Plant-based living was once seen as a niche trend in Malaysia, a passing fad, or something at odds with our love for sambal and satay. But with VegFest now in its seventh edition, it’s clear that something deeper is taking root.



Gulshan Kaur Rai and Mandeep Singh Sidhu share how Malaysia VegFest grew from a small idea into a thriving movement. We dive into the cultural pushback, the business opportunities, and the values driving a lifestyle shift that’s as much about justice and sustainability as it is about food.



Is Malaysia ready for a plant-forward future? And what does it really take to change the way a nation eats, and thinks?

Plant-based living was once seen as a niche trend in Malaysia, a passing fad, or something at odds with our love for sambal and satay. But with VegFest now in its seventh edition, it’s clear that something deeper is taking root.Gulshan Kaur Rai and Mandeep Singh Sidhu share how Malaysia VegFest grew from a small idea into a thriving movement. We dive into the cultural pushback, the business opportunities, and the values driving a lifestyle shift that’s as much about justice and sustainability as it is about food.Is Malaysia ready for a plant-forward future? And what does it really take to change the way a nation eats, and thinks?

The flagship entrepreneurship show on BFM, featuring personal business stories from early stage start-ups, all the way to billionaire octogenarians in Malaysia and abroad. Notable guests include Martin Cooper (father of the mobile phone), Julian Assange (founder of WikiLeaks), Ralph Henry Baer (father of video games), Tony Buzan (Mindmap Guru), Isaac Tigrett (Hard Rock Cafe founder), Robert Kiyosaki (Financial Guru), Nick Vujicic (motivational speaker) and more. Tap into this valuable resource of shared experiences for the SME industry, which also touches on news, issues and trends affecting the business community and beyond.

Open For Business

Discover fresh concepts, tackle obstacles, and unleash growth - Open For Business is the dynamic show where BFM engages with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and industry trailblazers, igniting inspiration, sparking success, and exploring new business models.

Malaysia Vegfest - Growing Malaysia’s Plant-Based Movement

Amachi’s Palagaram is a brand dedicated entirely to preserving traditional Indian sweets and savories. What began as a heartfelt weekend project operating out of a family home in Subang Jaya—offering customers a warm, "1 Malaysia" open-house vibe—has now blossomed into a fully commercialised F&B operation.



Aaron Jay Dason and Narmatha Shanmugam join us to share the deeply personal journey of keeping their grandmother's legacy alive. We explore the emotional weight of commercialising cultural comfort food, the financial mechanics of moving from a rent-free family kitchen to a commercial retail space, and the delicate balance of building a fast-growing, 7-figure heritage brand as a husband-and-wife team.

Amachi’s Palagaram is a brand dedicated entirely to preserving traditional Indian sweets and savories. What began as a heartfelt weekend project operating out of a family home in Subang Jaya—offering customers a warm, "1 Malaysia" open-house vibe—has now blossomed into a fully commercialised F&amp;B operation.Aaron Jay Dason and Narmatha Shanmugam join us to share the deeply personal journey of keeping their grandmother's legacy alive. We explore the emotional weight of commercialising cultural comfort food, the financial mechanics of moving from a rent-free family kitchen to a commercial retail space, and the delicate balance of building a fast-growing, 7-figure heritage brand as a husband-and-wife team.

Preserving Amachi's Legacy One Appam At A Time

In Southeast Asia, nearly 40% of food is wasted before it ever reaches the consumer. Much of this spoilage happens in the "last mile"—the chaotic journey between massive edge-of-city cold warehouses and the neighborhood restaurants, wet markets, and food courts that actually serve the community. For these SMEs, traditional cold rooms are a financial nightmare, often demanding over RM50,000 in upfront capital for equipment that frequently breaks down.



Founded in 2024, Polar Cold is replacing this broken system with a decentralised network of hyperlocal, energy-efficient cold rooms. Co-founders Jonathan Harvey and Joe Khoo have built a rental model that provides SMEs with industrial-grade, IoT-monitored cold storage for a fixed monthly fee.



Joe join us to unpack the operational reality of Hardware-as-a-Service, the hidden costs of tropical refrigeration, and their upcoming expansion into Malaysia.

In Southeast Asia, nearly 40% of food is wasted before it ever reaches the consumer. Much of this spoilage happens in the "last mile"—the chaotic journey between massive edge-of-city cold warehouses and the neighborhood restaurants, wet markets, and food courts that actually serve the community. For these SMEs, traditional cold rooms are a financial nightmare, often demanding over RM50,000 in upfront capital for equipment that frequently breaks down.Founded in 2024, Polar Cold is replacing this broken system with a decentralised network of hyperlocal, energy-efficient cold rooms. Co-founders Jonathan Harvey and Joe Khoo have built a rental model that provides SMEs with industrial-grade, IoT-monitored cold storage for a fixed monthly fee.Joe join us to unpack the operational reality of Hardware-as-a-Service, the hidden costs of tropical refrigeration, and their upcoming expansion into Malaysia.

Polar Cold: The Agritech Startup Rebuilding Urban Refrigeration

In 2023, after years of utilising seed and VC funding to scale their operations, BloomThis co-founders Penny Choo and Giden Lim executed a rare strategic move: they bought their company back. Today, the fully independent, vertically integrated floral and gifting e-commerce platform is generating 8-figure annual revenues with healthy 7-figure profit margins across Malaysia and Singapore.



Penny joins us to dissect the hard metrics behind their success. We scrutinise the unit economics of a perishable supply chain, how to protect brand equity against the cheap discounting of TikTok social commerce, and the strategy behind driving customer retention in an industry reliant on episodic, once-a-year purchases.

In 2023, after years of utilising seed and VC funding to scale their operations, BloomThis co-founders Penny Choo and Giden Lim executed a rare strategic move: they bought their company back. Today, the fully independent, vertically integrated floral and gifting e-commerce platform is generating 8-figure annual revenues with healthy 7-figure profit margins across Malaysia and Singapore.Penny joins us to dissect the hard metrics behind their success. We scrutinise the unit economics of a perishable supply chain, how to protect brand equity against the cheap discounting of TikTok social commerce, and the strategy behind driving customer retention in an industry reliant on episodic, once-a-year purchases.

Malaysia Vegfest - Growing Malaysia’s Plant-Based Movement

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