currently, they offer up to 35 different bagel flavours on their shelves and 10 flavours of cream cheese.
Aside from bagels, they offer ready-to-eat sandwiches and bagel chips. To complete the experience, they also serve freshly brewed coffee.
However, they don’t see Five Plus Bagels as a café. Rather, it’s more of a bagel bakery with a grab-and-go concept.
They believe this concept sets them apart from many other bagel spots that operate more like cafés or restaurants.
“Don’t get us wrong, those gourmet bagel sandwiches are definitely appealing. But we noticed a gap: with that model, bagels essentially become full meals,” Boo pointed out.
“But what about people who don’t have time to sit down for a proper meal? What about those who crave a bagel outside of standard mealtimes? Or people who just want something quick to grab right after waking up, before heading to bed, or during their morning commute?”
Five Plus Bagels is their answer to that.
From one sibling to another
Three years in, Five Plus Bagels continues to be run solely by the sibling duo. They’ve handled everything from website design to shipping.
Even with a physical store, why haven’t they hired any staff?
“It’s because one of the biggest expenses for a startup is rent and employee salaries, both of which must be paid on time, regardless of whether the business is doing well or not,” Boo explained.
Thus, they decided to be more prudent with expenses, especially when the business is still young.
Plus, being hands-on allows them to have a full understanding of every process, method, and detail. This means they can directly identify issues and resolve them.
But one challenge that’s harder to overcome is brand awareness, since Five Plus Bagels is still a new business.
“Even the best product means nothing if it doesn’t sell,” Boo said.
Aside from building brand awareness, the duo is working to become the bagel shop with the most flavours in Malaysia, with an aim of getting recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records.
Ultimately though, they believe that good things take time, so all they can do is to keep going, one step at a time.
“At the end of the day, success in business really comes down to just two things—a product that’s good enough, and enough people who love it,” he shared.
“Instead of getting caught up in complex strategies, we prefer to stay grounded, keep improving our product, and never take our customers’ trust for granted.”
- Learn more about Five Plus Bagels here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about F&B businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Five Plus Bagels
