Finding the cultural delicacies of her home country, Myanmar, was proving difficult to Aye Myae who had moved to Canada to pursue her studies. Not only could she not find these foods readily available in local supermarkets, but she also realized not many people know much about her country or its cuisine.
She had an idea to promote her cultures' national foods to the rest of the world so she created Moe Myanmar Foods. “This was the primary idea, introducing our culture to the world. What our foods are, how we eat them, when we eat them…” says Aye.
Previously, Aye was depending on friends and family back home to send over boxes of a traditional fish soup known as Moh Hin Gar to her. This is a traditional fish soup that the people of Myanmar eat every day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s also very common at special events and is widely available throughout the cities, so much so that Aye didn’t know how to cook it at home. By the time it arrived from Myanmar she didn't trust the quality of the product and sometimes it had already expired.
This is what inspired Aye to start creating Moh Hin Gar on her own. She first started by cooking it herself for her family and then gradually started offering it to others. According to Aye, “It takes about 2-3 hours to achieve the perfect taste and smells.”
Whenever they were hosting parties or events at home, they would cook Moh Hin Gar for their friends and family. Over time, friends started asking if she could create a paste so that they could cook and eat it anytime they wanted. This reaffirmed her observations that there was a lack of Myanmar food in the market and that it was very difficult to find the freshness and quality of the foods for those who want to feel at home while away from home. It would also appeal to those who want to explore Asian flavours or have travelled and spent time searching for it in North America.
The leap of becoming an entrepreneur and bringing traditional Myanmar foods to Canada was a big one for Aye. Previously she worked for the government back home as well as here, and was uncertain how to move forward with her goals. She knew she was destined to do more, and wanted to spend some time figuring herself out. Then she went to AWE and found a session: “Are you ready for entrepreneurship?”
“I didn’t know myself to be an entrepreneur, but since a young age I’ve been interested in businesses. Always interested in how they work behind the scenes, how they’re building the business, how the financials work, how they get to this stage.” Aye’s background in agriculture which led to her becoming an agricultural economist has been a huge help on her journey, as a result she is very familiar with the agri-food systems. She became more and more interested in how businesses ran and studied consumer behaviour here, where she gained more insight from both the industry side and the government side into the regulations and policies such as food safety and traceability. Aye was now specialized in consumer behaviour and food safety protocols, but had no clue how these businesses operated.
“My desire to showcase our foods to the western world combined with my knowledge of these areas is what ultimately started the business.” Aye admits that it was a big jump and that entrepreneurship is completely different from academia, which she was most familiar with. Entrepreneurship includes everything and she loves it. “Making mistakes and then figuring out how to stop some of them quickly, how to handle them and how to move them around. You have to think on your own feet and take advantage of all resources available to you.”
One of the most significant resources Aye has taken advantage of is AWE. She saw her products as a need in the market and was able to start in her basement. Aye quickly had to evolve her business plan and received lots of help and support from AWE on how to write the business plan. “It’s very different than writing a thesis!” Writing the business plan brought to light where she wanted to go and grow with her business.
“They provided me with my first loan to start my business. This allowed me to set up my commercial kitchen in my basement.”
She is also in the midst of developing a new product in the Food Processing Development Centre in Leduc, AB. The trial run began in October for the ready-eat Chicken Coconut Noodles (well-known in Burmese as Ohn no khao swe). Without AWE’s help and the help of the Food Processing Development Centre to overcome the difficulties of the regulations, Aye says she wouldn’t be able to get her products into the market. Aye has also received a grant from CAP, the Canada Agriculture Partnership. This is a product to market grant that will help her get more products into the market.
“Before receiving support from AWE I was using personal lines of credit as well as financial support from friends and family.”
Aye says that one of the most important things she has learned as an entrepreneur is to utilize all of the resources available to you.
“AWE has an awesome advising program. When I reach out they share their experiences with me which makes me feel much better and less alone. I can schedule time with advisors when I need it. There’s so much support! Both emotionally and with everything along the way.”
In terms of emotional and mental support, her husband is her greatest supporter. There are a lot of ups and downs in the life of an entrepreneur, and he is able to help Aye navigate the challenging times. She is thankful that her husband is able to support their family with his full-time job, and doesn’t hesitate to put him to work helping her once he gets home.
Aye’s mission is to put her country and their delicacies on the global radar, and encourage the people of Myanmar to take the leap into entrepreneurship as well.
“I'm not doing this only as a business but as a project. I would like to showcase our foods to the Western World and European countries and have them associate them with our country, similar to how Kimchi is to Korea and Sushi is to Japan. I’d like to promote this, so by raising the food safety bar and introducing our food to other cultures it’s helpful for those who are hoping to become entrepreneurs in this space and allows those who are already in the business back home to raise their quality standards and be able to reach global consumers.”
Aye would love for everyone to try their products. If you’re someone who has been to Myanmar and tried their delicacies, she would also encourage you to provide feedback on what foods you’d like to see brought over here. “We’re very familiar with our foods so maybe there are some we haven't thought about bringing over.”
Their products are available on amazon.ca and in local shops in Alberta. To learn more about Aye and Moe Myanmar Foods visit their website.
