The food industry has progressively evolved with the changing demands of their consumers. In an era of advanced technology and digitalization, the food industry today is largely focused on innovation as well as alternative solutions. The world is slowly moving towards environment-friendly solutions through the green revolution and plant-based meat alternatives. An industry leader in the food ingredient industry within the APAC region, Moy Teo has more than 20 years of experience in the sector. Through her organization, Matrix Ingredients, she has built a one-stop supply chain in the processed-meat division for her customers. Starting from scratch, Matrix Ingredients is one of the industry leaders in the processed food segment thanks to her sheer hard work, daily hustle, impeccable sales acumen, and inspiring leadership qualities. In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur, Moy shares the underlying idea behind starting Matrix Ingredients, her accomplishments over the years, and much more.

How has your prior experience shaped you as a leader? Tell us about some key business lessons that you have learned throughout your professional journey.

As the food industry is constantly evolving, the fundamental attribute of a market leader is to seek continuous improvement while ensuring consistent innovation. This whole journey requires a lot of consistent learning, which is very critical. Being a self-made entrepreneur, I started my journey singlehandedly without enough financial support in the first two to three years. I come from a pretty humble background. So even during my education, I used to do many odd jobs during the school holidays. All this hard work over the years has helped me become the person I am today. For me, entrepreneurship is all about perseverance and willpower. You also need to be very passionate about your vision and belief to build or create something, which is very important.

What motivated you to establish Matrix Ingredients? Tell us about the underlying idea behind the company and some of its most unique features.

We humans always get motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. I started from nothing while I was around 27 with two newborn kids. One of the major motivational factors behind starting the firm was to provide my kids with a better environment and future. When it comes to sales, I am also a very passionate person and have always believed in my ability to connect with people and my ability to sell. So, these are the primary factors that motivated me to work around 16 to 18 hours daily. The whole journey was extremely tough, as I neither had a wealthy background nor enough financial resources for the first two to three years. However, looking back, I feel the whole journey is worth it as it helped me become the self-made entrepreneur I am today.

While I was working in the food industry, I had the vision to build a very niche market in the form of a supply chain for my closely knitted group of customers in the processed meat industry. While the ingredients themselves can be a huge segment, I always had the belief that for any human being to be successful, you have to be laser-focused on the concept that you believe in. When I started my company, my mission, vision, and dream were to build a one-stop supply chain to cater to the customers in the processed meat segment. I went all around the world to get a hold of all the best agencies and add them to my company’s portfolio, which helped me provide a complete solution to the industry. So, I started with a simple idea, never lost my focus, and persevered for many years until I fulfilled my dream of building a complete portfolio in the processed meat segment. Now, our company is a bridge between the suppliers and our valuable customers.

Regardless of its business concept, creating value for customers has always been fundamental to every entrepreneurship. In any business, trust is something extremely valuable that you can’t afford to break. I think one of the biggest achievements of our company is our ability to build a solid relationship with our suppliers and customers. Throughout my professional career, I have built a strong network of supporters in terms of supplies. You also always need to be on the frontline to adapt, be flexible, and innovate. Another major strength of my company is our people. For me, it’s the people behind any organization that make the business great. It can be extremely difficult to run a business if you don’t have good team players in your team.

How do you foresee the Asian food ingredient space evolving in the near future? What steps do you take to align Matrix Ingredients with the said industry trends and evolutions?

In the present era of advanced technology and social media, the food industry has been rapidly evolving. One of the major changes that I see is that many big companies are putting a lot of effort into promoting various environmentally friendly solutions such as Go Green, as well as alternative solutions. Alternative protein is a big trend nowadays. Everybody is talking about eating less meat or trying to move into non meat space. However, I feel that all these promotions

and campaigns usually work out in first-world countries, where a majority of the people are affluent and can afford such solutions. However, in other parts of the world, especially in some parts of Asia, people are not as affluent, and meat is still considered a staple food. In my 20 years of experience in the food industry, I find a huge contrast in the industry in terms of this food balance. All the big players need to focus and work towards this part of the agenda.

“The fundamental attribute of a market leader is to seek continuous improvement while ensuring consistent innovation”

In your opinion, what are some of the most significant milestones that you have achieved throughout your professional journey?

I have gone through a lot of ups and downs in my more than 20 years career as an entrepreneur. One of the biggest milestones for me has been bringing up my four children while running a successful business. Around three years ago, I was able to build a successful one-stop supply chain in our small industry. Part of my business was acquired by a multi-billion-dollar valued Netherlands-based company for an undisclosed eight-digit figure. Starting from zero and building my company from scratch, through hard work with a team of just five people and then selling this part of the portfolio for a huge amount of money has been a huge milestone for me as an entrepreneur.

In life, we need both active and passive income. Being a disciplined person, I have been building up a passive income source throughout my career of more than 20 years through consultations, networking, and a big portfolio of commercial properties, such as food factories. Passive incomes can be helpful once you reach your 50s and help you live a peaceful life after retirement. I strongly encourage all women to start working at a young age and build their portfolio so that they can invest while they are still young and have a good source of passive income during their 50s or later part of life.

Drawing from your experience as a business leader, what would your advice be to young women and girls who also aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

I always believe that those people who are at the top of their industry are never the talented ones. It's their hard work, never-give-up attitude, and self-belief that help them reach the top. It doesn't matter how intelligent you are. For me, the most important attribute of any human is personality. Most successful entrepreneurs have started from a poor background, and have built their wealth and empire through sheer hard work. So, my advice to all young women is to have endurance power. Even if the whole world, including your family, doesn't believe you, never stop believing in yourself. Success will come to you through hard work and endurance. You just have to be patient.

Moy Teo, Director, Matrix Ingredients

Moy Teo is a seasoned leader in the food ingredients and processed food sector in the APAC region and is also the Director of Matrix Ingredients. In her 20 years of career in the sector, she has been able to build a one-stop supply chain for the processed meat division through sheer hard work and sales acumen. In 2018, part of Matrix Ingredients was acquired by the Netherlandsbased multi-billion company for an undisclosed eight-digit figure. Moy has done her Honors degree in Bachelor of Food Technology from the University of Reading. She is also an accomplished writer and has authored a book named Find Your Destiny: Ten Simple Approaches to Successful Entrepreneurship and Happiness.

Educational Qualification:

• Honors degree in Bachelor of Food Technology from the University of Reading

Awards and Recognition:

• Won the Young Scientist Award in the UK in 1997