Applecrumby & Fish wants to be Malaysia’s trusted online store for natural, organic baby brands

Ecommerce sites for baby products have mushroomed over the past few years. But it’s still rare to find a site that sells only top-quality natural and organic brands.

Malaysia-based Applecrumby & Fish, founded by husband and wife Sean and Jesmine Tan, is one such site.

“Applecrumby & Fish advocates only safe and organic baby products,” Jesmine tells Tech in Asia. “There may be generic mass market brands, which are obvious crowd pullers, but as long as they do not meet our requirements where safety and natural origins are concerned, we do not list them in. This is what distinguishes us from all other baby stores – online and offline – in Malaysia.”

For parents who want nothing but the best they can afford for their babies, that tagline is an instant hook.

Jesmine shares how their lines and social media accounts are flooded by inquiries, a sign of healthy demand in this niche market.

Applecrumby & Fish delivers goods right to customers’ doorsteps via outsourced logistics. But it also put up a showroom in the town of Kota Damansara in Selangor to cater to customers requesting to visit and get a look and feel of its products in person.

From skincare and toiletries, to food and supplements, to gear and toys, Applecrumby & Fish aims to be a one-stop shop for baby essentials.

Born out of experience

Applecrumby & Fish is strongly based on the Tan’s experience as parents. The two left their jobs to be their own bosses in 2002, going full time into property investments for both fixer uppers and rentals. They later on formed an interior design firm to complement this business. In 2011, they had their first child.

As they were busy in their new roles as parents, Jesmine says they fell in love with certain brands that were not easily available in Malaysia at the time. The Tans and other savvy parents like them resorted to importing these brands in bulk, all the while bearing hefty postage fees. This common need led the duo to create the site.

Applecrumby & Fish launched in October 2012. “We offer solutions, which are never compromised on quality and safety standards to moms,” Jesmine says.

She said she and her husband personally attend to inquiries from other parents. “We offer recommendations from our very own experience.” This way, they are able to build trust in their brand, which leads to customer loyalty.

“Our recommendations are often taken to heed. We pride ourselves in deep product knowledge and we ourselves strive to pass on this knowledge to our entire team. Our customers can rest assured that Applecrumby & Fish will never compromise on its principles. True, we may miss out on some mass market generic brands, but this is the direction that we have always envisioned Applecrumby & Fish to take.”