Loob Holding, the owner of top regional lifestyle tea brand Tealive, today announced it has successfully made a strategic move upstream with the commissioning of an RM10 million state-of-the-art tapioca pearl plant in Malaysia.
Founder and CEO Bryan Loo said this success underscored the group’s vision and unwavering commitment to excellence, transformation, and innovation in the beverage industry in Malaysia and beyond.
“As a Malaysian corporate entity, Loob Holding believes in reinvesting locally to help transform Malaysia into a hub of excellence for the food and beverage industry. With the support of our China-based partners, we are happy we have helped to bring in foreign direct investment too,” said Loo.
He said this one-acre tapioca pearl plant in Kapar, Selangor was a bold step towards realising this vision, demonstrating Tealive’s dedication to contributing to Malaysia’s economic growth and breakthrough innovation in the beverage segment.
“By controlling the entire production process, from sourcing the finest ingredients to crafting our signature tapioca pearls, Tealive ensures that every sip of our beverages reflects the pinnacle of quality and flavour. And we will continue to make further investments – for example, by installing a fully automated packaging line next year,” he said.
Loo said, that with an installed capacity of 400 tonnes of pearls per month, the plant would be one of the largest in the country.
In recounting the background of this joint venture, Loo said that JV partners Zhejiang Boduo International Trade Co Ltd and Shanghai Panfei International Trade Co Ltd have been close supportive suppliers since the launch of Tealive back in 2017.
“After about two years and when Tealive had scaled up sufficiently, we approached them with the idea of manufacturing pearls in Malaysia. We quickly agreed to collaborate and we wanted to kick-start this plant in 2020 but the pandemic halted our progress. Despite the lockdown challenges both in China and in Malaysia, we’ve succeeded and the plant is up and running today.
“Right now, we’re running on a single shift and all the production is for our own use. Once we ramp up production, we plan to export the pearls to other countries in the region, probably beginning with the Philippines.
