In 1969, our great-grandmother set up her first fruit stall at Beo Crescent Market, near Tiong Bahru. A single stall, early mornings, and a neighbourhood that came to depend on her. Our grandmother carried the business forward in the years that followed — keeping the family presence at the market, quietly building trust one regular customer at a time.
In 1988, our father Ah Heng took over. He saw what others didn't: every stall around him was selling the same fruits. So he did something different — he started sourcing more varieties, hunting for better quality, and refusing to carry anything ordinary. Over the years, a loyal customer opened an unexpected door: the opportunity to run fruit fairs at a major corporate office. What began as a single event grew into a fixture. At peak, nearly half of our sales came from these events. Through all of it, Ah Heng ran the stall alone — for decades.
When COVID hit in 2020, everything changed. Ben — Ah Heng's son, a biomedical engineer by training — stepped in to help. With a daughter just born and a father getting older, he wanted to be closer to family. Setting up online wasn't straightforward. Father was hesitant about the delivery costs and logistics. But a cousin helped build the Shopify store, and it worked. WhatsApp orders followed for regulars who weren't comfortable ordering online. Today their WhatsApp channel has 440+ followers, kept informed of what's in season, what's running out, and what's worth buying this week.
Today, Ah Heng still goes down to source the fruit himself every morning. Ben runs the online side, the WhatsApp channel, and helps at the stall. A staff member joins them to help with packing. They start at 5am. They work weekends. They work public holidays. It takes more than expected — but what they've built over 55 years is worth it.
