Jack-of-all-trades duo cash in on artisan foodstuff

ENTREPRENEURS Charmaine Augustin and Lee Yulie seem to have done it all.

Both Lee and Augustin, who are the force behind Passion Doux Sdn Bhd, a wholesale provider of niche boutique premium gourmet foods, come from very diverse backgrounds.

Lee was trained in psychology, but worked as a property consultant for 20 years before moving on to designing batik, jewellery and various other paraphernalia.

Lee has also dipped her toes into the world of publishing.

Augustin, on the other hand, was trained in media, but spent much time in broadcasting and did business development for various industries including biotechnology and animation and was very much involved in pushing the success of the Multimedia Super Corridor.

After illustrious careers in many fields, the duo ventured into the trading business in 2003 after a vacation to South Africa.

“We came across some really good nougat there and we thought we could bring it back to Malaysia and introduce it to the local market.

“We initially brought in 20kg of samples, but by the end of the first year, we had brought in 450kg,” said Augustin.

The success of the nougat spurred Augustin and Lee to find more unique and artisanal gourmet products to be marketed here.

Apart from sourcing for goods overseas, they also look out for unique recipes in Malaysia or come up with new creations.

Passion Doux has 22 product lines including calamansi honey nectar juice, gourmet cookies, pickles and jams.

Their products are mainly sold at five-star hotels, upscale grocers and gift retailers.

They also supply corporate companies with premium gifts.

“We see this as us educating the local taste buds in premium gourmet food,” said Lee.

Sourcing for the right products is no easy task as a lot of research and trials are carried out to perfect a product that will appeal to all races.

Running a business has taught both Lee and Augustin about humility.

They joke that previously, they entered posh hotels through the front door and received five-star treatment.

But as suppliers, they are shown the back door and have to deal with the coarser treatment.

“It certainly takes a lot of humility venturing into a new business. And there has been a lot of self-development in the process,” Augustin noted.

Both the women have dealt with plenty of challenges in the five years since Passion Doux first started in 2007.

Marketing their niche products was tough as other manufacturers had deep pockets to work with.

To overcome this, Lee and Augustin took on new approaches including experimenting with upscale grocery outlets and putting in a lot of attention to the packaging.

Augustin said being innovative was their strength and given their diverse skills, they were able to remain at the forefront in research and development as well as marketing of premium gourmet goods.

“It was a very challenging journey. And it is a very vicious industry. There have been other players who have tried to snuff us out but we have remained resilient,” Augustin said.

Their resilience has definitely paid off. Business has been growing steadily at 20% year-on-year.

But apart from just running a business, Lee and Augustin are taking Passion Doux as a platform to help develop the local community.

Product developers seek them out to market their products and most times, Lee noted, these developers come from a life of hardship.

Lee and Augustin mentor their developers to refine their products to make them sellable.

While running a business has been an exhilarating run so far, Lee and Augustin continue to remain grounded and are excited to continue trying new things and pick up new skills.