A personal health choice that turned into a successful venture
Malaysia’s BMS Organics started in the healthy-eating and organic retail trend that initially spread in Taiwan 20 years ago.
According to Terry Lee, executive director of holding company FMC Greenland, his three elder brothers, a doctor, an accountant and an electronics engineer, started the business in 1997. He was just 17 years old when his eldest brother, who was a practicing doctor in Taiwan, introduced the trend to his family. It included concepts such as taking less meat and consuming more organic vegetables, he says.
After nine months of the new diet, he noticed that he felt better and had more energy. He became a total believer then. He began reading up on the subject and the lifestyle.
They started their first shop in Subang Jaya when they saw that there was an unmet market niche. It was very hard to get the proper ingredients locally to support the lifestyle, according to him. During those early periods, most of their customers were cancer patients and were already aware of the benefits of the “good food”.
Now, BMS Organics has spread its influence to a wider range of people who are actively trying to lead a healthy lifestyle. The company now has 40 outlets that carry some 1,000 different products, ranging from fresh organic produce (some from their own farm) and supplements, to dry food, beverages and breakfast-type foods, to skincare products, baby foods and water filters, and even pet food and sanitary pads. They also started their own brand of organic vegetarian café in 2007 and now have 19 operating outlets.
Lee says BMS Organics will not sell what they themselves have not personally tried and typically, certifications for products would be checked, including its organic credentials, before the company uses or sells them. If they are unsure of the ingredients, they send it off to their laboratory for further testing.
According to Lee, they used to visit international expos to source for new products, and one of his brothers used to have the task of traveling the world to seek out new and interesting items to introduce to the local market.
Before he graduated, he was already helping out wherever he could since the business started, including joining the packing line. After finishing his studies, he officially joined the company as marketing manager. Recently, he has taken over the task of traveling which takes about two-thirds of the year.
He says that they are the sole distributors for a few renowned brands from Italy, Germany, Britain, Korea, Australia and the US. They started serving the international market from their fifth year of operations. They export their own products now such as oat milk, soya milk and biscuits to Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Brunei. This boosts volume and helps them lower the product costs.
They are also thinking of potentially expanding their café concept overseas as their outlet in KLIA2 has impressed many foreign customers. He attributes this to the Westerners’ love of Asian food, saying that their menu is “distinctly Malaysian and unique, on top of being organic”.
