Over the years, Farm Fresh has grown from a small dairy business into a leading food and beverage company. With seven farms and five processing facilities across Malaysia, Australia, and the Philippines, its portfolio now encompasses 216 products — from chilled and ambient dairy products to yoghurts, plant-based alternatives, ice cream, butter, sauces, and functional beverages. This story highlights Farm Fresh’s development of a new kind of ready-to-drink coffee: a Café Latte enriched with the functional herbal ingredient Tongkat Ali.
Farm Fresh’s founder, Loi Tuan Ee, has always been a pioneer. Defying Malaysia’s long-standing reliance on imported, recombined milk, in 2009 he introduced a 60-strong herd of Holstein Jersey cows and began producing fresh milk for the local market.
Despite the challenges of dairy farming in a tropical climate, the venture succeeded. Farm Fresh quickly gained a reputation for quality fresh milk, with word-of-mouth driving steady growth in demand. Yet, chilled milk’s short shelf life limited the scope of distribution, particularly in rural areas where cold-chain logistics and refrigeration were often unreliable.
Expanding into ambient production
To make its milk more widely accessible, Farm Fresh decided to invest in UHT (ultra-high temperature) production. With a shelf life of 6–12 months at room temperature, ambient milk allowed the company to expand its reach without compromising on safety or quality.
Already familiar with Tetra Pak technology through one of its early chilled milk lines, Farm Fresh turned to us for support in setting up its UHT production. “We always appreciated how Tetra Pak supported our business,” recalls Mr. Loi. “Their knowledge of aseptic processing and packaging is second to none.” In 2017, Tetra Pak engineers installed Farm Fresh’s first UHT line. Since then, operations have grown to seven lines, keeping pace with rising demand.
”Tetra Pak’s knowledge of aseptic processing and packaging is second to none.”
Loi Tuan Ee, founder and CEO of Farm Fresh
Ambient production paves the way for innovation
Besides solving distribution challenges, ambient production opened the door to innovation in other areas. Thanks to a longer shelf life, it became practical for Farm Fresh to produce niche products in smaller volumes for the first time.
In a meeting between Tetra Pak and Farm Fresh representatives at Mr Loi’s office one day, the discussion turned to possible avenues for product development, and the idea of a new ready-to-drink coffee beverage came up. Farm Fresh decided to develop a creamy coffee beverage infused with Tongkat Ali. This traditional Southeast Asian herb is often called “Malaysian ginseng” due to its adaptogenic properties that support energy and resilience.
Following recipe optimisation at Tetra Pak’s Product Development Centre in Singapore, Café Latte Tongkat Ali was introduced in 200ml Tetra Brik® Aseptic Edge packages, perfect for busy consumers on-the-go. Now, almost five years later, this stamina and focus-enhancing drink is available in supermarkets and convenience stores across Malaysia, where it has built a loyal following.
Through its “grass-to-glass” model, Farm Fresh works successfully across the entire value chain — from high-yielding dairy herds to processing, packaging, and distribution across multiple channels. And Mr Loi’s entrepreneurial spirit continues to drive the company forward, with new innovations in plant-based beverages (soy, coconut, and oat barista) on the horizon.
”We’ve grown with Tetra Pak and I sincerely hope we will continue to do so in the future”
Loi Tuan Ee, founder and CEO of Farm Fresh
