We say goodbye to Young Wah Chong
Since the very beginning of our journey, Living Goodness has had one constant (besides our love for good kraut, of course!) and that is our fantastic relationship with our supplier Young Wah Chong. You might not expect there could be much to say about cabbage growers, but if you knew Ben, you would know that there isn’t much you couldn’t say about him.
Originally, when we first started this business we were on a serious hunt for the best cabbages in the country, and as soon as we called Ben we knew he was the cabbage man for us. Peter remembers the very first phone call, where Ben was casual, colloquial, but didn’t mince words in the slightest. If you’re concerned about swearing, we can tell you that Ben may have rubbed you up the wrong way - but him and Peter got on like a house on fire.
For the purposes of this blog however, we’ll be using the word “kraut” to replace some of his more expressive words. But we’re sure you’ll get the gist!
Peter tells us of the day he first met Ben on the cabbage fields:
“I had turned up a bit early, and these fields were massive. I called him to find out where he was and he said to throw my hand in the air – then he threw his up and we were miles apart.
“He told me ‘Well let’s meet in the middle then, yeah? But you better be wearing some good krauting shoes.’
“And there I was in my poncy Prada shoes, but what are you going to do? So I walk over to meet him, and he was a small guy, but he has a giant cabbage knife in his boot, so I knew he wasn’t one to mess with.
“He asks me what I want and all I can think to say is ‘uhhh… cabbage?’, so he stares at me, pulls a cabbage out of the ground, holds it up to me and says ‘like this?’ and I tell him I’d rather it didn’t have all the outside leaves on it. Then Ben grabs his knife gives it a few whacks and they fall off and he says ‘like this?’ and I say ‘yeah that’s exactly what I’m looking for.’
“From there he tells me ‘so, you seem like a good kraut, so I’ll give it to you for the same price as those others!’, I ask who those others might be and he tells me ‘krauting KFC and Countdown!’
“So we had ourselves a deal, and he’s stuck to it ever since!”
Unfortunately for us but no doubt fortunate for him, Ben has decided to retire, and with no sons to pass his family farm to – the Young Wah Chong cabbage growers are no more.
We’re going to miss the fantastic cabbages they supplied us with, but more than that we’re going to miss Ben’s great personality being such an integral part of where we get our produce from.
They’re certainly a supplier to miss, but don’t worry, Living Goodness lives to kraut another day, and we’ll be introducing you to our new suppliers next month!