Cooking since age 5, this 15 Y/O M’sian internet celeb chef takes his biz to the next level
15-year-old Danish Harraz has been making headlines ever since he started sharing his recipes online. He’s said to make “fail-proof” recipes that are easy to follow, with his latest ones including crispy samosas, savoury bread puddings, gooey chocolate chip cookies, and much more.
As a chef and online personality, he’s worked with countless brands from local to international brands to promote a variety of products. But as of last Friday, the schoolboy has officially launched his very own product—Danish Harraz’s Chili Oil.
Made available on his brand new Shopee page on December 2 at 3PM, Danish announced that the product had completely sold out within two hours.
Rise to fame
At the tender age of 3 years old, Danish started to play with kitchen utensils and cooking equipment, but it wasn’t until he was 5 years old that it bloomed into a full-fledged passion and he started to cook and bake by himself.
With his knack for cooking, Danish started sharing his recipes and food reviews on Facebook and Instagram in 2013.
Before long, he was already reported to have amassed thousands of followers, racking up a 60,000 follower count as of 2017 across Facebook and Instagram.
Now, five years later, his Instagram account boasts nearly 250,000 followers.
Even global networks took notice of Danish, and he was invited by Cartoon Network to be a part of its local Powfactor campaign. In 2020, Danish was featured by BCC My World, a channel about outstanding young people, created by Angelina Jolie and the BBC World Service.
A young philanthropist
While Danish’s skills in the kitchen at a young age might’ve been his initial ticket to stardom, it’s perhaps his philanthropical approach that kept him there.
At 9, Danish started his own charity, Danish’s Love & Support Crew. But even before that, he was already known as a charitable child, having set up a local soup kitchen helping the homeless when he was 7 years old.
He told The Sun that the charity group was funded by his own online baking business, Danish’s Red Kitchen, which was set up when he was 7, as well as earnings from his brand collaborations and cooking demos. He also shared that his followers would contribute funds from time to time.
His kindness further shone in 2020 during the pandemic. Only 13 years old at the time, Danish had offered to pay half of a man’s salary so he could keep his job.
Venturing into entrepreneurship
The young chef considers Danish’s Red Kitchen to be an online baking business that he formed when he was 7.
Prior to his chilli oil, Danish told us he has also sold baked goods before, but never on a scale like this. The chilli oil marks the young chef’s first experience selling on Shopee. In fact, it’s his first time shipping his products through postal services, as his former orders had been for pick-ups or drop-offs.
But Danish wanted to take this chilli oil venture seriously. After all, it was born out of his desire to satisfy his followers from all across the country. To serve them, he would need to learn how to use platforms such as Shopee.
So, taking the leap of faith, Danish launched the chilli oil on December 2. sold out in just two hours.
The product came in two variations, Original (Garlic) and Salted Kurau Chunks. Based on screenshots posted to Twitter by Danish’s supporters, the Original went for RM17.90, while the Salted Kurau Chunks variation was RM20.90.
A quick Google search shows that other handmade chilli oils are roughly around the same price. A chilli oil by NoJokeFood is RM20 on Shopee, and the same goes for another brand on Lazada. Of course, there are cheaper options too, such as this RM15 crunchy garlic chilli oil.
Of course, compared to established brands like Lee Kum Kee or Lao Gan Ma, which typically cost around RM5 to RM10 depending on where you buy it, these handmade chilli oils can be considered pricey.
Danish’s chilli oil isn’t marketed as halal, but based on its list of ingredients, it’s safe to say that it’s Muslim-friendly.
Growing forward
Although the product is now sold out, Danish indicated he would be making another batch, even asking his 34.9k Twitter followers what spiciness level they preferred.
The next time he launches, though, he might be releasing the products in waves. Danishshared that by listing the products all in one go, they had to rush to ship all of the products. His parents even took a bit of time off work to help handle all the orders.
While chilli oil isn’t a novel or rare product, Danish has grown a fanbase that seems to be supporting his entrepreneurial efforts. Leveraging this audience, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Danish continues to expand his brand and product range.
According to Danish, now that he has experienced running the ecommerce operation firsthand, they may be looking to hire a team to help with the orders.
- Learn more about Danish’s Red Kitchen here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.
Also Read: 5 reasons to treat your employees with an office at Colony’s luxury coworking spaces
Featured Image Credit: Danish Harraz
Get to know our new Entrepreneur Development Minister and his past accomplishments
Last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced his cabinet line-up. Named the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister was Ewon Benedick, the Member of Parliament for Penampang, Sabah.
Prior to this, the 39-year-old had served as State Minister of Rural Development of Sabah of the WARISAN (Sabah Heritage Party) from May 2018 to September 2020.
In that role, he addressed issues such as water shortages in rural villages and pushed for development in the Kadamaian state constituency by setting up economic centres.
He has also served as a member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Kadamaian since May 2018. According to The Borneo Post, under Ewon’s leadership, development worth an estimated RM18 million was brought into Kadamaian from 2018 to 2020.
Ewon was reported to have contributed in terms of kampung road upgrades, bridges, a gymnasium, sports court, community tourism, rural entrepreneurship buildings, and various touchpoint programmes.
The Sabahan is also a member and Vice President of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO), of which he is the President-elect.
According to Malay Mail, Ewon is known for being a “down-to-earth, hardworking leader”, and has even been described by The Borneo Post as a “Kampung boy” or “boy of the village”, reflecting his approachability.
Ewon’s educational background includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science (Software Development) from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka.
What’s his purview?
Formed in 1974, this ministry was initially known as the Kementerian Penyelarasan Perdanan Awam (KPPA). Today, it’s known as Kementiaran Pembangunan Usahawan & Koperasi (KUSKOP), or Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development (MECD).
The mission of this ministry is to create a holistic and conducive entrepreneurial ecosystem to support the country’s inclusive, sustainable, and competitive development agenda in order to make Malaysia a “superior entrepreneurial country”.
Beyond that, it seems to focus on uplifting marginalised communities, with one of its functions including cultivating the youth, women, the B40 community, people with disabilities, and more.
The ministry is also concerned with enhancing access to inclusive financing as well as providing platforms and assistance to Malaysians.
Preceding Ewon, the cabinet position was held by Tan Sri Noh bin Haji Omar from Barisan Nasional.
What will his policies look like?
Judging by Ewon’s vocalness on Sabahan rights, he will likely be putting heightened importance on East Malaysia’s economic and entrepreneurial developments as the new Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister.
He himself has said that he would be using his voice to raise issues on Sabah’s rights, according to Bernama. The article also reported that Ewon said his mandate is crucial for entrepreneurs’ development, a task he is “looking forward to pursuing”.
Under its previous minister, Tan Sri Noh Omar, the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry had proposed seven new initiatives to reach out to entrepreneurs for Budget 2023.
Noh had also told reporters that these initiatives would assist all types of entrepreneurs, including informal and micro-entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises. However, it is still unclear today what exactly those seven initiatives are.
Although, some of these policies have likely been reflected in the Budget 2023 tabled prior to GE15. Whether Ewon will pick up from where Tan Sri Noh Omar left off remains to be seen.
According to analysts that spoke to Malay Mail, Malaysians should expect to see a “bigger, bolder” federal spending plan in the new government’s Budget 2023.
With Ewon Benedick at the helm of the MECD, perhaps additional focus on Sabahan or even rural communities will be visible.
- Learn more about the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysia here.
Also Read: How 2 years of no physical games only solidified Breakout’s plans to create more in 2022
Featured Image Credit: Ewon Benedick
