Junda Khoo on How He Built the Ho Jiak Empire

With eight venues, two more opening by the end of the year, and more than 200 people on the books, Junda Khoo has experienced growth most restaurateurs could only dream of. But scaling in an already volatile industry has brought its challenges. “It’s not easy doing business in Australia,” Khoo says. “Everything is expensive. It costs a lot.” For Khoo, the toughest test came early. He opened Ho Jiak Town Hall just two days before Sydney’s first lockdown in 2020, at a time when the group already had four restaurants and many of its staff were on skilled work visas. “We could have lost everything,” he says. Rather than shutting up shop, the business pivoted, offering free and discounted meals to hospitality workers, including its own staff, and ensuring the team had enough shifts to get by.