Loi Tuan Ee of Farm Fresh: The Ethical Entrepreneur
Channel: Do More - Take Charge of Your Life
Date: 2022-04-27

#Dairy #Milk #IPO 

Loi Tuan Ee of Farm Fresh: The Ethical Entrepreneur

Loi Tuan Ee was 42 years old, married and mortgaged when he decided to leave his cushy corporate job in packaging to start a food-based business in Johor, Malaysia. Sixteen years later, Farm Fresh has become a RM3 billion company with operations in Malaysia and Australia and export markets all over the world. 

In this, the third of six special interviews with some of Malaysia’s largest and most successful entrepreneurs in collaboration with CGS-CIMB and Endeavor Malaysia, Khoo Hsu Chuang speaks to Loi about his colourful story and his journey to the top. 

(This interview was part of a collaboration between the Do More Podcast, CGS-CIMB and Endeavor Malaysia as part of the 'Thought Inspire' Series, filmed at the Asia School of Business (a partnership between MIT Sloan School of Management and Bank Negara Malaysia) 

​ @asiaschoolofbusinessincoll7881  

CONTENTS: 

00:00 - Intro
00:58 - Leaving a Highly Paid Job In His 40s to Start Farm Fresh 
03:13 - Conquering The Fear 
04:19 - Starting With Goats and Fish! 
05:46 - Raising Money, Asking Azmi to Join, Khazanah’s Entry 
08:03 - The Early Challenges 
10:49 - Starting a Consumer Brand Today 
13:26 - How Do You Grow Without Raising Prices? 
17:47 - Absorbing Inflation For Customers Benefit 
20:17 - Expanding Into the Region 
21:50 - New Markets in Infant Formula 
24:16 - Is Milk Advertising Unethical? 
26:30 - Succession and The Challenges of Keeping to the Brand Promise 
29:04 - Why Did You Decide to IPO? 
30:54 - Expanding Into ASEAN 
33:11 - Dealing With Distance, FX 
34:29 - The Indonesia and Philippines Markets 
36:50 - Ethical Advertising and ESG 
40:14 - Labour Shortages 
42:19 - Becoming a Dollar Unicorn 
44:19 - Life as a Listed Company 
47:21 - Skills Sets Sought Out By Big Investors 
49:03 - Major Compliance Hurdles? 
50:20 - How Important Are the Accountants and Legal Team 
51:43 - Three Pieces of Advices for Entrepreneurs 
56:29 - Sacrifices .. 

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Follow Loi and Farm Fresh here: 

URL: https://www.farmfresh.com.my/
Endeavour: https://www.endeavormalaysia.org/people/Loi-Tuan-Ee
LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/ycktfuk8
FB: https://www.facebook.com/farmfreshdairyproduce/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/farmfreshmilkmalaysia/

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Follow Chuang here: 
URL: http://www.domore.my/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsu-chuang-khoo-ab199343/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/khoo.chuang/
IG: instagram.com/khoohsuchuang/

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