KUALA LUMPUR, Sunday 27 June: Yasar FC, a joint venture between Malaysian company Dondurma AP Sdn Bhd and Yasar Dondurma of Turkey will introduce the Turkish company's desert cafe chain to Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region.

The agreement was signed at the Bosporus Restaurant, Pavilion shopping mall this afternoon, by MADO group chairman, Mehmet Kanbur and Shaifubahrim Mohd. Salleh and Ameta Kaur on behalf of Dondurma AP, before Her Excellency Serap Ataay, Ambassador of Turkey to Malaysia.

Yasar Dondurma owns the MADO branded cafe chain, Turkey's largest, as well as the MADO ice cream brand made from goats milk and saleb, an orchid extract found in the Marash region of Turkey, which give the ice cream its viscosity and provides an aroma which counters the smell of the goats milk. The ice cream is unique in that due to its viscosity, it's eaten from a plate with a knife and fork.

MADO has been making ice cream for five generations and it positions itself as being family-oriented, with family-oriented service, along with modern facilities such as WiFi, and it combines high European standards with the assurance of halal food.

Yasar FC will use Malaysia as a base for distribution of the MADO brand of ice creams, Turkish coffees, speciality cakes, its range of baklava (a rich, sweet pastry), breads, Turkish pastry's and small pizzas in Malaysia and across the region, and the company expects this to bring in US$100 million in various investments over five years. Dondurma AP owns 51% in Yasar FC, while Yasar Dondurma owns the rest.

Yasar Dondurma altogether has 350 different products, 60% of which Yasar FC will introduce to the region. Yasar FC plans to operate 40 of its own outlets across the region, beginning in Malaysia, while it will franchise the rest. It expects to have 10 outlets in Malaysia, six in Jakarta, six in Thailand and two in Singapore by the end of the year.

“If we select  the right locations and strictly follow the operational procedures, we will realise enough cash flow within six months to invest in new outlets,” said Probhat Malakar, one of Dondurma AP's directors. “We've seen such stores in good locations making between US$100,000 and US$120,000 per months, and once we have 500 outlets across the region, we could be looking at revenue of US$500 million a year,” he added.

The joint venture will also benefit Malaysia in terms of technology transfer, as it plans to increasingly produce the products locally, with increasingly locally sourced ingredients and export to its outlets across the region.

“We initially will import all our products from Turkey for our first two outlets, then we'll open a small bakery to produce the confectionery products and hope to begin local ice cream production within 12 months, subject to local farmers being able to produce goats milk to Yasar Dondurma's quality,” said Probhat.

The milk used has 10% of fat and the goats are fed well with herbs and spices from Turkey, which removes the objectionable odour.

Yasar Dondurma will help Dondurma AP produce its products locally, train its local chefs on how to make its speciality confectioneries, pastry's and cakes and also provide financing.

Another company, MADO Productions is owned 49% by Dondurma AP and 51% by Yasar Dondurma.

Meanwhile, Yasar FC will form separate joint ventures with six Indonesian companies to operate MADO cafes on a 40:60 basis but the former will have full operational control of the outlets for at least 12 months. Beyond that, Yasar FC will appoint the most passionate of the six as master franchiser for Indonesia.

Dondurma AP is a partnership between Shaifubahrim, Phil Captain and Probhat, all of whom have a background in information and communications technology (ICT).

Shaifubahrim is the current president of PIKOM, the national ICT association of Malaysia, Captain formerly was head of Maxis Net and now is a management coach, including of ICT companies, while Probhat ran a company providing hospital management computing solutions, but sold it off in 2005 and he turned to the food industry.