My Food Job Rocks!

Today we’re interviewing Edwin Yang, brewmaster and supply chain manager for Vattanac, a brewery in Cambodia! This interview isn’t about mental trauma or how the world is about to end, let’s have a refresher, or a refreshment and learn about the wonderful world of beer! Edwin is a world traveler and has honed his brewery skills by learning other countries’ skillset and cultures Sound familiar? He’s a Singaporean native but has been all over the world from the United States, to Germany, to Hong Kong, improving his skill set in the world of beer. Edwin gives us a snapshot of Cambodia’s growing ecosystem and the wild west competitive atmosphere in the beer industry over here. He also goes through the process of brewing three types of beer and also some cool tricks on how to market beer. Did you know if you crack open Cambodian beer, you have a chance to win a prize? Just look under the tab, and you might win a beer or a bike? My personal favorite part of this interview is that we drink three beers live on air! And Edwin does a phenomenal job going through the experience of tasting beer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re interviewing Chole Sorvino, Forbes reporter and author of the new book, Raw Deal, Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and The Fight for the Future of Meat This is a book that is a deep dive into the meat industry and its future. This includes food tech such as plant-based and cultivated. Chole’s viewpoint is what I’d view as skeptical but it’s well-researched and the perspective is much needed in this industry. Colored in this book is the quick 5 decade history of the scale-up of animal agriculture, the externalities in terms of how the meat industry acquires labor and the environmental damages caused by the tons of waste generated daily.   Biggest takeaway? The meat industry we know has quite a brutal history of taking advantage of and proliferating its tactic for world domination. Conventional meat is an innovative technology (which is efficient and huge slaughterhouses that kill, tear apart, and clean animals extremely fast) and has influenced how we eat and we don’t even notice it!  But to be frank, this industry is only 50 years old. It’s actually an amazing case study of scaling a premium product with huge externalities and we can compare this to similar things such as well, smartphones and social media.  Another key section in this interview is our discussion on the current climate in food tech Chloe has access to a lot of information and it was nice to get some perspective on what’s going on. At the end of the interview, Chloe and I talk about some innovative solutions that she finds promising. Overall, highly recommend this book. I know a lot of our viewers who listen to My Food Job Rocks are interested in alternative protein but broadening your perspective is really important. I find Chole’s book super informative from a historical viewpoint and her suggestions for creating a better food system are another potential solution for a better world. As someone who’s worked in slaughterhouses, and food tech, and looking into various solutions to solve a lot of these externalities, it was refreshing getting Chloe’s insights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  Welcome to the My Food Job Rocks Podcast, a podcast where we interview experts in the food industry and learn what they do, how they got there, and insights on the future of food. I’m your host and food scientist Adam Yee.  Today we’re interviewing Jake Karls, Chief Rainmaker and Co-Founder of Mid-Day Squares a Canadian chocolate company that is killing it with its viral marketing techniques and innovative product Fun fact, my first job was for a Canadian candy company. In fact, there are several candy and bar companies over there so Mid-Day Squares is in good hands in terms of the talented canucks in French Canada.  Ok, so Jake has a super magnetic, charismatic personality and instantly, you will be captured by his tone and message. He’s also flattering!   Jake pours his heart out here and talks about how he joined his sister’s and brother-in-law’s company after his second business failed. I think what most people miss in a lot of interviews is digging deep into Jake’s past businesses and how that set him up for success for Mid-Day Squares. A lot of it is a great team and what better team than family? Authenticity is a big part of this interview and in my opinion, the most powerful way to be authentic is to talk about your past, because the way you talk about your path shows how you’ve reflected and grown. You’ll hear a lot about what makes Jake, Jake. A big chunk of this interview is therapy and walking through tough situations. Especially as entrepreneurs, where you have the majority of the issues pile onto you, takes a toll. I burned out in my last startup, and I have some trauma whenever I think about how alone I felt.  I have to thank the Chief of Staff Jordainne Erichson, who’s a fan of this podcast. That’s right, the fans make this podcast sing. As I look back at all of the interviews, recently, the majority of these amazing interviews were because of the fans. So thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re interviewing Daniel Teoh, a serial entrepreneur in Malaysia and founder of Native Discovery, a social enterprise that co-creates community-based ventures with indigenous communities to boost livelihoods and grow their cultural confidence. They specialize in sustainable tourism and work closely with our community partners in hosting unique experiences that are meaningful, challenging, and fun for both international and domestic travelers. Thank you Lee Swelin for this awesome introduction. This was a super fun interview! Daniel guides us through audibly about how a tour through these indigenous populations works and I was salivating by the time it was done. Like all creatives, Daniel’s path wasn’t set in stone. Daniel has a degree in Civil Engineering and split off as an entrepreneur as opportunities came. What was his guiding light, was his passion to share the indigenous culture of Malaysia. Daniel is also a super cool entrepreneur who does things scrappily and hustles his butt off and you’ll hear a ton of examples of how he tested and validated his ideas into viable businesses.   This is also a great interview about indigenous people. Actually, all over the world, I’ve learned about indigenous people. America has its own issues, but surprisingly, in Australia, indigenous people were a huge part of the museums. I even went to a live event about some artists in Melbourne celebrating indigenous art.   In another part of this interview, you’ll learn a lot about Durian! Have you heard of durian? It’s a really smelly fruit that is very polarizing. In my opinion, it smells like rotten, overripe fruit. I can eat it, but not a lot. I find the texture super good.   Anyways, you’ll learn not only the magic of durian, but how they grow, how it’s harvested, and what might actually eat durian. You’re also going to learn some cooking tips with Durian! You’re going to learn so many things about Durian, you might actually want to buy it at an Asian grocery market.   Daniel’s story is an inspiring journey of following what you care about, and seizing every opportunity to build something amazing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re interviewing Adwin Koh Hsin Win, Head of Food Innovation and Technology at Pizza Hut in Malaysia! So a global company like pizza hut needs to adapt to local cultures and sometimes the franchise can take charge in developing local R+D flavors. Adwin is the man who gets that job done Adwin is a rockstar who’s worked in Lays, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and even smaller companies building out their menus. He’s super experienced and knowledgeable in his field. One of the industries I don’t really have a good grasp on are Quick Serivce or QSR interviews. One, I personally love fast food, but two, it’s definitively a different beast compared to a lot of the companies I work for. When we started looking into food service, I never realized how important the ease of use a product has to be for it to be part of a large QSR channel. I love QSR interviews, especially R+D ones and Adwin’s reminds me of a personal favorite, Missy Schapook from Taco Bell. Fun fact, I actually went to the headquarters of Taco Bell thanks to Missy and she showed me everything from the kitchen where they innovate products, the sensory room where they put you into a booth for you to try new taco bell products, and the marketing room where they track each and every tweet and post for positive or negative vibes. Adwin brings more insight to the field and talks about how the Malaysia team works with Global. It’s a really fun interview. As always, I ask Adwin about the cool things in Malaysia and he adds to the ever-growing list when I come back.                     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re interviewing Alyssa Eng, Innovation and Improvement Executive at Qra, a small but growing startup retail chain store in Malaysia. I met Alyssa once during my event a long time ago in WeWork Food Labs. It was my going away party to Austin Texas where I spent $2000 dollars on catered food. I didn’t remember at first. Grace told me about Alyssa so I reached out and the memories flooded in. At the time, Alyssa worked at CCD in California. Phil Saneski and a few of his friends also worked there so it all clicked together. It was so nice to catch up with Alyssa over some delicious Turkish food like 5 minutes from the hotel. So what’s unique about this interview Alyssa has worked in the United States and she talks about her experience being an intern in the United States What’s really value about this interview is Alyssa’s transition from Malaysia to The United States to Malaysia again and how the pandemic, which seems like ages ago, affected jobs QRA is growing fast and Alyssa is along for the ride. After opening 3 stores in a year, Alyssa has jumped into all sorts of job roles over there and talks about the dynamics of working in retail, developing products, and the expectations of working in Malaysia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  Welcome to the My Food Job Rocks Podcast, a podcast where we interview experts in the food industry and learn what they do, how they got there, and insights on the future of food. I’m your host and food scientist Adam Yee. Today we’re interviewing Grace Huei Tan, Business Development Manager at Oatside, a plant-milk company. Grace also does projects with Malaysia coffee companies and marketing. So Grace and I have been online penpals for years and I remember she reached out when I first started My Food Job Rocks, but I don’t remember why. Over time, we’ve worked on a few small things together such as a My Food Job Rocks article miniseries where I asked guest students to write their experience in food science from different countries. It’s so amazing to finally see her in person. I really enjoyed this episode for a lot of reasons. Grace is exceptional at talking about what she loves to do and you’ll learn her really fun journey in the food industry as she has gone through being a celebrity from winning a food competition, to traveling around the world showing people Asian flavors, and now has landed in the marketing field. What I also found insightful was Grace’s viewpoint on Malaysia and the food industry and how the country perceives education, careers, and health. You’re also going to get a bit more of a deeper insight on Malaysian lifestyle. From the diverse groups that are here, to the delicious food Grace goes out of her way to go. I think what’s really impactful is a common thread is starting to bubble up with that a lot of talent leaks out of Malaysia into countries such as Singapore, Australaia, or the United States. Grace also knows where all the good food is in Malaysia so make sure to get a notepad handy when you plan your trip to Malaysia! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re interviewing Sew Chang Chew, Head of R and D at Hybrid Dairy Alliance, a new business that focuses on dairy manufacturing. Welcome to Malaysia! This is the first interview I did hours after I landed. I actually met Sew 9 years ago at IFT when our colleges were both competing in a product development competition. I believe it was Developing Solutions for Developing Countries. Sew has a lot to say about the food industry in Malaysia and gives a good introduction to what the food is really about. Not just industry, but he describes food really well. I think what’s great to take away from this interview is the point of view. What’s amazing about traveling to all of these countries and interviewing everyone is you get to see not only the differences but the similarities between what’s going on and Sew highlights a lot of challenges that I feel I’ve faced in my career. You’re also going to get a lot of practical advice! Sew is essentially a manager and gives some good tips on how to teach and motivate your employees! His advice is very simple, and methodical. I never realized how similar I was with Sew, we both have worked many jobs, around 2-year stints, and he himself traveled the world.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re interviewing Widya Putra, CEO, and co-founder of Meatless Kingdom. They are a company that makes delicious Indonesian CPG products using mushrooms. I was fortunate to talk to Widya when he was visiting Singapore and did this interview at the Big Idea Ventures Office. I find that super cool! As you’ve been listening to this episode, Singapore is such a focal point to the whole investment scene and food is no exception. Talking to entrepreneurs locally in Singapore, from China and now Indonesia has been so interesting and shows just how centerpoint the city is. Anyways, I don’t know much about Indonesia and it wasn’t really in my plans to visit when I was planning my world trip so I’m fortunate to have interviewed Widya to learn more about the ecosystem. Maybe next time. In this interview, you’ll learn about Indonesia’s perspective on plant-based meat and what Meatless Kingdom is doing to help introduce Indonesians to plant-based cuisines. You’ll also learn why Meatless Kingdom applied to Big Idea Venture’s Cohort 5 and how Big Idea helped Meatless Kingdom grow its business through its accelerator program. There’s only like 5 players in Indonesia each tackling different products so it’s pretty small. But for me, I see a glimmer of excitement in a whole new market looking for delicious new products.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m so excited to have my good friend David Kay on the My Food Job Rocks podcast. David is employee number 1 at Upside Foods, which used to be called Memphis Meats. You may know them as one of the leaders of the cultivated meat movement. As we all know, bringing new technology to the world can be risky so you’ll learn a ton of the strategies David has used to what he says, derisks bringing cultivated meat to market I got a tour of the Upside food facility, called EPIC. Before it was bought out 2 years ago, it used to be a grocery store in the heart of Emeryville. When you enter the building, you are greeted with an open kitchen and then David gave me a tour. Upside Foods is working on a bunch of stuff. Though I heard a bunch about them when I was in California, it’s nice to see the visual progress. They’ve found a way to produce any type of meat by developing a robust process to generate cells. By the way, haven’t tasted Upsides’ stuff yet! Some day. Upside Foods is valued at around $1 billion dollars and is one of the most well-funded contenders in the space. One could say they’ve always been the tip of the spear when it comes to this industry and it is actually quite interesting to compare Upside with the other global players I’ve interviewed. The facility can produce 50,000-400,000 pounds of meat a year but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the meat industry. You’ll also learn the regulatory framework for cultivated meat and what still needs to get done for this to be commercialized! There’s still a lot of work for cultivated meat to go mainstream. After all, it took 9 years for the concept to light a fire but progress is happening. If you’re in the weeds for this industry, it’s making progress. Most expect the outcome sooner, who doesn’t? but for me, the journey in how this technology has been developing has been amazing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices