It can be an uphill task to make upcycling look glamorous, but the business partners of Atlas Handcrafted, Nicholas Lin and Mak Sin Wee, constantly live up to their tag line of “Gifting Reimagined”. Circuit Breaker 2020 in 2020 revealed that many elderly hawkers and small business owners were not doing well. They decided to help them move online, having a background in art and e-commerce.
Explains Wee: “We saw there was a niche to send food gifts during this time, as families and friends could not visit each other, but they mostly came in styrofoam or plastic containers.” Knowing a few restaurateur friends who had called it quits, the environmentalist-minded Wee was disheartened to think of the many perfectly good plates, trays, boards, glassware and bento boxes making their way to the landfill.
Wee is a jewellery dealer by trade. He had the idea to sell ready-to-eat food collection like a fashion store, using crockery pieces from closing restaurants or the colours of edible flowers. Some collections were sold out within a year, but they keep offering other platters. They have expanded into packaging design, bespoke cocktails and wine, as well as balloons and other products.
Wee says that their work is meaningful because they help small businesses increase their income streams while also drawing on their personal stories and decades of experience. At the same time, Singaporeans overseas who couldn’t visit their families and friends sought out the duo for their uplifting products. “It’s very heartfelt to read their messages, which we tried our very best to convey through our effort in putting together the gift platters. Our customers are fully aware that we exist. [and know that]Shopping on our site is easy [they are helping to] preserve heritage and small businesses,” Wee recounts.
Source: Her World
