Our late founder Mr. Tan Soo Hor was an ambitious man with an entrepreneurial spirit who came to Malaysia from China in 1949 to help relatives manage a grocery store in Rawang. With the experience he gained, he moved to Kuala Lumpur to sell traditional Chinese desserts. He then made his way to Ipoh and started the “Funny Mountain” Soya Bean business, which is still a famous landmark in the city today.
Having cut his teeth in these entrepreneurial pursuits, he ventured into the rock sugar business in 1965, christening it “Chek Hup”, a Cantonese term meaning “prosperity and unity”. Mr Tan poured his heart and soul into growing Chek Hup, handing his soya bean business to his brother instead while he catered to the increasing demands of the growing working class in the rapidly industrialising Peninsular Malaysia of the 60s.
In 2000, we hung on the coattails of the 3-in-1 instant coffee trend, launching our very own 3 in 1 White Coffee, which uses rock sugar as a core ingredient.
After that came the instant Teh Tarik and Hot Chocolate ranges and then our entry into the export market in 2003.
Chek Hup Rock Sugar White Coffee truly took off in 2009, both locally and internationally, reaching Southeast Asia to Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and the Philippines, alongside China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Today, Chek Hup produces over 5,500 tonnes of instant beverages and rock sugar yearly, with a gross revenue of RM100 million annually.
Fast-forward to today, Chek Hup has significantly grown and diversified its revenue streams to include a wider variety of products.
In 2020, we took a more proactive role as a business to work towards realising some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). We are cognizant of the complex interconnectedness of the environmental, social and governance areas, and how our business impacts the environment and the people in it.
“Chek”-out our Sustainability segment here