The ice cream bell still rings in Bentong

The ice cream bell still rings in Bentong

by | Dec 27, 2017 | Food

Anyone who has visited Bentong will know that there is a coffee shop that is more famous for its ice cream than what its signboard suggests.

After all, who would not have a natural craving for some good ice cream, ais batu campur (ABC) and cendol especially when they have heard so much about the popularity of Kow Po Coffee Shop in Bentong?

It is not only the children, but the adults too enjoy the ice cream here because it is both smooth and silky. What is important is that the ice cream tastes fresh and there is a good variety of flavours to choose from.

They have about ten flavours which include chocolate, pandan, peanuts, coffee, coconut, banana, strawberry and vanilla. If the family is in a hurry, they can also stop by to ask for ice cream on the cone. Each scoop is RM4.

Whenever we come here, we usually go for the Jumbo which is shared out with the whole family, but on my own I would take either their Cendol Kow Po Special (RM5.00), which comes with red beans, ice cream, cendol and attap seeds, or their ABC Ice Kacang Kow Po Special (RM5.00).
The history goes that a Teo Chew man, the late Tan Soon Chuan relocated from Alor Setar to Bentong in the early 1950s. He started the special homemade ice cream business in 1956.

Because business was good, his son Tan Kow Po, now 83, and his wife soon joined the business; before long, he became known as the “Bentong Uncle Ice Cream”.

Most young children in this town have grown up loving his ice cream, which was a rare treat in those early years. To have an ice cream in the 1950s was a luxury that not every child could have.

Image via GoBentong.com
Through word of mouth, soon people from outside of Bentong also stopped by this shop on their trip to the East Coast. This was prior to the development of the East Coast Highway.

Although the traffic has been diverted from Bentong town, most people still make a detour here to just enjoy the ice cream. Last year, they celebrated their 60th anniversary in business.

When we went there two weeks ago at about 3pm, it was initially very quiet and we thought we were the only customers there. We were of course wondering why we were the ones there.

After about 15 minutes, for some reasons, guests just flocked in; before long, the whole place was already packed with people.

From whence they came is a big question mark but I am not surprised that with durians as the biggest attraction to Bentong these days, people come here for both the durians and the ice cream, which is nothing but a perfect combination.

Read my simple analysis of Kow Po’s marketing success formula here.

Kow Po Coffee Shop is located at No 2 Bentong Heights, 28700 Bentong, Pahang.

Tel:  09-222 1258 / 016-931 0391

Business hours: 10am to 7pm every day

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kow-Pow-Ice-Cream-Bentong/155123184564368

Google Map:  https://goo.gl/maps/kjUydWgk4ns

Waze location:  https://www.waze.com/livemap?zoom=17&lat=3.52262&lon=101.91081

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Let me tell you one little secret about Bentong ice cream

Let me tell you one little secret about Bentong ice cream

by | Dec 27, 2017 | Food

Anyone who has patronised Kow Pow Coffee Shop in Bentong will realise that they have a right marketing formula for success.

Although some may say that the ice cream is pricey for a small town, from the marketing point of view, they have got all three other P’s correct.

Besides the product, location (place) and customer loyalty (mainly domestic tourists), there is also a fast turnover of guests. There is also a lack of competition; after all, people come to Bentong, they are looking for something local that is cheap and nice.

Image via TripAdvisor

Unlike the commercially factory-produced ice creams, here the ice cream is manufactured in small batches using fresh ingredients every day. This helps them to sustain just for the day’s business.

This is important as most customers can feel the freshness of the ingredients that they use; for that reason, they come back for more, bringing their friends along. Cleanliness is also very important when patrons bring their expatriate friends. The word of mouth spreads:

“Whenever you go to Bentong, go for their ice cream.”

The downside is that some of the locals start to boycott the place because they find the prices becoming too steep for them; this is why anyone in the restaurant business must always learn to be appreciative of local support as well. Sometimes, I boycott certain restaurants because of the attitude of its owners or staff, which shows the importance of People in the marketing equation.

Like in Penang, Gurney Drive has become the place for tourists, but domestic tourists like me are avoiding such places because we know the place has become too artificially commercialised. A lack of local fans also show that something may not be right with the prices or the attitude of the hawkers there.

But until there is a stronger competitor, with the right pricing for equally good ice cream and its proprietors are more people friendly, business can only grow stronger for Kow Po Coffee Shop.

Besides me giving them media publicity in most English dailies that I was writing for as a part time writer in the past, there are other newspapers and food bloggers who have given them the boost.

Word of mouth is very important in the food and beverage business. After the articles appear, people will check out the place. When they like it, they will tell others about it (like the ant scout telling its friends where the sweet stuff is) and soon people will follow the crowd.

Today, aided by social media, word of mouth can spread very fast for the better or for the worse. It is a challenge that every restaurant operator faces to ensure that they have their four (some say five) P’s correct – Product, Price, People and Place.

Even I am drawn to this coffee shop every time my family make a trip to Bukit Tinggi or Genting Highlands even if we have to drive another 15 km to Bentong, or like on this occasion after a night’s stay at the beautiful eco-resort of Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya in Raub.

After a short drive to Raub to try out the famous Ratha Raub’s original fish head curry, we checked out Kow Po Coffee Shop, which is located just beside Hong Leong Bank (or opposite the Bentong bus station).

Keeping to just one shop also means that the shop is always packed during peak hours but the number of customers at any one point in time is manageable by the number of staff working.

Most people, especially those from outstation, will tend to flock to an eatery which looks packed than one that is empty. This is why after nearly 20 years of watching their business grow, I have decided not only to write about their ice cream, but make a simple analysis that will provide some good insights for other restauranteurs.

Click here to read about Kow Po Coffee Shop and what it has to offer.

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