This Johor family’s kuih koci is winning fans by the thousands

By 3am, the kitchen at Habsah Koci Leleh is already busy. Dough is being prepared, coconut filling is cooked down with palm sugar, and trays of kuih koci are assembled ahead of the day’s orders.

It is an early start, but a necessary one for a family business now producing as many as 8,000 pieces daily.

The recipe belongs to Habsah Mohammad, 59, who learnt the basics of traditional kuih-making at a class before refining the family’s own version at home.

Her son, Zulhakiim Abu Mansor, said the family saw room in the market for a more traditional offering at a time when modern pastries were becoming increasingly popular.

“We wanted to preserve and promote a local delicacy,” the 33-year-old told Bernama.

The family started selling its kuih koci online in 2015 with about RM1,000 in capital and orders for roughly 200 pieces a day.

Demand grew steadily over the years, especially during Ramadan and festive seasons, when the family supplied as many as 5,000 pieces daily to bazaars. Wedding orders could also reach 1,000 pieces at a time.

The opening of their first outlet in Taman Bukit Mewah in February brought the business to a wider audience. A positive review on Threads later sent sales soaring.

“After we went viral, the response was overwhelming,” Zulhakiim recalled. “Orders increased sharply to around 8,000 pieces a day.”

Kuih koci is made from glutinous rice flour and filled with grated coconut cooked with palm sugar or gula Melaka. It is then served with thick coconut milk, giving the kuih its familiar combination of chewy, sweet and creamy textures.

At Habsah Koci Leleh, the family has chosen to focus on four signature varieties: black glutinous rice, sweet potato, pumpkin and durian.

They previously experimented with flavours such as dragonfruit and cempedak, but Habsah said narrowing the selection made it easier to maintain consistency.

The family remains particular about its ingredients, using specific brands of flour and palm sugar to preserve the taste of the original recipe.

Even the coconut filling requires patience: preparing a 7kg batch takes about 90 minutes to ensure the texture and sweetness remain consistent.

This attention to detail has helped the business develop a loyal following. Singaporean customer Sarah Hamdan, 30, said the stall has become a regular stop whenever she visits Johor with her family.

She praised the kuih’s chewy texture, generous filling and rich coconut milk, as well as its reasonable prices.

Another customer, Rizal Ramli, 35, said the range of flavours made it easy to find something for everyone in his family.

Keeping up with demand

Habsah Koci Leleh currently employs six people, including Zulhakiim’s father, Abu Mansor Senin, and younger sister, Nur Hamira.

One of their biggest challenges is production. There are no specialised machines readily available to automate the process fully, so the family has had to explore other equipment that can make preparation more efficient without affecting quality.

The work that once started after dawn prayers now begins at 3am, several hours before the outlet opens from 9am to 5pm.

The business also welcomes about 150 walk-in customers a day, with some visitors from Singapore crossing the border specifically to buy frozen packs.

Small packs of 10 cost RM11 for the black glutinous rice, pumpkin and sweet potato varieties, while larger packs of 50 are priced at RM55. The durian version costs RM12 for 10 pieces and RM60 for 50, with mixed-flavour packs also available.

For Zulhakiim, who holds a degree in agrotechnology and entrepreneurship from Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, the business brings together his academic background and his family’s food heritage.

Its rapid growth has created long hours and new logistical challenges, but the family remains focused on the same thing that first drew customers: a soft, chewy kuih, plenty of filling, and coconut milk rich enough to live up to the name “koci leleh”.

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