By Azeera Az
Tell us a little about yourself.
Hi, we’re SAM CO, a small home-based food business that is run by a team of 3 that specialises in traditional heritage dishes. Born and raised in Penampang, we grew up surrounded by our Kadazan traditions, where food was always at the heart of family and community.
From a young age, we were exposed to homemade cooking, where we learned recipes passed down from our parents and elders, especially during Kaamatan and gatherings. What started as a simple love for food slowly grew into a way of sharing our own take on traditional local dishes.
What’s your career story? What were you each doing before starting your business, and what inspired you to leap?
Before we started our business, we were just like others, working our way up the corporate ladder. But over time, we felt there was no work-life balance, and we needed a fresh start. Since we love to eat and find it hard to get traditional food in kk city, that’s when we got the idea of starting our own food business. Hence, SAM CO is formed by using our initial names S (Sidney), A (Alyssa), M (Mcarnessa).
Why did you decide to sell local cuisine? What makes your business unique?
We decided to sell local cuisine because it’s what we grew up eating, and honestly, it’s something we’re really proud of. These dishes bring back a lot of memories for us, and we wanted to share that same feeling with others, especially since some traditional foods are getting harder to find these days.
What makes us special? We keep it real. Traditional ingredients but made it our way, and everything homemade in small batches.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as local entrepreneurs?
One of our biggest challenges is sourcing ingredients, especially since some of them are seasonal and not always easy to find. On top of that, keeping traditional food exciting, especially for the younger crowd and first timers. It can be tough, as many are probably more into trendy and modern dishes.
Take us through a typical busy day for your business, from buying ingredients to setting up your booth at an event.
Okay, let’s say we’ve got a weekend pop-up, we usually start prepping about 2 days earlier. We’ll head out early to hunt down those hard-to-find ingredients and get the freshest stuff from the Tamu, then it’s straight into cooking and prepping.
We usually set up our booth the night before, once all the hectic prep is done. And when the event starts, it’s non-stop cooking, serving, and chatting with customers. It’s super tiring, but seeing our customers enjoying our food and hearing all the positive feedback from them, honestly, makes it all worth it!
What’s your advice for young people who want to start their own business?
To be honest, we’re still learning ourselves as a small home-based food business, so we don’t feel like we’re in a position to give advice. But there’s one thing we can share, it’s this: Just go for it. Embrace the ups and downs, learn as you go, and gain your own experience along the journey. Listen to constructive feedback & improve.
Your business has been part of various catering events and pop-ups. Can you share some of the events you’ve been involved in and how those experiences helped your business grow?
Over the past three years, we’ve had the opportunity to participate in many events, and by mid-2026, we’ll be stepping into our fourth year. Along the way, one of the most important lessons we’ve learned is to show up with an open heart and without expectations, simply doing our best in every moment. We believe that when you put your heart into what you do, everything else will naturally follow.
Beyond events, we also cater large pre-packed meals (up to 150 pax) for corporate clients. One of our memorable experiences was catering an annual “makan-makan” for staff in Kolombong, bringing people together through good food and shared moments.
Back in March 2024, we collaborated with our friends at Hearth to organise a CSR programme as a way of giving back to the community. It was a meaningful experience.
On your day off, what do you do?
We are new parents, so usually on our day off, we will spend time with our kids. You know, enjoy the moment while they are still small.
We all love food!
What are your top three must-eat dishes or favourite places to eat in Sabah?
Too many that we can think of! But when in Sabah, besides our traditional local native dishes, gotta have Tuaran Mee, Ngiu Chap & Sup Ikan!
Order your local meal from Sam.co and explore more of their journey on social media.
