Before co-founding Medella with his business partner, Edwin Ong was not really exposed to coconut and its star benefits behind the tropical fruit. It was not long after his mother was diagnosed with diabetes.
“The doctor gave her quite a few drugs to control her cholesterol level, blood pressure and blood sugar level. From my understanding, there is no permanent cure for diabetes. Those drugs can only control the symptoms.” Edwin said.
He researched coconut oil and was stunned. Coconut oil has been touted to increase metabolism, help with weight loss, helps regulate sugar levels and lowers cholesterol. Besides, it contains lauric which is also found in breast milk. It blew his mind.
“It was no harm for her to try it as it’s a superfood. After a month, she went back for her health check-up and the doctor was surprised with the result. The doctor thought she was taking the drugs every day because of her blood sugar level and everything seemed back to normal. She was not taking the drugs!”
From that time, he discovered that coconut oil is very effective for not only diabetes but other health conditions too. Putting his mom as the testimony, he introduced the benefits of coconut oil to his friends too.
Starting Medella
He spent his time learning about coconuts. He identified a problem where people mainly consume oil from cooking food. “What if we use coconut oil for cooking instead of consuming it orally?”
That gave him the fundamental idea of starting Medella. However, seven years ago, coconut oil for cooking was still new in the market and people weren’t familiar with it. It didn’t hinder him from pursuing his wild idea. He started the first move by doing research and he finally gets a source to contact about producing coconut cooking oil – a factory in the Philippines.
Medella, a successful coconut business
From contacting a coconut cooking oil producer in the Philippines, Edwin finally managed to get the product and bring it into Malaysia. In 2014, Edwin started Bountiful Ventures Sdn Bhd with its flagship brand, Medella.
In merely seven years, Medella has gone from an idea to a powerhouse. His products are available in major supermarkets chains in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Europe and also sold in USA, China and Mongolia via various platforms. Edwin has gone from knocking on doors of local independent supermarkets with a bottle of coconut cooking oil in bright yellow packaging, sweetly persuading them to put his product on the shelf, to become the No.1 coconut cooking oil brand in three global markets.
Expanding into Asia
“The business was getting serious when I managed to pitch to one of the largest supermarket chain, Jaya Grocer. It was challenging to introduce such a new product when nobody ever heard of it. Coconut cooking oil? Is it healthy? Those questions are common to me,” he said.
After several years in the market, Medella is known as a house brand for coconut cooking oil. The brand is the first and one of the pioneers in the Asian market. Medella has over 20 products including its flagship product, coconut cooking oil, MCT oil, coconut flour, coconut sugar, coconut creamer powder and many other organic and healthy products as well as non-food products.
From merely a silly idea to a powerhouse
Seven years was a long journey for Edwin. It wasn’t an easy process. Reminiscing the old days, he tells WargaBiz story, “When I first called the manufacturer in the Philippines and told them about my plan to get coconut cooking oil to Malaysia, they laughed at me. They said it’s a silly idea. They even told me “do you know Malaysia is No.2 largest palm oil producer in the world?” I firmly said yes, I know but, I still want to try.”
He was known as The Crazy Malaysian. However, he was persistent in bringing it into Malaysia. He wants his business to succeed, but he also believes in his role in educating people about the oil’s benefits.
Going more upstream
Bit by bit, Medella grew. He started as a trader, and today his company produce the product 100% locally. They have started to go more upstream by involving in manufacturing. Certain months, they can produce and sell about 60 to 80 tonnes worth of coconut oil for domestic and export market.
“Of course we want to dream big. We hope one day we can have our own plantation. We want to manufacture the product 100% by ourselves. By now, we are ready to diversify our products by not focusing on coconuts entirely. Anything that can give benefits to people, we are ready to share it,” he shared.
Blessing in disguise in the midst of a pandemic
Talking about the company’s revenues, Edwin said since the pandemic started last year, he witnessed the sales improved significantly. Their profit doubled.
“It’s because people are stuck at home due to lockdowns. So they spend more time cooking food. Besides, people are switching to coconut cooking oil for a healthier lifestyle. We are very pleased that we are able to provide consumers with healthier alternatives. We will continue to grow and we are ready to take it to greater heights,” he shared.
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