Hawker trio built curry puffs into a $500,000 business in a year

SINGAPORE – By giving curry puff a modern twist, three young hawkers have turned the traditional snack into a lucrative chain of stalls.

Brothers Lim Yuan Ming, 23, and Brandon Lim, 29, joined hands with business partner Oh Chin Jie, 31, to start What The Puff in December 2024. The brand has since grown from one to three hawker stalls.

The business now produces about 1,500 puffs daily – with flavours such as cheese and char siew – and drew around $500,000 in revenue in 2025.

The idea for What The Puff came from the brothers’ parents, who run Lao Er Teochew Economical Rice & Porridge at Block 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market, a stall they took over about 10 years ago.

The brothers are well aware of how demanding their parents’ work is, having worked there over the years.

“We saw the struggles they went through, having to cook over 20 dishes every day and work tirelessly from early morning till the afternoon,” says Mr Lim Yuan Ming.

Curry puffs seemed like a simpler product to sell. His father suggested trying new flavours, including a cheesy curry puff.

“Curry puffs were an iconic snack of our childhood. We thought, why not give this traditional snack a modern twist?” he says. “We wanted to breathe new life into this well-loved snack and make the new generation of diners fall in love with it again.”

Clearly defined roles

The roles were clearly defined from the start. Mr Oh, who was working as a cook at fast casual chain The Daily Cut before leaving to start What The Puff, led recipe development. Mr Brandon Lim worked with him on operations, while his brother handled administrative work such as payroll and dealt with suppliers.

Research and development for the puffs began at home in October 2024 and continued after they opened the first stall.

The trio spent weeks eating curry puffs – with friends and family as tasters – making up to eight iterations in a day. The Cheesy Curry Puff alone went through about 10 variations.

The buttery pastry was tough to pin down. It took almost half a year to settle on, says Mr Lim Yuan Ming, as small changes in recipe, temperature, moisture and even wind could affect the result.

Their first outlet opened at Changi Village Hawker Centre in December 2024, with the three partners putting in about $10,000 of their combined savings.

While business was slow at the start, returning customers who gave positive feedback spurred them on. The trio started making the puffs themselves daily for over a month until they hired their first employee to assist with production.

In late January, they took $15,000 from the first stall’s earnings to open a second outlet at the same hawker centre in Bedok where the Lims’ parents ran their Teochew porridge stall. All three partners did not draw full salaries for the first six months. 

In July 2025, they opened their third outlet at Punggol Coast Hawker Centre with $20,000. The location, situated within Punggol Digital District, has since become their strongest outlet. They expanded quickly to other locations after receiving feedback from customers that Changi was out of the way to visit often.

The business now has 10 employees – four full-timers and six part-timers across all outlets – but growth has also tested the business partners.

In March 2025, Mr Brandon Lim and Mr Oh – who became friends while doing national service – were called back for reservist at the same time. It coincided with the younger Mr Lim’s examinations. He is pursuing a bachelor of science in finance at Singapore University of Social Sciences and expects to graduate in 2028.

He had to juggle business and studies, working 14 hours daily for two weeks. He also had to deal with problems such as delivery failure and a refrigerator malfunction, which ruined 400 curry puffs.

Bonding over work

But working together has brought the three co-owners closer. Mr Lim Yuan Ming has a girlfriend, while the other partners are single.

Mr Lim Yuan Ming says: “Definitely, there are times of tension when we disagree over operational matters, but we always try our best to reason it out, putting aside emotions and ego for the sake of our business.

“We have all learnt to be more patient and how to communicate with one another better, even when the subject is difficult, such as financial discussions.”

The business has also changed him. A self-confessed introvert, he now has the confidence to handle interviews, speak to customers and represent the brand.

In January 2026, they decided to move out of the Changi Village outlet, as it was farther in the east and strained operations, and foot traffic had been affected by ongoing road works. They then opened at Haig Road Market & Food Centre the following month.

The current menu has five puffs: Original Curry Puff ($2), Sardine Puff ($2), Cheesy Curry Puff ($2.50), Black Pepper Chicken Puff ($2.50) and Char Siew Chicken Puff ($2.50).

The Cheesy Curry Puff uses the same curried potato chicken filling and quarter hard-boiled egg as the Original Curry Puff, with mozzarella and cheddar added for a cheese pull when eaten hot. 

The Black Pepper Chicken Puff is filled with both chicken breast and thigh meat, with the heat of black pepper.

Behind the scenes

Behind the neat rows of fried puffs is work that begins early, with all three co-owners remaining hands-on in making the puffs. Operations typically start at 4 or 5am, and involve beating the dough, mixing the filling and six to eight hours of hand-wrapping before the puffs are sent to the stalls to be fried and served.

In March, the partners moved the bulk of production to a rented central kitchen. Since then, only the Punggol outlet still makes its own puffs. All three outlets fry the puffs on-site.

“For us, the handmade element makes up part of the taste too,” says Mr Lim Yuan Ming. “The texture you get from hand forming the edges is not easily replicated by machinery and it matters to us.”

For now, the trio are working on consistency, cost control and menu development. They are also looking at a central kitchen model to help with scaling.

They hope to have 10 stalls islandwide in the next five years and are planning for a fourth outlet in the second half of 2026.

Still, the partners are not rushing to expand.

“If there is one thing I have learnt from our experience, it is that things don’t always go to plan. But I take it as part of our personal development,” says Mr Lim Yuan Ming. 

“Starting and running this business, I have realised that while things may seem impossible at the start, once you take action, you may find that there is always a way to turn an idea into reality.”

What The Puff outlets

Where: 01-29 Haig Road Market & Food Centre, 14 Haig Road
Open: 6am to 3pm daily
Tel: WhatsApp 8944-4177

Where: 01-27 Block 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market, 216 Bedok North Street 1
Open: 6am to 2pm daily
Tel: WhatsApp 8944-4177

Where: 02-K76 Punggol Coast Hawker Centre, 84 Punggol Way 
Open: 7.30am to 8pm daily
Tel: WhatsApp 8944-4177