Awaeang poses with her award.
KUCHING: Bidayuh entrepreneur Awaeang Kwasin was crowned one of the 40 winners of ‘Malaysia Top Achievers 2019′ last night.
The founder of pepper-based products ‘Nang Ori’ received the award at the grand ceremony graced by the Tengku Laksamana of Selangor, Tengku Sulaiman Shah at a leading hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
Contacted today, Awaeang attributed her achievement to the support given by her family and those who are with her in the ‘Nang Ori’ team.
“My aspirations for the new year (2020) after winning this award is to continue expanding the ‘family’ of Nang Ori’s Exclusive Partner Mobile (EPM) agents to share the success of this business with others and enable them to generate extra income for themselves.
“I am also looking to get Nang Ori products into the international market, while at the same time grow together with other small and medium enterprises to continue marketing our products in hypermarkets throughout Malaysia,” she said.
This Bidayuh lady from Kampung Bratan, Penrissen has produced pepper-based products under the Nang Ori brand name for the last three years.
The 42-year-old, who graduated from Politeknik Kuching and Universiti Sains Malaysia, is also the first Bidayuh woman to obtain an export licence from the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB).
Nang Ori pepper products are being sold in Aeon, Mydin and Giant hypermarkets throughout Malaysia.
This year, Nang Ori launched three new products namely premix Black Pepper Coffee with Tongkat Ali, premix Cafe Latte with Honey, and premix Black Pepper Milk Tea with Dates.
Nang Ori has also produced pepper-based massage oil and massage gel, as well as the usual white pepper and black pepper in berries and powder form.
According to Awaeang, she was glad to see her venture had paid off despite the many hurdles faced when she first started.
Since founding Nang Ori, she said she has helped to train more than 100 SME entrepreneurs as well as tranining more than 1,000 EPM agents to market the Nang Ori products.
“I always emphasise on the need to give back to the community and share the benefits with those around me,” she added.