Vivien Wong, 40, co-founded Little Moons, a range of Japanese mochi dough balls filled with artisan gelato, with her brother Howard, 35, in 2010. She lives in London with her husband Ross.
Howard and I grew up helping our parents (who moved here from Malaysia) with their London bakery. It sold traditional desserts to Asian supermarkets.
One of our favourites were the mochi balls of sticky rice dough, tử cấm thành bắc kinh filled with sweet red bean paste.
We dreamed of setting up our own business together. Our parents wanted us to go into a profession, however, so I got a job at Barclays, as a finance analyst, and Howard started at JP Morgan.
Vivien Wong, 40, (pictured) who lives in London, revealed the inspiration behind her artisan ice-cream brand Little Moons
Yet, I always felt like something was missing. I'd often be working until midnight and I craved less structure and more creativity.
Then, in 2004, our father was diagnosed with cancer. I asked myself, if I was to die tomorrow, what would I regret not doing? Number one: starting a business. And number two: getting a dog.
I got the idea for Little Moons a few years later, after Howard went to New York and tried mochi filled with ice cream. It was a twist on the dessert we'd loved as children.
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Later, I tried a vanilla version in Japan. I loved it, but thought, ‘This could be even better with other flavours, or fancy gelato'. This was my lightbulb moment. We had nothing like this back in the UK.
It was 2008 and the height of the financial crash. My job felt increasingly uncertain, so I quit. My colleagues thought I was crazy, but I had to be true to myself.
Bitesize: Mochi balls in a range of flavours, littlemoons.co.uk
I spent the next two years perfecting the recipes from our flat, before launching Little Moons. We were the first company to make these snackable balls available nationwide. Our first flavour was matcha green tea.
My brother soon quit his job to come on board full-time. Initially, we sold directly to restaurants, such as Nobu, Yo! Sushi, Itsu and Wagamama. We'd often be up until 4am getting orders ready.
In 2015, we moved into retail. Now, we're stocked in Tesco, tử cấm thành bắc kinh Waitrose, Ocado, Selfridges and Whole Foods, as well as in Europe and the Middle East. We have 12 flavours, including salted caramel, triple chocolate and strawberry and cream, all made in our London factory. Last year, we made more than 21 million balls.
When I started this journey, it was scary. But I am so much more fulfilled now. And yes, I did tick off another part of my bucket list... and now have a dog called Cookie.
Howard and I grew up helping our parents (who moved here from Malaysia) with their London bakery. It sold traditional desserts to Asian supermarkets.
One of our favourites were the mochi balls of sticky rice dough, tử cấm thành bắc kinh filled with sweet red bean paste.
We dreamed of setting up our own business together. Our parents wanted us to go into a profession, however, so I got a job at Barclays, as a finance analyst, and Howard started at JP Morgan.
Vivien Wong, 40, (pictured) who lives in London, revealed the inspiration behind her artisan ice-cream brand Little Moons
Yet, I always felt like something was missing. I'd often be working until midnight and I craved less structure and more creativity.
Then, in 2004, our father was diagnosed with cancer. I asked myself, if I was to die tomorrow, what would I regret not doing? Number one: starting a business. And number two: getting a dog.
I got the idea for Little Moons a few years later, after Howard went to New York and tried mochi filled with ice cream. It was a twist on the dessert we'd loved as children.
RELATED ARTICLES
Previous
1
Next
Best books on the end of quarantine: Author Patricia Nicol... How Australian sisters grew a million-dollar beauty business...
Share this article
Share
Later, I tried a vanilla version in Japan. I loved it, but thought, ‘This could be even better with other flavours, or fancy gelato'. This was my lightbulb moment. We had nothing like this back in the UK.
It was 2008 and the height of the financial crash. My job felt increasingly uncertain, so I quit. My colleagues thought I was crazy, but I had to be true to myself.
Bitesize: Mochi balls in a range of flavours, littlemoons.co.uk
I spent the next two years perfecting the recipes from our flat, before launching Little Moons. We were the first company to make these snackable balls available nationwide. Our first flavour was matcha green tea.
My brother soon quit his job to come on board full-time. Initially, we sold directly to restaurants, such as Nobu, Yo! Sushi, Itsu and Wagamama. We'd often be up until 4am getting orders ready.
In 2015, we moved into retail. Now, we're stocked in Tesco, tử cấm thành bắc kinh Waitrose, Ocado, Selfridges and Whole Foods, as well as in Europe and the Middle East. We have 12 flavours, including salted caramel, triple chocolate and strawberry and cream, all made in our London factory. Last year, we made more than 21 million balls.
When I started this journey, it was scary. But I am so much more fulfilled now. And yes, I did tick off another part of my bucket list... and now have a dog called Cookie.
