Well, that’s what entrepreneur Nina Othman is offering by introducing Malaysians to the wide variety of produce from Sabah’s farmers.
Nina, the founder of Grow the Goose — a social enterprise that teaches young kids how to become financially disciplined, explained to FMT recently how she moved to Sabah for this aim, taking her entire family along in December 2018.
However, when the movement control order (MCO) was implemented in 2020, Grow the Goose workshops and lectures came to a halt.
It was then that Nina, alongside other Sabahan social entrepreneurs, discovered that artisans and farmers there were hit very badly by the pandemic.
“Sabah was hit badly because the farmers here are very reliant on tourism. There is the added challenge as all of them are located in such remote locations,” Nina explained.
“When everyone else moved their businesses online, these folks in Sabah were unable to,” she lamented, adding that many of them were accustomed to selling their products at the local market.
With that in mind, Nina set out to find a way to help these farmers.
“I was reading about curated gift boxes being sent to family and friends in KL and felt that it was an interesting model that could be used to bring together all the different local flavours of Sabah,” smiled the 40-year-old.
Known as a ‘Love from Sabah’ collaboration kit, each box seeks to bring a little of Sabah to you.
Each kit has nine items, all of which are specially harvested and crafted by the skilled farmers residing in Sabah’s deep interiors.
The first item in the box is a fragrant bottle of herb salt produced by a local business known as Dumo.
According to Nina, Dumo had been selling fresh herbs at local markets but when the MCO was implemented, they resorted to drying the herbs and bottling it up.
“Now Dumo teaches housewives in Ranau to plant fresh herbs such as rosemary and thyme using natural farming techniques. They are currently hoping to expand their range by experimenting with cili padi, salt and black pepper.”
Next in the kit is a popular stingless bee honey which comes from the bee farmers in Sipitang. The bee farmers work with an entrepreneur who helps supply the honey under the brand, Madu Kelulut Asli Haji Awang.
There is also an aromatic jar filled with cinnamon harvested by the community in Keningau. Once harvested, the cinnamon bark is processed by Kokoriu, another social enterprise that helps farmers grind and process the bark into powder.
Craving a hearty bowl of soto? Fret not as the fourth item in the kit is a delicious, preservative-free soto paste made from the freshest of ingredients harvested by housewives residing in Keningau.
Next up are the roasted red skin peanuts in the care package. These are supplied by social entrepreneur Farni, who gathers them from peanut farmers in Pitas, before cooking them using a traditional roasting method.
The kits also come with bamboo skin weaved wallets, each featuring its own special Dusun or Murut motif. The last item in the box is made by Nina’s 11-year-old son’s chocolate-making business, Koko Loko.
“Koko Loko works with small cocoa bean farmers in Kota Belud and Ranau. We convert the cocoa beans in cocoa-based snacks and in the kit, customers will be able to try our Cocoa Granola which is made from oats, cocoa nibs, chia seeds, coconut and cinnamon. We also include a jar of Cocoa Rubble which is a 60% dark chocolate we make ourselves as well,” grinned Nina.
Customers can even count on an eco-friendly kit with coconut fibre instead of polystyrene peanuts.
Each kit is further complemented with a beautiful Sabah stamp, postcard and details of each social entrepreneur alongside their product.
“We just recently launched the test kits and 20 boxes were sold within less than 24 hours,” chirped Nina, adding that the overwhelming response truly touched all the social entrepreneurs.
“Morale is definitely low due to the pandemic but through this, we are hoping to provide a door to curious folks living in the Peninsular who, after trying our sample kit, might be interested to purchase the product directly from the social entrepreneurs.”
“The idea is to bring a little of Sabah to everyone as we are all unable to travel at the moment,” concluded Nina.
Help out Sabah’s farmers and social entrepreneurs by purchasing a Love from Sabah kit here. For more information, do check out Nina Othman’s Instagram page.