Foliage Microgreens
In this interview, founders of Foliage Microgreens, Fairuz Effindi and Harith Halim, share their rise to success.
What do you do and how did you get into the industry?
We are a proud local microgreen grower and supplier based in Kajang, Selangor – Foliage Microgreens. To date, we have supplied our product to over 100 clients. This includes hotels, restaurants and catering businesses around the Klang Valley.
Initially, our background was in the construction industry as Quantity Surveyors. We shared the same passion, which was to open up our own business that related to our interest in gardening. We decided to venture into this business two years ago. We started as a homegrown grower, and the company expanded from there.
Share with us an exciting story from behind the scenes.
We opened up a booth by participating in a three-day event called Malaysia International Gastronomy Festival 2018 (MIGF2018). At that time, we couldn’t afford to hire anyone. It became quite hectic because we needed to standby in our booth from 8.00 am to 11.00 pm. By the time we reached home, we had needed to plant over 80 punnets of microgreens (we plant daily), finishing at 4.00 am and then prepare again for the next day’s event. We couldn’t get much sleep, but the result was terrific. We managed to market our product on a large scale and get a lot of customers from the event.
What’s the best/worst part of your job?
Best: Enjoying all the perks of doing business from home and generating income from doing our own hobby.
Worst: All farmers’ worst nightmare is when your crop dies! Nowadays, we manage to reduce risk.
What is one of your favourite microgreens that you grow?
Red Veined Sorrel (Rumex sanguineus). It has green leaves with red colour veins. The appearance is quite striking and has a lemony taste to it. It’s our most expensive microgreen!
What’s one of the memorable things you’ve encountered behind the scenes at Foliage Microgreens?
We met up and sold our microgreens to our nation beloved chef, Chef Wan! It happened last year at his restaurant called De.Wan 1958 by Chef Wan.
The perfect day off would be…
Simply being near the beach.
A day in the life of a founder at Foliage Microgreens is….
Organizing your workers in the morning, occasionally meeting up with clients and exploring more ways to expand our business.
What do you do for fun?
Throw backyard BBQ parties with friends and family.
What’s something you’d like clients to know about Foliage Microgreens?
We are a leading microgreens supplier in Malaysia. We sell premium products at a fair price. We aim for consistent supply and delivery, better shelf-life and flexibility in fulfilling clients’ requests.
Where do you like to eat and drink in KL?
Real men eat steak LOL. Any restaurants with a good steak and pasta menu.
What’s your view on the microgreen supply scene in KL?
It’s a niche market, but demand is good, and there are not yet many competitors around as it’s quite a new trend.
What’s in store for you in the upcoming months?
Foliage Microgreens will try to reach other locations such as Johor and Penang. We will also soon introduce our new products; edible flowers.
Stay up-to-date with the latest happenings on KL’s food scene here.
Those sure would come in handy at a time like this with our lockdown. Once bought, greens don’t keep very long in the fridge.
So compact! I could use them to decorate my wall instead.