Hailing from Sitiawan, Perak, Dylan Lee had a bright future ahead of him.
He had attended University of Nottingham Malaysia, graduating with First Class Honours in BA (Hons.) Finance, Accounts, and Management. That’s right, he was a triple major.
Dylan went on to work at PwC in Singapore as a Senior Associate in the M&A Advisory team.
“While I was there, salads and healthy foods were considered lunch staples and even eaten for dinner,” he said. “It was around the same time that I came across an article that talked about Malaysians’ obesity rate being one of the highest in Asia.”
That was when he knew something needed to be done.
With that, Salad Atelier got its start 10 years ago in a humble shop in The Weld. The idea was straightforward at first—just salads that you can create on your own.
“I realised then we had potential to grow. My next step was to hire a dietitian to help with curating ala carte meals that are familiar to the masses, like Nasi Lemak SA.”
“Slowly but surely, we grew in numbers in the office and in location,” Dylan said.
Establishing a food group
By 2015, the business had already grown to four outlets. It was through one of their customers that Salad Atelier connected with their main investor in 2017.
With the investors’ guidance, Dylan went on to set up MBFE Sdn Bhd with MBFE standing for ‘Multi Brands Food Empire’.
Under MBFE, Salad Atelier has grown to 35 outlets as well as into other verticals. The business now also does food supply provisions to corporates, off-shore vessel support, cafeteria operations in office buildings and international schools, and catering.
“Our goal with MBFE is to provide a one-stop-solution for F&B businesses, including health talks and consultations,” Dylan elaborated.
All 35 outlets of Salad Atelier are being operated by MBFE. There are stores in Klang Valley, Johor Bahru and Penang. Dylan also said that the team is looking at opening outlets in Malacca City, Ipoh, Seremban, and eventually East Malaysia in 2025.
The team now has 20 chefs under their wing. Their Head Chef has 20 years of experience in menu creation and is now helming the R&D division with the help of their in-house dietitian.
Beyond Salad Atelier, MBFE is also home to two other brands–Med Mex and Lettuce & Rise.
While Med Mex serves healthier alternatives to the usual Mexican-Mediterranean foods, Lettuce & Rise mainly serves healthy rice bowls with local flavours.
Both were born during the pandemic.
“At the time, we were reluctant to let go any of our staff and were finding ways to retain them,” he explained. “We decided to pivot and made sales through the two brands as cloud kitchens and we rode the hype serving different ‘looks’ to healthy foods.”
Keeping true to the vision
Today, Dylan claims that MBFE is the largest chain of healthy food restaurants in Malaysia.
He shared that the team had not strayed from their philosophy over the years, but instead have grown in their offerings.
“As mentioned earlier, we had only served DIY Salads which appealed to a small section of the audience, and what we want is to spread our love for healthier foods with Malaysians,” he said.
Hence, over the years, the team began expanding their rice-based meals and providing alternatives such as quinoa.
“We still believe that healthier foods are for everyone, and it’s always been our goal to make it affordable for students, working adults, and uncles and aunties,” Dylan said.
The team is able to lower the cost of their meals thanks to economies of scale. This means their prices can actually compete side-by-side with non-healthy foods.
Keeping true to this sentiment of affordability, MBFE aims to expand its footprint across Malaysia.
On top of that, they’re also looking to enter the FMCG business where they will be selling homemade dressings as well as their own ready-to-eat (RTE) meals.
Sustaining a business
To Dylan, F&B is one of the most difficult industries to tap into, even though it seems easy at first.
“The real cost of running an F&B chain kicks in when you have five or more outlets,” he shared. “Many F&B entrepreneurs overlook that, hence why there are many restaurants that find it hard to survive their first three years.”
He added that when you set foot in the F&B industry, you need to be mentally prepared to endure the hardships for at least five years before seeing some success. “Expect it to get messy before it gets better,” he said.
Having experienced that, the 10-year-old company is now on track to break the RM30 million revenue mark in 2024. They’re also expecting to make RM50 million in 2025.
Recalling the early days, Dylan said he had started Salad Atelier with a total of RM230,000 in 2014. RM150,000 was from his personal savings, while RM80,000 from a personal loan.
“When we opened our fourth Salad Atelier outlet, I was at a loss because I was still paying myself RM2,500 per month to run the business as a founder,” he said. “I started questioning myself if quitting a high-paying job in Singapore was worth it.”
But then, someone told him, “Dylan, your business will have many legs that can be developed.”
“It was a turning point for me because someone had more confidence in the business than I did,” he said. “I stopped doubting myself and went all in and never looked back.”
Featured Image Credit: Salad Atelier