Advertisement

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: how staying original has helped Hong Kong coconut sweet brand Yan Chim Kee survive for over a century

  • Yan Chim Kee started out in 1915 as a street-side operation selling home-made coconut sweets, and became a household name in Hong Kong and beyond
  • Members of the third and fourth generation of the family that founded it reflect on its rise, fall and revival, and the the secret to its enduring success

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Evelyn Yan Yin-yin (left) and Adrian Yan Ka-chun of Yan Chim Kee. Preserving its original coconut sweet recipe has been key to the Hong Kong company’s longevity, they say. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s Adrian Yan Ka-chun’s approach to preserving the 107-year-old coconut candy recipe passed down through his family for generations. After all, this is what has made Yan Chim Kee a household name in Hong Kong and beyond.

Advertisement

Adrian’s great grandfather Yan Lun-lap founded the Yan Chim Kee confectionery company in 1915, after finding success selling his home-made sweets – produced from fresh coconuts imported from Malaya (in modern-day Malaysia) – on the street in Caine Road, in Hong Kong Island’s Mid-Levels.

He subsequently opened a sweet shop on the ground floor of a tenement building at 65 Caine Road.

The factory producing the sweet treats was in the building’s basement and – as was the case with many Hong Kong businesses at the time – he and his family lived above the shop on the building’s upper floors.

Yan Chim Kee’s old flagship store in Caine Road, Hong Kong. Photo: Yan Chim Kee
Yan Chim Kee’s old flagship store in Caine Road, Hong Kong. Photo: Yan Chim Kee
“The basement was so spacious [as] to allow our whole family, friends and relatives to hide inside during the Japanese occupation [of Hong Kong – between 1941 and 1945],” recalls Evelyn Yan Yin-yin, granddaughter of the firm’s founder and Adrian Yan’s aunt.
Advertisement

A diner serving dim sum and other items was later opened in the building, and customers typically followed such savoury dishes with a serving of the family’s home-made coconut or mango ice cream.

Advertisement