{"id":11185,"date":"2025-09-28T10:05:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T02:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/?p=11185"},"modified":"2025-09-28T10:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T02:05:25","slug":"changing-the-way-the-cookie-crumbles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2025\/09\/28\/changing-the-way-the-cookie-crumbles\/","title":{"rendered":"Changing the Way the Cookie Crumbles"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Who They Are: <\/strong>the moonbeam co. <\/em>is a Singapore-based startup that partners with schools and workplaces to drive sustainable change. They offer wellness workshops, sustainable food supply (using by-products and avoiding single-use plastics), enrichment programmes tied to school syllabi and sustainability consulting.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mr Kong Qi Herng (Science \u201922) states categorically that he is in the sustainability business, not<\/em> F&B. After all, his company has redirected 1.55 tonnes of waste from food manufacturing companies and prevented the equivalent of 1,872 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>-eq) in greenhouse gas emissions to date. However, the 28-year-old co-founder of the moonbeam co.<\/a> (subsequently, Moonbeam)\u2014a local startup that processes food waste into alternative ingredients\u2014is also a firm believer in the proof of the pudding.<\/p>

\u201cWe used red dates for their natural sweetness, and added goji berries, apricot kernels, almonds, and cocoa nibs,\u201d he enthused while urging us to try a slice of a baked mooncake in the shape of a leaping bunny. Encased within a fine-crumbed pastry is a smooth filling accented by the crunch of nuts and cocoa nibs, its honeyed flavours suitably moreish. \u201cWe are taste-forward in our approach,\u201d Mr Kong said, pleased that Moonbeam\u2019s rendition of the Mid-Autumn treat has won us over. It is only then that he shares that the mooncake skin is made with a flour milled from spent barley\u2014the by-product that remains after the malting grains are mashed with hot water.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Moonbeam\u2019s Cosmic Bunny mooncake contains naturally sweet date paste with goji berries, cacao nibs, almonds, spent barley grains, and sweet apricot kernels. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cSustainable foods are often perceived as bourgeois, while repurposed ingredients are seen as less-premium substitutes,\u201d observed Mr Kong. Given such consumer biases, it becomes necessary to appeal first by taste, then by mission. To this end, all of Moonbeam\u2019s products\u2014which span from fibre-enriched cookies and energy balls stocked in the pantries of the biggest tech companies, to sourdough boules and seasonal items such as the Cosmic Bunny mooncakes\u2014are put through internal taste tests and external samplings. There\u2019s also a very practical concern: \u201cWe need consumers to accept our products so that they don\u2019t get wasted!\u201d quipped Mr Kong.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two of Moonbeam\u2019s three co-founders: Mr Kong Qi Herng (left) and Mr Varden Toh (right) <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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ANOTHER COMPANY’S WASTE \u2013 THEIR GOLD<\/strong><\/p>

Indeed, as Mr Kong stressed, the company was established with the primary goal of reducing food waste. He and his co-founders Mr Lim Jia Wei (Design and Engineering \u201922) and Mr Varden Toh (Science \u201923) met by chance during the 2021 NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme. Mr Kong had already conducted an upcycling project at Ridge View Residential College (RVRC), and the trio found common ground in their interest in addressing the sustainability issue of food waste. <\/p>

They began by brewing beer from unserved, cooked rice for their Innovation & Design Programme (IDP) capstone project. The production yielded high-protein, high-fibre spent grain residue, which they went on to make into granola in keeping with a zero-waste production cycle. The food became more popular than the beer, and the rest was history. \u201cFood waste could certainly be processed into other things, such as construction materials,\u201d reflected Mr Kong. \u201cHowever, food is a big part of local culture.\u201d Furthermore, the best way to deal with food waste without creating more by-products is to consume it. As such, making food was a natural solution. The bland taste profiles of the upcycled ingredients make them perfect for incorporating into baked goods. That, combined with Mr Lim\u2019s innate passion for baking, became the equation for Moonbeam\u2019s business model: the processing of salvaged food waste into baking ingredients, and the creation of appealing food products to promote their use.<\/p>

A startup that literally started in the laboratories of NUS, Moonbeam went on to grow through funding from the NUS College of Design and Engineering\u2019s Entrepreneur Fellowship. \u201cWe would not have survived the early years without the funding and the school\u2019s network, such as the NOC alumni,\u201d Mr Kong shared. By 2023, Moonbeam had won the inaugural DBS Foundation X NEA Hungry for Change Challenge. They now produce an average of 2,400 kg of cookies a year\u2014which translates to a tonne of food waste saved from just that one product.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Moonbeam\u2019s cookies come in flavours such as matcha pistachio latte (pictured), chocolate velvet, and mocha gao siew dai. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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And while it counts some formidable multinational companies among its clients, Moonbeam is now transitioning into a new business model. \u201cWe are moving to a B2C model now\u2014or rather, a B2C2B model,\u201d says Mr Kong. The concept hinges on the influence of the individual: that converted users will become Moonbeam\u2019s biggest advocates and, in turn, drive its B2B business. However, with more than 90% of their business currently coming from B2B sales, this is still a bold move for Moonbeam. \u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThe need for ESG [environmental, social, and governance] reporting has driven the sustainability movement within the corporate world,\u201d Mr Kong noted. \u201cFor example, a lot of the big tech companies have a mandatory declaration of how much of what they use is local, from raw materials down to pantry snacks.\u201d<\/p>

However, the Moonbeam team wants to stir the sustainability movement from the ground up. Through its retail arm resavour<\/a>, Moonbeam is now selling its wares directly to consumers. Also offered on resavour\u2019s website are a host of learning experiences, spanning pickling vegetable scraps to crafting sustainable granola bowls. \u201cCorporations won\u2019t be able to sustain the movement if the consumer is not interested\u2014the end-users have to be part of the decision making,\u201d opined Mr Kong.\u00a0<\/p>

With plans for a Malaysia site to scale production, Moonbeam is poised for exciting developments. Yet if you were to ask Mr Kong about the company\u2019s biggest milestones, the first thing he would proudly share is that they have expanded their impact model, becoming a registered social enterprise with the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE) and partnering with Bettr Coffee\u2014Southeast Asia\u2019s first B-Corp*\u2014to hire staff from underprivileged backgrounds and individuals who have undergone occupational therapy. \u201cWe realised that work can be very empowering, especially when it is meaningful work,\u201d Mr Kong said, noting this is now \u201can integral part of the organisation.\u201d<\/p>

Moonbeam\u2019s story is not one of dramatic strokes of genius. It is a quieter narrative of systemic support. One of how a university\u2019s laboratories, fellowship programmes, residential colleges and entrepreneurial networks can act in concert to transform a group of students\u2019 passion into a viable business\u2014and how that business gives back to society. Every Moonbeam cookie represents a closed loop, a job created, and a lesson on how big social messages can come in small packages.<\/p>

*A for-profit company that is verified by the non-profit organisation B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency<\/em><\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Photos by Kelvin Chia<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How a trio of NUS graduates built a thriving business by turning food waste into delicious, high-end snacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":11186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-impact","category-startups"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11185"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11194,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11185\/revisions\/11194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}