Chef Eric Chua
Chef Roy Lim
Chef Elgin Chew
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25 Jan 2022
5 Min Read
Yusmani Yunus, Bizpod Incubator Executive
As a purpose-driven company that aims to create sustainable living commonplace, UFS MYSG (Malaysia and Singapore) would like to play the role of becoming the leader of changes in the food industry by providing more environmentally friendly food. UFS MYSG is focused on growing plant-based foods in the upcoming years. They wish to work with their current food operators in Malaysia to encourage more plant-based options in the Malaysian food industry.
Collaborating with BizPod, Taylor’s start-up incubator, and of course together with five brilliants students from Bachelor of Science (Hons)(Culinology) programme at Taylor’s School of Food Studies & Gastronomy, which are Liew Heu Kei, Aznor Qistina Mastura, Ahmad Nikmuhaimin Asyraf, Caleb Chin Xi Ern and Lim Tong, the plant-based menu development project was launched in October 2021 until February 2022.
Chef Eric Chua
Chef Roy Lim
Chef Elgin Chew
This project was led by experts from UFS MYSG which are Chef Eric Chua, Chef Roy Lim and Chef Elgin Chew. UFS MYSG appointed Chef Eric Chua as the main leader for this project as he is the Executive Chef of UFS MYSG and the Future Platform Chef Lead (SEA). It can be said that Chef Chua was born into the F&B business as he started helping with his family’s catering business when he was thirteen. Convinced that cooking was his calling, Chef Chua started out as a trainee chef at Swissôtel the Stamford in 2003 and has never looked back since. Dedicated and hardworking, Chef Chua worked his way up to Equinox Restaurant before joining Unilever.
The project was initiated to provide students an in-depth market research about the latest trend of plant-based food in Malaysia that consists of both desktop research and consumer insights-oriented findings, and to evaluate the future of plant-based food. UFS MYSG wanted students to deliver strategies on creating more demands of plant-based food in Malaysia and to deliver a potential new plant-based food menu that can be catered to the needs of their targeted customers. UFS MYSG also wanted to have an idea to create greater demand for plant-based food in the Malaysian food industry.
During the 5-months project, students would have a weekly check-in session with the Chef’s Team to present their progress, and voice out the challenges they faced throughout their journey. To kick off the momentum, live demo training was held in Dec 2021 by the UFS team together with the students at Taylor's Manifestation, The Culinary Bar Theater. Along the way, the students are required to conduct their research and brainstorm amongst their team members to learn more about consumer insight and create new recipes for the plant-based menu. After that, they are required to present their draft proposals to their mentors and receive feedback. In the last week of the project, students started to make the products based on the menu that had been proposed and at the same time, get ready for their final presentation with the UFS team.
In terms of the support and resources, UFS MYSG provided support by conducting an exclusive group mentorship with their leaders. The leaders provided the students with real-life industry exposure that can help sharpen the student’s business acumen and skills. Lastly, students that excel in this project would also receive potential internship opportunities.
