Local Ice Cream Brand Mokti’s From Perlis Makes Malaysians Proud, Even Owns An Outlet In Turkey!

From Perlis to Istanbul, Mokti’s now has over 85 outlets and counting, both locally and internationally.

(Credit: Mokti's, Siti Fatimah Adnan / Facebook)

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Ice cream lovers, have you heard of this not-so-new kid on the block?

Mokti’s is an ice cream brand that focuses on Gula Apong-flavoured soft serves. They have other products too like artisanal gelatos, popsicles, ice-cream tubs, caramel puddings, MachiApong drinks and even cookies.

As reported by Bernama, the woman behind all of this hard work is 32-year-old Perlis-born citizen, Siti Fatimah Adnan. Fatimah started this sweet and decadent empire five years ago because of her love for Gula Apong.

What’s Gula Apong?

Gula Apong is a type of sugar that comes from the sap of the nipa palm tree (Nypa fruticans) which grows abundantly in the coastal areas of Sarawak, mainly in Kota Samarahan and Betong. With golden caramel colour, the sugar is a bit different from white or brown sugar as the naturally sweet taste is said to be less intense and a bit salty. Sort of like vitamin and mineral-rich salted caramel.

How it started

She developed her love for that Sarawakian treasure when she stayed in Bintulu with her husband’s family for two years. There, Gula Apong ice cream is abundant and it is a hugely popular dessert.

When she returned to her hometown in Perlis, she realised that there was a limited presence of Gula Apong in the Peninsular, so she needed to satisfy her craving for the saccharine goodness as well as introduce it to the people here.

With a degree in Technology & Plantation Management from UiTM and experience from an ice cream-making course, this housewife decided to try and make her own Gula Apong ice cream with her first lab rats being her closest relatives. They continued giving her feedback and support until she was confident to open up an ice cream lot to sell her treacle invention to the public.

She started off with a 10×12 foot square shop near a convenience store in Jejawi, Perlis with the name Q Ice Cream Gula Apong. At the time, she sold RM2 soft serves with two free toppings. It was that cheap!

Kids and parents alike seemed to like the idea of creamy fancy dessert at an inexpensive price so the popularity of her homemade ice cream became the talk of the town.

In 2019, she then formally changed her business name to Mokti’s Ice Cream Gula Apong, with Mokti’s (Mok Fatimah) being a name her husband’s family in Sarawak called her. In the same year, she used the profits made from her pioneer shop in Perlis to open more outlets in Kedah, Selangor, Perak, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan.

How it’s going

Now, Mokti’s has expanded to 85 outlets in Malaysia and counting. She even has three factories in Perlis, manufacturing stick ice cream, soft serve ice cream and gelato ice creams.

“We only use gula apong (95 %) which we bring in from Sarawak and milk (5 %) to make our range of ice creams as we want to retain the original taste of the Sarawak delicacy. We don’t use any white sugar or even add vanilla flavouring to our ice cream,” said Fatimah, adding that her factories use about 20 tonnes of Gula Apong every month to make those ice creams.

Last February, Mokti’s made the headlines due to their first international expansion in Turkiye. After months of preparation, they have finally welcomed Turkish locals, homesick tourists from Malaysia as well as people all over to their outlet in the bustling city of Istanbul.

She had her husband’s (Pengiran Muhammad Adil Awang Iskaderzulkarnain) and family’s support to thank for this success. She explained that she did in fact struggle a bit in the first two years after she embarked on her ice cream business but her family’s support kept her going strong.

Fatimah was also named the winner of the Nona Superwoman Award in the NonaBest Halal Ice Cream category this year.

This goes to show that with a little creativity and a ton of perseverance, Malaysians can do anything. Our natural resources are rich with unexplored potential and capabilities. We just need that extra push to bring our delicacies to the eyes of the public.

So what kinda dessert are we talking about here?

Mokti’s has around 69 types of products from soft serves to canned drinks.

Some of the popular flavours for soft serves include Honeycomb Apong Asli, Hazel Kakao, Matcha Apong, Pandan Apong, and many more starting from RM9 to RM21. They even have RM2 – RM5 popsicle ice creams with Chocolate, Sea Salt, Bandung, Asam, and Lemon Selasih flavours too.

For their tubs, ranging from D24 Durian tubs to Coconut Gula Melaka tubs, people can take away their favourite ice cream flavours in these 500ml tubs that range from RM12 to RM18.

For those craving a taste of this popular Sarawak-inspired dessert, you can visit your nearest Mokti’s outlet. Take a look at their list of outlets here.

If you wanna find this dessert chain in KL, head on to their Kampung Baru outlet.