Product Update
Is Mak Tok Still in Business? (2026 Update)
Is Mak Tok from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy Mak Tok today.
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Mak Tok walked into the Den with a jar of Malaysian chilli paste built from a family recipe, and it walked out with a deal from Sara Davies. Years on, the short answer is yes: Mak Tok is still trading, and its products are easier to find now than they were on the night the episode aired.
The Short Answer
Mak Tok is still in business. The brand sells through its own website and has expanded into UK supermarket shelves and export markets, which is a stronger position than most Dragons' Den food and drink pitches ever reach.
It does not currently list on Amazon, so the direct site remains the main place to buy if a shop near you does not stock it yet.
The Pitch
Mak Tok appeared in series 17, episode 3, pitching a range of Malaysian sambal and chilli paste built on founder Will Chew's mother's recipe. The category on the show was food, filed here under Other for indexing purposes, but the pitch itself was a straightforward taste-and-convince test in front of the panel.
The founder asked for £60,000 in exchange for 33 percent of the business. That is a hefty equity slice for a relatively modest sum, which usually signals a founder who has decided that getting a Dragon on the cap table matters more than protecting ownership at all costs.
The Deal
Sara Davies made the investment, taking the full £60,000 for the full 33 percent on offer. No haggling over the split here, at least according to the numbers in our index, just a straight yes from a Dragon whose own background in retail and product development made her a sensible partner for a small-batch food brand looking to scale.
Sara Davies has built a reputation on the Den for backing founders in physical product categories she understands from the inside, and a chilli paste built on a genuine family story fits that pattern well.
What Happened After the Cameras Stopped
This is one of the better outcomes in the archive. Since the episode aired, Mak Tok has grown from a home kitchen operation into a business with its own production facility capable of turning out thousands of jars a day, according to trade coverage of the brand. That kind of manufacturing step up is exactly the kind of unglamorous, capital-heavy work that a Dragons' Den cheque is supposed to unlock, and it appears to have worked here.
The brand has also picked up listings in British supermarkets and reportedly ships to markets including the UAE, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Independent food brands rarely make that jump. Most stall out somewhere between a farmers' market stand and a proper retail listing, so getting product onto supermarket shelves and onto a cargo container is a genuine milestone, not just a marketing line.
Why This One Worked
Food and drink pitches on the Den have a rough survival rate. Margins are thin, shelf space is a fight, and a lot of founders underestimate how much working capital it takes to go from a market stall to a national listing. Mak Tok had two things going for it that a lot of pitches lack: a product with a genuine, differentiated flavour story, and a Dragon whose network and retail instincts matched the category exactly.
Founders who land the right investor, not just any investor, tend to have an easier road after the deal closes. Sara Davies backing a food brand is a sensible pairing, and the results since the episode aired back that up.
The Bigger Picture for Migrant Founder Food Brands
Mak Tok is also a useful example of a pattern that shows up repeatedly among the more successful food and drink pitches on the Den: a founder introducing a heritage recipe, tied to a genuine cultural background, into a UK market that had limited access to it before. British supermarket shelves have grown noticeably more diverse over the past decade, and buyers are actively looking for authentic products with real founder stories rather than another own-label imitation, which plays directly to a brand like this one's strengths.
That dynamic does not guarantee success on its own, plenty of authentic, well told food brands still struggle to find shelf space, but it does give a founder a genuine point of difference to lead with, rather than trying to compete purely on price against much larger, better resourced competitors in a crowded category.
Where Things Stand Now
To recap. Mak Tok pitched in series 17, episode 3, asked for £60,000 for 33 percent, and got exactly that from Sara Davies. Today the brand is still trading, still selling directly online, and has moved into UK retail and export markets it did not have access to before the show.
If you came here wondering whether the sambal you tried once is still around, it is. Mak Tok is one of the Den's clearer success stories.
Where to buy Mak Tok
Still selling as of 18 February 2026. Check today's price and availability.
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See the full Mak Tok deal breakdown and term sheet →
