This Perlis Woman Went from Housewife to Malaysia’s Halal Ice Cream Queen

With the current scorching hot weather, our minds naturally turn to cold refreshments such as ice cream. During her stay in Bintulu, Sarawak, Siti Fatimah Adnan fell in love with a local dessert, Gula Apong ice cream.

Gula Apong is a natural sweetener made from the sap of the Nipah Palms that has a hint of caramel aroma. Upon returning to her hometown Perlis in 2014, Siti Fatimah craved for the delicacy but couldn’t find any.

According to Bernama, The 32-year-old then decided to make her own gula apong ice cream by attending an ice cream making course to master the basics and then proceeded to experiment to make her own version of the Sarawakian frozen treat.

Humble Beginnings

She got her relatives to try out her ice cream for feedback before gaining confidence to sell it to the public. The humble beginnings of the brand included selling it out of a car boot. She also eventually opened a small 10 ft by 12 ft shop beside a convenience store in Jejawi Perlis.

“Back then, I didn’t even have a brand name for the ice cream. To start with, I tried selling the soft ice cream at RM2 a cup,” she said.

The degree holder in Technology and Plantation Management from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) had the business strategy of opening a small shop in a bustling area which received encouraging response from the public and served to introduce the delicacy to them.

Expansion of Mokti’s Ice Cream

In 2019, the mother of three officially branded her ice cream as Mokti’s Ice Cream, which was based on her nickname of Mok Fatimah amongst her in-laws in Sarawak.

Little by little, they were able to purchase ice cream machines and rent buildings.

In the same year, with the profits that she earned from her first store, she started to expand in stages to other states such as Kedah, Selangor, Perak, Melaka, and Negeri Sembilan. She shared that it wasn’t easy to achieve the success that she enjoys now, especially in the first two years, but she had the support of her husband Pengiran Muhammad Adil Awang Iskanderndzulkarnein, who helped her with the logistical and management challenges of the business.

An Ice Cream Empire

At last count, there are 85 Mokti outlets including those franchised by other entrepreneurs. Siti Fatimah also runs three factories that supply ice cream sticks, gelato ice cream, and soft serve ice cream to the shops. According to Siti Fatimah, the ice cream at Mokti’s does not contain white sugar but is made of 95% Gula Apong imported from Sarawak and 5% milk to maintain the authenticity of the taste and unlike other ice creams, vanilla extract is not used.

Each month, the three factories use 20 tons of Gula Apong to produce the ice cream, which prices range from RM1 to RM13.50.

In October 2021, they opened a Mokti’s Signature Outlet in Langkawi which is a premium outlet with additional flavours compared to the standard outlets.

In February 2022, Mokti’s Ice Cream received the SMEs Brand Laureate Awards 2022 - Business Leadership Awards, which are given to outstanding brands in the industry. Siti Fatimah also received the Outstanding Young Woman Enterprise 2022 award during the Sabah International Women Entrepreneur Expo 2022.

This year in January, Siti Fatimah was named the winner of the Nona Superwoman Award in the ‘Nona Best Halal Ice Cream’ category. Then in February, they reached a new milestone as Mokti’s opened their first international outlet in Istanbul, Turkiye which serves coffee and artisan gelato.

Visit their website or follow Mokti’s on Instagram.

Image credit: moktis.com, facebook.com/moktishqmalaysia