For decades, tau fu fah and soy milk were largely considered traditional Chinese street food, but as dessert cafes booming with bubble tea, bingsu, and ice cream took over the Klang Valley, traditional desserts were left behind. In 2018, siblings Carmen, Joe, and Kelly Lau decided to change that. Drawing from their father’s 30-year legacy as the founder of Ipoh’s famous Woong Kee Bean Curd, they launched Dáo Desserts. Their mission was clear: take a cherished, traditional family recipe and modernise it for a new generation in a trendy, comfortable cafe environment.

Carmen and Kelly Lau join us in the studio to discuss the unvarnished reality of building a modern F&B brand out of a family legacy. We explore the messy dynamics of working with siblings, the operational headaches of scaling a highly perishable product, how they survive the fiercely competitive dessert market, and their ambitious plan to take Malaysian tau fu fah global.