The ties that bind Kintry

Chai: Our vision revolves around community, distribution and entrepreneurial growth. Photos: Kintry

IN 2018, Michelle Chai was spending her late evenings in the kitchen of her condominium apartment, hand-making tray upon tray of cookies, potato chips and granola while her toddler slept.

“I would bake in the middle of the night with the door shut because of my daughter’s strong allergies to eggs and nuts.

“The next morning, I’d head to markets or bazaars to sell them,” she recalls.

The budding entrepreneur had just started her home business, Kintry, during a difficult period in her life marked by personal losses and grief. Refusing to settle into a state of despair, she channelled her energy into a new venture.

“I really wanted to show my daughter, who was two and a half years old at the time, that no matter what hardships we go through, we can still build something with our lives,” she shares.

She reveals that the name Kintry, a portmanteau of “kindred” and “pantry”, was workshopped and chosen together with her daughter. The fact that Kintry sounded like the Cantonese word for perseverance further made it an apt choice.

Baking memories

Chai’s business endeavour initially began with baking cupcakes for cafes. However, she later pivoted to creating packaged goods, which made more monetary sense as a business due to the products’ longer shelf life.

As interest for the artisanal snacks grew, she took the opportunity to build up the company, investing in machinery and a shoplot for its operations. Soon enough, the brand began making a name for itself in community markets, local fairs and bazaars, and finding its way to the shelves of retailers across the country.

Today, the business exports to regional markets like Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore. The founder also shares that the company recently inked the lease for a full-fledged factory in Subang.

“The goal wasn’t to become a massive international business,” she says. “My initial aim was to be in all the supermarkets in Malaysia.

“We achieved that goal after a couple of years and realised we could go further. So each milestone pushes us to the next.”

Chai is determined to keep the values of home, family and human connection that spurred the start of the brand, at its heart.

The handcrafted snacks inspired by shared family ties and human connection, Kintry’s signature flavours were drawn from moments and memories with loved ones.

For instance, the oat cookies with chocolate chips were created so that Chai’s daughter could have an allergen-free option to satisfy her cookie cravings.

The brand’s signature range of granola was born out of a fitness junkie friend’s requests for the rolled oat treats, while the salted egg potato crisps came from the founder’s own love of salted egg crab.

“If you look at the packaging of our first four products, they show illustrations of my family members and I together in different settings, drawn from family photographs,” she adds. “For me, the brand is about showcasing love and shared memories that happen while enjoying snacks together.”

Next of Kintry

According to Chai, Kintry’s products, made with premium natural ingredients and without artificial additives, are aimed at introducing a better-for-you alternative to sugary cereals.

“Most people here aren’t very familiar with health foods like muesli, so we’re bridging that gap with treats that taste good but also have better ingredients,” she says.

While the brand’s selection features locally inspired flavours such as pandan gula Melaka and salted egg yolk, she notes that the products created are fairly versatile and translates easily into markets abroad.

The artisanal snacks have also proven to lend well to food service and brand partnerships across a variety of industries.

Kintry notably supplies its honey quinoa granola to Spanish frozen yogurt franchise llaoIIao as a topping option for the icy desserts. “We were so proud, especially as a Malaysian brand, to have our logo displayed alongside international names in their spread,” she says.

Another proud milestone for Chai was when the company worked with Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo to create Raya-themed complementary gift boxes featuring Kintry products in 2023.

Additionally, Kintry’s snacks can also be found in the guest rooms of major hotels in Malaysia as well as in Malaysian Airlines’ business class cabins.

The founder says this year will see the company lean more into the food service business and hotel industry, develop new offerings, and focus intently on growing exports. She further reveals that the team has its eyes on markets such as South Korea and China.

“We want to be able to bring Malaysia out to the wider world,” she says.

Chai is a strong advocate for collaborations and partnerships between local brands, and a firm believer that mutual cooperation and innovation will shape and foster a flourishing business environment.

“Our vision revolves around community, distribution and entrepreneurial growth,” she says. “We always welcome opportunities to collaborate with local businesses, which will allow us to grow together and cultivate an ecosystem that empowers micro-entrepreneurs in the food and consumer goods industry.”