Who are the founders, and what’s up with a cat named Shrimp? We invite you to come behind the scenes of No Harm Done and find out what they’re all about!

Interviewed and written by Samuel Wong

Describe what makes you, you.

Simon: I think we’re quite inquisitive people, and that we want to find out all we can about something that catches our eye before we act. They say curiosity kills the cat, but so far Shrimp is fine so I think we’re all good!

Rathi: Take for example that we’re vegans. It wasn’t an overnight process: we looked up the hows and whys and slowly introduced different parts of it into our lives. Even now, we still drive ourselves nuts with keeping up to date about the latest information we can get.

Simon: We’re cool if others have their own wants and needs though. We try not to be preachy, we’d simply love to inspire others to rethink what we have been taught about health and nutrition. Aim to learn from science, not commercials.

What goes on when you’re not securing good coffee for us?

Simon: We love taking breaks from work by diving into nature! You’ll often find us on one of Singapore’s nature trails, trekking MacRitchie, and so on. We also cook so much at home.

Rathi: Cooking and Netflix, sometimes both at once even! Oh, baking – I love baking as well!

Simon: I think something we’re quite freaky about as well is keeping track of our nutrition, especially when we’re talking about vegan food.

Rathi: Yes! There’s this misconception that vegan automatically equals healthy. If only that were true – it’d be so much easier to get others on board! Instead, there’s plenty of processed nonsense out there that’s targeted towards vegans.

Simon: Exactly, so I’m in charge of keeping track of the macros and whatnot. After Kira came along, Rathi has ramped up the research into the background of our food, like where it came from and how it’s produced.

Rathi: All that effort to live a healthful, vegan life? I think it’s definitely worth it.

Let’s talk coffee: your preferred cup of joe?

Simon: One of the most amazing things about being in the coffee line? Truckloads of different coffee, anytime you want. After having tasted a crazy number of coffees though, I have to say I definitely lean towards darker roasts, stronger coffees.

So, give me my coffee as an espresso or ristretto shot: short, strong and hot.

Rathi: I drink mine mostly with just a little coffee, but with a lot of oat milk and a splash of maple syrup. That’s my favourite combination: maple syrup and oat milk coffee!

The lighter roasts with just a little bit of acidity, that’s all I look for. Fruity notes are definitely my thing.

Things that get you up in the morning?

Simon: Kira, our baby girl. Literally – she wakes up at 6AM sharp. (laughs)