PappaRich is one of the most popular restaurants in Malaysia. Even if you’ve never had the opportunity to dine in at one of the outlets, you definitely have heard of the name at the very least. So how about taking this opportunity to know a little bit more about the brand’s history and future?
Let’s start off with Rich Tan, the owner and founder of the brand. Apart from being born in Negeri Sembilan in 1964, not much is known about his early childhood days. During his youth, he dabbled in several trades before finally deciding to venture into the “Malaysian Delights” business. It was said that he had this epiphany of starting his own business and succeeding in life after his father passed away.
Being the creative one in the family, Rich always had the concept in mind of combining traditional Malaysian coffee shops and modern dining experience and birth the idea of creating the now-famous restaurant chain. Although he has little to no experience in the F&B industry, he has always had a passion for food.
He first founded the company, PappaRich Group in 2005. How did he came up with the name? The business owner once said, “Doesn’t everyone want to be Rich especially a Rich Pappa?”. The first-ever outlet was then launched in 2006 in Selayang Mall, Kuala Lumpur. During an interview with The Vulcan Post, the businessman revealed how much he loved kopitiam. “I’ve drunk so much Kopitiam coffee that I had acid reflux. I think I’ve drank at least 1,000 cups of coffee, from the north to the south.”
After the opening of the first outlet, the brand quickly became a formidable player in the local F&B industry. When it came to the menu, the company experimented extensively and developed recipes that resulted in palatable Malaysian delights that appeal to the mass market. In addition to the food options, the brand also offers excellent gourmet coffees for their patrons.
After opening several successful chains in Malaysia, it was time for Papparich to go global! The company successfully expanded to international destinations such as Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Singapore, Shanghai, Brunei, and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, it was said that partnerships have also been sealed for markets such as Indonesia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Saudi Arabia and the UK. Papparich has also won multiple awards such as the Asia Golden Dragon Awards and Power Brand Malaysia for Asia Best Excellence award and Established Brand award respectively.
Although the brand had been doing well, the founder choose not to stay, surprisingly. This may come as a shock to many as it wasn’t widely reported but Rich Tan decided to sell his stakes in PappaRich back in 2019. The reason for leaving the company was due to the disagreement with his business partner on how the business should be handled. According to Rich, he felt that rushing the brand into a profit-rushing machine was no way to run a business. “I’m very patient and loyal when it comes to my food but everything was going too fast. We went from opening 40 stores to suddenly 137,” he told the media.
Even though the founder of PappaRich was no longer in the picture, the business continued to grow, that is until a major setback hit them. Back in 2020, the brand was at risk of closing down after being ordered by the High Court due to unsettled debt of RM37.22 million. Unfortunately, there’s not much information on what exactly happened after the court ordered the Malaysian brand to close down. However, according to The Vulcan Post, the company’s outlets in other countries are still doing reasonably well.
From our findings, a total of 5 outlets have been permanently closed down in Malaysia (including the first-ever outlet) but there are outlets still operating within the Klang Valley and Selangor. Plus, the brand’s official social media pages are still active. Perhaps one day we’ll know the full story and what the future holds for PappaRich Malaysia. As for the founder, Rich has since started a brand new restaurant called Rich Kopitiam which you can find at 1Utama and he hopes to create a new legacy with his new project.
Sources: PappaRich, MyPappaResearch, VulcanPost, TheSmartLocal, Tatler, MFA
