Healthy food is essential for overall well-being and critical to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Supermarkets selling healthy food are crucial for improving public health by making nutritious options accessible and convenient for a wide population. They can influence consumer behaviour by promoting healthier eating habits, reducing the prevalence of diet-related diseases like obesity and diabetes, and supporting sustainability through the sale of eco-friendly products. Beacon Mart runs a network of healthy grocery stores, offering top-quality, in-house farmed products at affordable prices. Their integrated farm-to-table model guarantees a smooth and reliable shopping experience for customers, ensuring fresh and trustworthy food options.
In a close interview with us, Beacon Mart shared their experiences and also industry insights with us.
Could you provide a brief overview of Beacon Mart?
Beacon Mart was founded in January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on creating a one-stop marketplace for health and wellness by offering high-quality, in-house farmed products at reasonable prices through an integrated farm-to-plate model. The inspiration for the business came from Madam Mary Chen, the Founder and former Chairman of Beacon Hospital in Malaysia. In the early 2010s, Mary noticed that cancer patients were avoiding poultry due to concerns about harmful substances in chicken meat. While studies showed no direct link between chicken and cancer, doubts remained. Wanting to provide hope, particularly through chicken essence, a traditional remedy for fatigue, Mary initially sourced kampung chickens herself but, after concerns about their safety, decided the best solution was to farm the chickens herself to ensure quality and trustworthiness.
What key aspects or features of the company would you like us to emphasize in the article?
Beacon Mart, a home-grown Malaysian farm-to-plate business established in 2021, has grown from its beginnings to operate 43 retail outlets. The company offers its own farmed and processed products, including Beacon Seaweed Chicken, Beacon Seaweed Vegetables, GroForU Sabah Wild Caught Seafood, and Radiant Natural & Organic Whole Foods. They supply and distribute these products to a variety of local F&B restaurants, central kitchens, resorts, and hotels. The company’s success and rapid growth are driven by its commitment to providing the public with high-quality essential foods at reasonable prices, offering peace of mind in their daily shopping.
What sets Beacon Mart apart from other service providers in the industry?
At Beacon Mart, we believe in giving back to society, as our business thrives on the support of the general public. Since its inception, Beacon Mart has been dedicated to corporate social responsibility, despite being a relatively new business. Initially, we contributed RM3 for every chicken sold and have since developed a 2% revenue CSR fund. These funds have been consistently used to support underprivileged communities through food, medical supplies, essentials, and financial aid. Additionally, Beacon Mart values education, actively participating in school charity drives, community initiatives, and other charitable causes.
Could you explain your USP?
At Beacon Mart, our focus is on offering high-quality essential products at reasonable prices, which is no simple task given that managing business costs is crucial for sustainability. However, our farm-to-plate model allows us to reduce costs by eliminating the multiple layers of the supply chain, such as external processing, logistics, warehousing, and retail. This enables us to provide safe, healthy food that is free from antibiotics, heavy metals, hormones, artificial flavourings, preservatives, and nitrite additives. We prioritize sourcing nutritionally rich foods with low sugar and sodium content, offering minimally processed, original foods to ensure the public can consume them with confidence and peace of mind.
Can you introduce the core team behind Beacon Mart? What expertise do they bring that has helped establish the company’s strong presence in the industry?
The core team at Beacon Mart is divided into two primary groups: the Frontend team, mostly consisting of individuals in their 30s and younger, and the Back-office support team, made up of seasoned professionals. The company’s strong presence in the industry stems not just from expertise but from the team’s dedication to going above and beyond amidst challenges. The energetic Frontend team is passionate about investing extra time and effort into the business, effectively connecting with consumers through emotional marketing and leading by example, all while delivering high-quality products. Meanwhile, the Back-office support team adheres to a straightforward philosophy: fulfilling demands promptly, regardless of time or day, with a commitment to 100% fulfilment and unwavering quality, ensuring that the brand’s promises are consistently met.
What critical challenges have Beacon Mart faced throughout its journey, and how were these challenges overcome?
Supply chain consistency, manpower, and infrastructure have consistently posed significant challenges for Beacon Mart. Initially, we faced issues with supply chain reliability due to dishonest partnerships, resulting in considerable losses; however, we eventually resolved these issues by fulfilling our supply needs through our own farms. In terms of manpower, the retail segment often deals with lower-wage employees who may have limited tolerance, making training and retention difficult, especially as high-performing individuals are frequently targeted by competitors. To address this, we offer fair compensation, incentives, and profit-sharing to foster a sense of ownership and belonging among our team. Additionally, our business heavily relies on farming facilities, processing plants, cold chain warehouses, and logistics, which can be a challenge for startups. We have invested in and improved these infrastructure facilities over the years, ensuring we maintain optimal capacity without excessive overcapacity to effectively manage business costs.
Are there new strategies in place to expand your current portfolio?
Beacon Mart is committed to providing high-quality, natural, and healthy raw materials, such as chicken and seafood. Our goal is to transform these ingredients into convenient food products that the general market can enjoy with ease and confidence. One example is our Beacon Seaweed Sausage, which is made from 100% natural ingredients without any chemicals, preservatives, additives, or nitrates, consisting of 97% Beacon chicken. This sausage also includes omega 3-6-9 fatty acids and vitamins, as indicated on the nutritional information on the packaging. Its main ingredients comprise isolated soy protein, natural sheep casing, radiant organic grapeseed oil, salt, pepper, and natural herbs. Looking ahead, we aim to develop more healthy processed foods that are as close to real food as possible, ensuring safety for our families and the community.
