Power parents

• “My secret to this entire endeavor is really to marry well,” jokes Sean Tan, Co-founder & CEO of babycare brand and e-commerce platform Applecrumby, referring to his partner in life and business, Jesmine Tan, who is the Co-founder & COO.
• The inspiration for Applecrumby came when they embarked on their parenthood journey in 2011, and they were looking for safe, natural, and organic products for their own daughter.
• They learned the only way they could get access to products that met their standards was by importing them, which was costly. So, they started shopping for their daughter’s needs on their travels. When friends and family expressed interest in the products they were bringing back too, they realized there was a gap in the babycare market in Malaysia.
• This led to the birth of Applecrumby in 2012. They made it into 500 Global’s Distro Dojo program in 2016, where they secured US$300,000 in Seed funding.
• Suppliers were starting to sell directly on e-marketplaces, and the duo saw their margins quickly vanishing. They thought, “How else can we stay relevant? How else can the business survive?”
• In that same year, they launched their private label. Spotting the lack of safe, natural, and organic baby diapers in the market, they set about developing chlorine-free diapers. Sean shared, “The option was to either find a brand from overseas to distribute or create one of our own.”
• So, create they did. Initially, parents needed to learn what chlorine-free diapers meant and why chemical-free products were important for their babies. Today, parents are savvy and are the ones asking brands these questions. “In Southeast Asia, I dare say that when we first started it, we were actually the first guys, if not the first few,” Jesmine said.
• In 2023, the team opened their first physical store in Malaysia.
• Listen to the full interview on BFM 89.9.