By ANGELIN YEOH
alltherage@thestar.com.my
Julian Chow and Carmen Cheong are marshmallow makers, and believe it when they say that it’s no fluffy business. During the day, Chow is a respectable brand manager and Cheong is a retail purchaser, but at night, they leave it all behind and transform into gourmet marshmallow makers.
Due to their busy schedules, Chow admitted that sometimes they have make marshmallows from late at night till the wee hours in the morning to meet the demands. Do they feel tired afterwards? Chow said “Not really”.
“Honestly though, we’re just really passionate about what we’re doing. We also like to see how people react when they are trying our product for the first time. They always looked surprised and delighted at the same time.”
Their destiny towards becoming the next Willy Wonka(s) started when the pair came across a YouTube video on how to make marshmallows and decided to give it a try.
After months of experimenting and getting good feedback from their “guinea pigs” (made up mostly of their family members and close friends), they decided to sell their product to the masses. That is how Fête Artisan Marshmallows came to be last September.
Fête Artisan Marshmallows come in six regular flavours and during special occasions, the innovative pair produce different flavours.
“Last Halloween, we made marshmallows in cinnamon pumpkin flavour. This Christmas, we made raspberry marshmallows topped with dark chocolate,” said Cheong.
The pair has plans to expand their gourmet marshmallow business to include a wider range of flavours – and marshmallows may just be the next big thing in 2013.
“Our next range of flavours is top secret! You’ll have to wait and see what we’ll come up with next year,” said Chow gleefully.
Cheong believes that their business has the potential to grow into something that caters to more than just sweet confectionary.
“We’d love to be able to collaborate with restaurants or cafes and introduce marshmallows into their menu – perhaps introducing smores as a sweet dessert. Some of our buyers said our marshmallows go really well with coffee.
“I guess we get a lot of satisfaction from knowing that people really like what we make. That really gets us going,” she said.
For more information, go to facebook.com/fetemarshmallow.
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