Cover John-Hans Oei (Photo: Daniel Adams)
John-Hans Oei (Photo: Daniel Adams)
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Asia's Most Influential honouree and CEO of Cultiveat shares how the business is moving forward after an enforced lull
For those not in the know, Cultiveat was among the pioneers to practise sustainable farming locally. Growing select crops indoors, they manage to keep produce pesticide-free and yield more within the same amount of land as compared to conventional farming.
“Post-lockdown, what we’re trying to do now is to play catch-up; there were a lot of plans in the pipeline—most of which involve expanding our presence,” shares John-Hans Oei, the CEO and co-founder of the business, who regards himself as a humble farmer.
The pandemic slowed down Cultiveat’s plans for expansion, as restaurants and clients reduced their demand for Cultiveat’s products. Coupled with the fact that movement control orders were in place, so everything was restricted.
Read more: These urban farms lead the way in sustainable food production
However, the lull allowed Oei and team to look internally and fine-tune processes. “Since we couldn’t expand just yet, we did some R&D to become more efficient and effective. We don’t want to stagnate, so we studied the market and started to grow different crops using different technologies,” he says.
With many jobs affected by the pandemic, Oei takes pride in not only being able to retain staff but also giving them some increment during that time, on top of hiring others—the current headcount is now around 80.
Cultiveat’s upward momentum may have been halted temporarily, but now it is set for growth. Having acquired 25 acres of land within Selangor, compared to their previous three-acre farm, Oei is optimistic about their upcoming endeavours.
And thanks to Cultiveat’s table-height farming process, he says they can yield up to ten times more produce than a regular farm. “The 25 acres might not seem like a lot, but because of the way we grow our produce, that space is equivalent to about 100 acres of traditional farm space.”
See also: The Vegetable Co. champions innovative sustainable indoor farming
Apart from that, he also wants to increase the brand’s retail presence, and start supplying to other states as well. Already supplying to convenience stores like Qra, Bila- Bila Mart, Olive Grocer and more, he’s also in talks to supply veggies to be used in sandwiches of a large Japanese chain convenience store.
“What’s most exciting is that we’ve figured out the logistics to supply our produce to other states within Malaysia,” adds Oei, noting that transporting fresh produce is a highly complex logistic process.
But it was the upcoming experiential element of Cultiveat that perked our ears up. Set to launch within the year, the lifestyle space will surely draw families to visit, and aims to educate people on technologies that can go into farming. “There will be a farm, a retail space, events space, as well as an F&B outlet which will of course be using our ingredients—truly farm to table,” he shares.
The Cultiveat farm was recently paid a visit by Chan Foong Hin, the deputy minister of agriculture and food security, as it has become a national concern recently. And Cultiveat’s indoor farming technique, which in a sense controls the elements the crops are exposed to, may be part of the solution.
However, Oei shares that there are still some limitations. “Electricity costs are high, we’re not completely free of weather conditions, and there is a slight variance in taste for produce that’s received direct natural sunlight compared to those grown indoors. Then, there’s the issue of the types of crops grown, such as kale, which may not be truly what the masses need or use. But, Cultiveat has been at the forefront of agrotech, and we can help provide some solutions.”
Cultiveat currently produces wide varieties of leafy greens, microgreens, tomatoes, herbs, bananas, lemons, and chilli, with more to come soon.
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If tall, dark and handsome is what you're looking for, Aaron Pereira ticks two out of three. This fine chocolate man (that is, a connoisseur of fine chocolate), enjoys the theatre, futsal, real-life conversations and of course, the English language. He believes that language should first be used to express, but the business of a sub-editor is to impress.
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