History and Growth
Timeline and Milestones
Leaves® began as a partnership in 2000. As the business took off, Josephine and Andy knew that something worth doing was worth doing well, and successfully incorporated Leaves Food Industries Sdn. Bhd. on 26th Oct 2001. They were filled with hopes and dreams of a great future ahead. But they weren’t expecting that the business would grow into the most reputable syrup manufacturer in East Malaysia.
Here are some of our key milestones in this wonderful journey:
2001
Humble Beginnings
Josephine and Andy refined the recipe nearly 50 times until 6 flavours were chosen: Pat Poh, Peppermint, Barley, Wheat Grass, Luo Han Guo, and Green Tea, all packed in 500ml glass bottles. In the same year, Leaves® applied the trademark, the company registered as a member of the Sarawak Manufacturers’ Association (SMA) and subscribed to the EAN Barcoding System managed by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM). We began our operations at Lot 368, Block 36, MTLD, 9th Mile, Penrissen Road, Kuching, Sarawak, a small zinc roof factory with only a few staff.
- 6 Flavors: Pat Poh, Peppermint, Barley, Wheat Grass, Luo Han Guo, and Green Tea
2002
Building Trust and Credibility
We obtained Halal certification, participated in Kuching Festival Trade Fair, and appointed distributors around Sarawak.
2003-2004
Taking Calculated Risks
We started supplying to supermarkets in Kuching such as Everrise, H&L and 20cents, to name a few. We also invented and aggressively promoted Leaves® Teh C Special Syrup, which is more commonly known as the 3-Layer Milk Tea Syrup. This concoction was revolutionary at that time, and it spread to many coffee shops in both East Malaysia and West Malaysia.
2005
First Rebranding
We replaced our glass bottles with 1-litre polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles with Leaves® logo on them. This move proved effective as our sales increased by 55% that year.
2006-2012
Expansion
We received strong interest from people to distribute our products outside of Kuching, our stronghold. That was when we started supplying to trustworthy distributors in Johor, Malacca and Brunei. We continued to attract more opportunities through participating in trade fairs such as Malaysia International Trade and Consumer Fair @ PWTC and MIHAS exhibition @ KLCC. The local communities slowly recognised our passion and quality. We were awarded both the Excellent Enterprise Award by Yayasan Bakti Khidmat Masyarakat Malaysia (YBKMM) and BPN Gold Winner Global Award in 2010.
2013-2019
Tea, Tea & More Tea
This expansion meant we needed a bigger space, so we moved to a bigger factory at Lot 759, Block 8 MTLD, Demak Laut Industrial Park Phase 3, Jalan Demak Maju, Lorong 6, 93050, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. To facilitate the increasing demand, we incorporated Leaves Trading Sdn. Bhd. to focus on the trading activities. After that, we obtained the MeSTI, GMP, and HACCP certifications, a testament to our commitment to the highest standards in process control, hygiene, and safety assurance. More importantly, with these certifications, we have met the prerequisites to export our products abroad. We have been continuously expanding our product line, upgrading our production facilities and improving our inventory management system. Hence, we are ready to fulfill orders from the international market.
2019-2020
Making Our Mark
Leaves® was the winner of the “Best Lifestyle Drink” in the Asia Halal Brand Award (AHBA) 2019 and the prestigious Golden Bull Award 2020.
2021 - Today
Changing Times, Changing Tastes
Alongside our customers’ changing tastes and pandemic, we experimented with new products to offer something innovative and refreshing. This resulted in our ready-to-drink (RTD) 3-Layer Milk Tea. New products, new processes, proven R&D capabilities and creative use of digital marketing channels catalysed growth in sales and strengthened the Leaves® brand. Today, we are a household name in Sarawak with a much more comprehensive range of products (13 products as of Feb 2021).
But even after 2 decades, some things stay the same. We still work passionately to let more people discover Sarawak with Leaves®, one sip at a time. And we call it A Sip of Joy. Tea beverages are well known to be sipped, and we want to create a feeling of joy in every sip. At Leaves®, you know that “Joy” stands for higher quality, more natural, much healthier products, all leading to happiness, togetherness, and memories for people.
Coupled with Leaves®’s ability to capitalise on quality, great taste and cooling benefits, more growth can be expected. We will continue reaching out to a broader customer base across the region and developing more exciting products for everyone in the years to come.