In a bid to raise some money for our class fund, my homeroom of 2011 (5 Columbus) decided to open a stall during the school’s Merdeka Day carnival. This carnival was held in conjunction with the country’s National Day, and it was an open carnival which meant that public could come into the school. Many classes and clubs opened stalls to sell food, drinks, and products, and some ran games stalls such as a dunking booth and even Haunted Houses. It was held in July, which was a whole month earlier than National Day, because this year the month of August happened to be the fasting month prior to Hari Raya Puasa.

5 Columbus wanted to set up a food stall that sold churros and smores (marshmallows with melted chocolate served on cream crackers). The smores were deliciously fabulous, but the churros that they tried to make did not work out so well. They showed me a photo of their failed attempt – it tasted quite good, they said. But it wasn’t in a presentable form. You wouldn’t have bought what they were trying to make.

Twist potato
Twist potato

I knew they were frustrated, and I wanted to help them find something foolproof that they could make. And honestly, the moment they told me they wanted to open a food stall, I already had the solution for them, although I wanted them to figure something out for themselves first. When they hit this roadbump, I immediately called Twist Potato Malaysia.

Twist Potato Malaysia is actually a division within Fresco Cocoa Supply, and this division sells machines that makes potatoes into a lovely spiral – hence the name “twist potato”. Even when uncooked, the shape of the potato is aesthetically pleasing.

However what would make the potatoes sell is not the machine, nor the shape. It was the taste. If it was delicious, no matter how it looked, the potatoes would sell.

And this was where I found Twist Potato really awesome.

Twist potato machine
The Twist Potato machine is very easy to use. Just a quick twist, and voila!

Twist Potato Malaysia does not only sell the machines to make the spirals; they also sell their Magic Flour, as well as more than twenty different flavouring powder to accompany the twist potatoes. The key to the delicious twist potatoes lies not in the twist potatoes, but in their Magic Flour.

What’s so special about their Magic Flour?

The Magic Flour, which is made from their secret recipe, makes it so easy to cook a potato. All you need to do is add some water, oil, and salt; then coat the potatoes with the batter and deep fry them. Quite frankly, you don’t even need twist potatoes, or even potatoes. You can just slice potatoes thinly and coat them with the batter, or even use other foodstuff like fruits or vegetables. Coated with the Magic Flour batter and deep fried, they’ll taste better than our local delicacies such as goreng pisang or goreng nangka.

Twist Potato Malaysia helped me out without hesitation when I called them; I wanted to rent the machine, but instead they lent it to us for free, and even sponsored us three different seasonings. They even lent us their buntings which reduced our need to decorate our stall. All we needed to do was just buy the Magic Flour, and promote twist potatoes.

The great thing was, we barely needed to put any effort into promoting them. The twist potatoes promoted themselves.

The twist potatoes sold like hot cakes during the carnival; we sold so much more twist potatoes than our smores did. We had so many repeat customers, and the lines were so long. We made a lot of twist potatoes in advance, before the lunch crowd came in; but when the crowd really began to swell, the twist potatoes were snapped up so fast that we had to start taking orders instead. We didn’t expect the twist potatoes to sell out so fast; in fact, we had been quite worried that we wouldn’t be able to sell enough to cover our cost. Our home deep-fryers were not able to cook fast enough. Had we known we were going to sell out, we would have brought our own gas stove!

Twist potato stall
Our stall which sold Twist Potatoes as well as S’mores
Using the Twist Potato machine to create the spiral potato look
Using the Twist Potato machine to create the spiral potato look
Using the deep fryers to cook the twist potatoes
Using the deep fryers to cook the twist potatoes
S'mores, made with crackers, chocolate and marshmallows toasted in an oven
S’mores, made with crackers, chocolate and marshmallows toasted in an oven
Twist Potatoes for sale, with a choice of three delicious different seasonings - Cheezels-like cheese, sour cream and onion, or regular cheese!
Twist Potatoes for sale, with a choice of three delicious different seasonings – Cheezels-like cheese, sour cream and onion, or regular cheese!
Customers buying Twist Potatoes
Customers buying Twist Potatoes

We still had orders coming inway after the official closing time of the Merdeka Carnival, and were forced to stop only when the carnival official politely but firmly told us that it was time to call it a day.

Thank you very much, Twist Potato Malaysia! Your wonderful twist potatoes sold so much that we not only covered our cost, we made a considerable profit. (In fact we had losses from the smores because they didn’t sell as well as planned, but the twist potatoes more than covered that loss.)

If you are looking for business opportunities with Twist Potato Malaysia, I would tell you that they are a fantastic company to work with, without a doubt. Even though we were merely using their machine to sell twist potatoes for just one day, they were very generous and they were willing to spend a considerable amount of time to teach me how to make the twist potatoes to ensure that they will sell. I tell you the truth – it is so easy to make the twist potatoes that are ready for sale. I didn’t even need to teach my students ahead of time; I brought all the items with me on the morning of the carnival, and spent about ten minutes teaching them what to do, and they took it from there.

I would also like to say : to 5 Columbus 2011, you guys rock! All of you really worked hard and contributed so much to the class through this stall. You know I miss you already!

Special note: If you are seriously looking for some side income, why not consider Twist Potato Malaysia‘s business plan? For a very low one-time payment, you can purchase their kiosk which is complete with a twist potato machine and a commercial deep-fryer (that’s bound to cook much faster than our home deep-fryers!). Their package includes the training course and a kiosk, and they have a great motto: we teach you until you know, which means that they will train you – at no additional fee – until you are able to operate the kiosk on your own. And quite frankly, if a bunch of 17-year-olds can do it, so can you! With their Magic Flour, your twist potatoes are bound to be a hit. There is no additional fee to be paid, so all profits are truly your own. How much you make will depend on how much effort you put into it. Check out their business plan on their website!
Hon Wye enjoying a Twist Potato while Wei Ter looks on jealously
Hon Wye enjoying a Twist Potato while Wei Ter looks on jealously