Melbourne-born chilli oil brand UmamiPapi turns up the heat in Malaysia with AEON deal

Born in a Melbourne home kitchen, chilli oil brand UmamiPapi has spiced up its global reach, landing on shelves in almost 40 AEON Malaysia stores across the country.

Founded in 2020 by Ethan Yong during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, UmamiPapi specialises in gourmet food condiments, with its most beloved product being a chilli oil that is stocked in more than 1,000 Coles stores nationally.

Under the latest agreement, UmamiPapi will be stocked in 39 locations with AEON Malaysia, but the opportunity to be on more shelves will heat up once locals get their hands on the product.

“I grew up eating Malaysian food and really enjoying spice and rich flavours through cuisine and my childhood. It was quite cool to be able to say: Hey, I'm of Malaysian Chinese background and it's going into Malaysia,” says Yong, a former finalist in the Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards, for which nominations for the 2025 edition open tomorrow, 1 July via the following link.

“It's the first [overseas] country that's accepting our product and Malaysians are very critical when it comes to good food and what's tasty - especially if something's around chilli, because it is quite a big part of their cuisine. It's a very surreal full-circle moment.”

As part of the deal, the chilli will be featured in the regular sauces aisle – a strategic choice Yong said was designed to get locals on board instead of only trying to appeal to expats.

“We are in the sauce aisle with everyone else, with the big players like Heinz - all the other chilli products that are locally made. Their strategy is: No, we're not going to pigeonhole you for expats. We want you to be for the Malaysian people,” he added.

“I think that translates well because in Malaysia, they're like: If it tastes good, who cares [about price]? They'll tell everyone. They'll tell all their aunties and uncles because they want to be like: I'm the one that discovered this thing, and now I'm introducing it to all my friends and family,”

“I think there's a sense of pride when it comes to Malaysians sharing food.”

In total, Japan-based AEON has more than 18,000 stores in operation and employs up to 620,000 staff across Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia.

AEON Malaysia began in 1984 as Jaya Jusco Stores, following then-Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s invitation to Japanese retailer JUSCO to help modernise the local retail sector under his Look East policy.

A joint venture between JUSCO, government-linked property developer Peremba and supermarket chain Cold Storage led to the opening of Malaysia’s first JUSCO store that same year, marking the start of AEON’s footprint in the country.

Yong said the AEON partnership could pave the way for expansion into other Asian markets, including Japan and South Korea, while also noting that its currently planning to launch the chilli oil in Dubai in the coming months.

“We've sent over a pallet to Dubai…so we'll probably go live in August, which is cool. We're talking to Singapore. We're talking to Hong Kong. Obviously, these aren't done deals - we're still in the talking stage," he said. 

When asked about its current distribution deal with Coles, Yong noted it is continuing to go from strength to strength, with the brand in well over 1,000 stores at this stage.

“Coles has worked very well. I think each year, each year we have, we go for review periods, and it's always quite successful, so we always end up in more stores. The sales are strong…people are loving it, so they're obviously happy,” he added.

“They're always keen for new products and to be in the loop with what we're doing. It's we very much have a large customer base online, so we still want to keep our e-commerce channel big, as well as food service. But Coles definitely has helped us accelerate our growth in terms of volume just because of the reach they have.”

For Yong, it’s been a long journey to get here, having initially started the brand alone in his kitchen during COVID-19 lockdowns.

“I think this is the first year I feel like an actual CEO. Because the first year, I'd say I was hustling - I've got a backpack of jars going around the city, trying to get it into grocers and little delis,” he said.

“This year is where I've systemised and processed everything, and delegated a lot to my operations manager - done a lot of coaching, a lot of deep reflective work on what's happened in the past. What's my strategy next year? In five years? What do I want the business to look like? Where do we want to be? How are we going to get there?

“Instead of being reactive to whatever opportunities come our way, we need to be thinking about how we plan ahead.”