Masala Wheels Expands With 'Tech For Good' & Launches 3 Cloud Kitchens For B40 Individuals

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Back then, the Masala Wheels food truck was a familiar sight for locals in areas like Brickfields and KLCC, serving up nasi briyani and curries in packets.

Soon enough, the social enterprise expanded their business, opening a restaurant right in the heart of PJ Old Town.

Now, Masala Wheels has become a familiar staple among Malaysians, known for their banana leaf rice as well as their plethora of mouth-watering curries and vegetable dishes. But, did you know that they do much more than just sell yummy food?

Before opening their physical restaurant, Masala Wheels had already begun reaching out to youths. Their food truck not only enabled them to run their business in different locations, they were also able to search for youths in troubled areas to help them get back on track. In fact, according to Going Places, desperate parents and guardians who heard about their initiative sought help by sending their children to the food truck. 

Since then, the award-winning social enterprise has helped countless youths make their mark in society. From employing those in the marginalised communities, to helping B40 entrepreneurs set up their own startups, donating meals, and more, Masala Wheels is truly going out of their way to make a difference in the country.

With help from the public and sponsors, Masala Wheels has been donating meals and provisions to those in need, such as the poor, frontliners, stranded university students, and welfare homes. On one occasion, the social enterprise even managed to cook, pack, and distribute 7,000 meals to the marginalised communities within 72 hours.

Their initiative garnered lots of support from the public, to the extent that it even got the attention of the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU), an agency that manages the national system of poverty (eKasih) database from the Prime Minister's Department (JPM).

Reaching out to the social enterprise, ICU collaborated with Masala Wheels to make an even bigger impact in the community, by identifying and helping underserved beneficiaries. In addition, Masala Wheels also provided feedback and ideas to the ICU on how to help improve livelihoods through meal deliveries and training programmes.

To date, Masala Wheels has donated more than 31,000 meals. 

What's cool about Masala Wheels is that other than providing employment opportunities, especially to B40 individuals, the social enterprise also trains and teaches their employees. These individuals gain exposure to culinary skills and F&B management in three different sectors — food truck, restaurant, and catering services.

In fact, the social enterprise also offers a culinary talent development programme for their workers and students. Two of their beneficiaries, Chef Haziq and Chef Naqli, who were discovered through the government's Penjana Kerjaya under the PERKESO programme, are now leading Masala Wheel's cloud kitchens.

As part of their startup exit strategy, Masala Wheels has also since transferred 100% of their Petaling Jaya restaurant's ownership to two beneficiaries — P. Thiviya and Harvinder Singh — who have been part of the social enterprise's outreach programme.

True to their goal of empowering individuals, Masala Wheels will be setting up an additional three cloud kitchens for 15 micro-entrepreneurs from the B40 communities. To help them grow their startups and become self-sufficient, the social enterprise will also be sponsoring all costs for a year. 

Known as the Tech For Good initiative, the social enterprise wants to help aspiring individuals who wish to venture into the F&B industry realise their dreams.

Plus, the social enterprise is no stranger when it comes to providing micro-entrepreneurs some much-needed help. During the pandemic, the social enterprise launched their micro-entrepreneurship capacity building programme, a training workshop which ended up helping micro-entrepreneurs collectively generate RM100,000 in revenue in just three months.

If you're interested to take part in their free micro-entrepreneurship capacity building programme or own a cloud kitchen to grow your startup, Masala Wheels is currently accepting applications from now until December 2021. You can submit your application here.

Founded by the World Economic Forum, the Catalyst 2030 is a global movement of social entrepreneurs and social innovators from every sector, sharing the common goal of creating innovative and people-centric approaches to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Since the establishment of the Catalyst 2030, the movement has reached out to over two billion lives all over the world, in addition to USD$2 billion (RM8.3 billion) funds raised.

As part of this impactful movement, Masala Wheels chaired and launched the first ASEAN country chapter of the Catalyst 2030 on 7 May, with involvement from the government and their agencies. They also presented a report to share how governments all over the world can learn to unlock the potential of social entrepreneurs for the common good.

To date, there are 197 countries that are part of the Catalyst 2030, including Malaysia, which is represented by Masala Wheels. If you're interested to be a member of the Catalyst 2030, you can register here. 

In fact, the social enterprise is soon phasing out their brick and mortar business, and plans to become a fully digitalised cloud kitchen, with the aim of reaching out and empowering more individuals. 

With their entrepreneurship as well as youth development initiatives, Masala Wheels aims to make a difference in the country, while ensuring that each and every step is in accordance with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.

When asked about Masala Wheel's long and short-term plans, the social enterprise shared, "We're probably creating an innovative path of a sustainable future for our beneficiaries. It's a journey, and this would require a collective action from both private and public entities."