By ANIS FARHANAH MALEK
anisfarhanah@dagangnews.com
KUALA LUMPUR 12 August - Who would have ever thought a humanity gesture through meals could enhance refugees’ lives.
PichaEats, a buffet catering company started off with hiring refugees as chefs four years ago, serving meals to Malaysians which in turn helped rebuild their lives.
Co-Founder of PichaEats, Suzanne Ling said, along the way, the company has gained RM4 million of total sales with 50% of it going back to the chefs.
Currently, PichaEats has 13 chefs who are refugee mothers from Syria, Gaza, Afghanistan and Pakistan and roughly received RM2,000 per month from the business.
“When my co-founder and I were in university at the age of 23, we were volunteering in refugees programmes. At the time we realised there are more huge issues among the community and when we think about it, we thought of food.
“So, we reached as many refugee mothers as we can to cook their cuisine and sell it at our university. After that, we were thinking to do it full time. We are partnering together to build a business for them.
“Before they came to Malaysia, they were engineers, lectures and even professors but wars happened,” said her during the ‘Malaysia Expo 2020 Dubai Celebrates International Youth Day’ event at Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (MGTC), today.
Read : Malaysia Expo 2020 Dubai to draw RM10b potential trade
Also present, Deputy Secretary-General at Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Dr. Mohd. Nor Azman Hassan; Brand Ambassador for Malaysia Pavilion’s MyButterflyEffect campaign, Tunku Zain Al-’Abidin Tuanku Muhriz; MGTC’s Chief Executive Officer, Shamsul Bahar Mohd. Nor as well as another invited inspiring youth; Producer and Co-Founder of Studio Birthplace, Sean Lin.
The event is a part of Malaysia Pavilion’s promotional activities leading up to Expo 2020 Dubai which will also see PichaEats' participation.
In celebrating the International Youth Day, Malaysia Expo 2020 Dubai invited Ling who has put Malaysia on the map by winning the prestigious Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant organised by the expo.
PichaEats is also the only winner from Malaysia whose social impact project has inspired judges of the expo.
As the COVID-19 hit many industries, PichaEats which also runs food delivery has opened a new line of business namely frozen food in order to sustain. - DagangNews.com
Layari kami terus di DagangNews.com dan juga
Orang ramai yang ingin memberi pandangan atau suara hati, boleh menghantar tulisan ke suratpembaca@dagangnews.com dengan menyatakan:
1. Nama Pena (Jika tidak mahu guna nama sebenar).
2. Nama Sebenar seperti dalam Kad Pengenalan (Untuk rekod kami).
3. No. Telefon (untuk kami hubungi semula).
4. Menulis mengikut 5 Prinsip Rukun Negara.
5. Tidak melebihi 1,000 patah perkataan.
6. Editor berhak untuk menyunting atau menolak artikel secara profesional.
