Old Chang Kee's 70-year-old secret recipe for curry puffs stored in vault: BT

Old Chang Kee's secret recipe for curry puffs is hidden away in a vault, according to The Business Times.

BT reported that the homegrown fried snack chain's most popular product, the Curry'O, contains a secret sauce that has allowed it to weather the cut-throat food and beverage (F&B) industry.

As part of busines expansion plans, the curry puff is being adapted into a secondary line of products for business-to-business (B2B) sales.

Old Chang Kee’s chief financial officer, Song Yeow Chung, said: "We really want to protect this recipe. It’s from this recipe that we have been able to branch out into other secondary products."

Curry puff's longevity

The Curry'O puff is stuffed with spiced chicken and potato curry, and its curry sauce base has been part of Old Chang Kee's core identity.

Song added: "We try to leverage our core identity, which is our curry, to branch out into other products. We want to be able to have different sources of revenue, different sources of curry-based products that are synonymous with our name.”

As the cost of operations, wages and rentals rise, the company is innovating and focusing on its core product, the Curry'O puff, to uplift profit margins.

The company is working on B2B sales centred around its Curry'O puffs.

Song said B2B sales "remain in its early stage of development", making up less than 5 per cent of Old Chang Kee's revenue, but plans to expand on this segment progressively are underway.

Curry'O only made at Woodlands facility

The company acquired a halal certification from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia in 2016 and has a factory in Johor, which allows products made there to be sold in Singapore.

Less than 10 per cent of total sales come from products supplied from the Johor Bahru factory.

All products imported into Singapore are non-meat snacks, and Song said the Curry'O is only made at the Woodlands facility.

The brand is waiting for regulatory approval from the Singapore Food Agency to bring in meat products from overseas.

Started as a small stall near Rex Cinema

Old Chang Kee began as a coffee shop stall in 1956 near the Rex Cinema on Mackenzie Road.

In 1986, businessman Han Keen Juan bought over control of Old Chang Kee using his savings, moving the production of curry puffs to Ubi.

In 1994, he invested in a 20,000 square foot facility in Woodlands, modernising and re-engineering the business.

In 2008, Old Chang Kee went public on the Singapore Exchange's Catalist board.

In January 2026, the company was the overall winner of the Product Excellence award at the inaugural Singapore Innovation and Manufacturing Excellence Awards organised by the Singapore Manufacturing Federation.

Local & Overseas outlets

Currently, the company runs over 80 outlets in Singapore, according to BT.

Old Chang Kee also runs four outlets of the sub-brand Curry Times in Singapore.

The brand has also expanded overseas, opening stores in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the UK.

Song told BT that the company is not planning to expand its presence in Malaysia as their current operations “adequately support existing customer demand, while preserving flexibility to accommodate future growth”.

He added that "high traffic flow, a love for curry and a love for fried food" were key considerations in looking for areas of expansion, not just the rapport with business partners.

Top photo from Alex SP/Google Maps and Sunshine/Google Maps