Youtiao or yao char kwai in Cantonese is a common street snack in Malaysia. No one thought of franchising it until Jeffrey Leong and his partner Lim Gnian Liang came along and started it. They couldn’t get the local youtiao hawkers to part with the recipe but they found someone who had learned in Hong Kong how to make the youtiao. They branded it as I love Yoo! The first outlet was opened in Pavillion, Kuala Lumpur in November 2007. The outlet was very popular and the partners made enough money to convince themselve to roll out more I Love Yoo! Outlets in malls via franchising. The menu goes beyond youtiao and soybean drinks, soy dessert and porridge. The franchisees are given the leeway to introduce other food like mee curry, yong taufoo, chee cheong fun, laksa etc to give patrons a wider choice.  

There are currently 59 outlets in Malaysia, one in Singapore and two in Brunei Darussalam. They are still recruiting franchisees. The franchise fee is RM50,000 for the first 5 years and RM25,000 for the next 5 years. The store size is between 450 sq ft – 750 sq ft and location is up to the franchisee to discuss with the franchisor. More information is available at www.iloveyoo.com.my