Kuah Chew Shian is from the Class of 2020 and has just completed her final semester at SMU.
When asked to recall a significant moment in SMU, Chew Shian discussed her Business Study Mission to Scandinavia, citing it as one of the most impactful modules she has taken. The module had a strong focus on sustainability and gave her a deeper perspective on the topic. She found herself thinking to a great extent about how she could be more thoughtful in the way she lived and ran a business. Chew Shian felt that the trip to Scandinavia was an eye-opening experience for her.
Chew Shian co-founded Kausmo with her friend, Lisa Tang, who graduated from Temasek Polytechnic's Diploma in Culinary and Catering Management. Kausmo is a dining concept that aims to spark conversations about thoughtful and conscientious ways of living.
Derived from the word “cosmos” – which means a system of thought, Kausmo promotes thoughtfulness by challenging food norms that bring about unnecessary food wastage.
When Chew Shian returned from Scandinavia and met up with Lisa who had also just returned from Maine where she worked at a zero-waste restaurant on a farm, they shared their insights and experiences. This prompted them to delve deeper into the food supply chain in Singapore where they came across aesthetically-filtered fruits and vegetables – produce that were deemed oddly-shaped, oddly-sized, over-ripe or overstocked by retailers’ standards.
Chew Shian and Lisa put a lot of thought into how they could play their part to improve this situation as two young Singaporeans, and figured that the best way was to tap on their expertise in F&B operations.
“We curated this dining experience that featured a Carte Blanche or blank menu that adapts to the ingredients being filtered each week. By bringing storytelling to the dinner table, it helps diners better-understand how each ingredient ended up on their plates, and gets the food waste conversation going.”
Thrilled and honoured to be part of the Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, Chew Shian admitted that it came as a surprise because both she and Lisa felt that the business was relatively young, and that they have a long way to go. Nevertheless, being on this list gave them validation that their concept was being heard, understood, and acknowledged by others. It also meant that there were others out there who shared their vision and work that goes against the grain, and is now recognised as a positive change.
Asked for some words of wisdom, Chew Shian simply suggested, “You will never be ready or prepared enough. Do it anyway!”
Website: https://www.kausmo.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kausmo/
