Melvin Teo, group CEO of Yeo Hiap Seng (YHS), sees immense value in the venerable F&B company’s tradition of using mainly natural ingredients in its products. “We are one of the few left that buy soybeans to make our drinks,” he tells The Edge Singapore in a recent interview, referring to the company’s famous soybean milk drinks. YHS also produces its almost equally well-known chrysanthemum tea drinks with flowers that its buyers personally select, he adds. “For soy sauce, we are still producing it the same way that our founder did 120 years ago.”

Now, YHS is burnishing its brand name as it introduces new products and pushes into new markets. “There is a value to [producing foodstuff] the traditional way,” Teo says. “As more people become more conscious of the safety and quality of food products, it will go a long way.” And, it could be only a matter of time before investors begin to see the company as a more focused and growth-oriented F&B play.

YHS was founded in 1900 by Yeo Keng Lian and originally sold soy sauce out of a small shop in Zhangzhou, a city in China’s Fujian province. Now headquartered in Singapore, the company produces beverages, sauces and canned foods. Its markets include Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Europe and the US. To consumers, it is best-known for its branded beverages, such as soybean milk drink, chrysanthemum tea and jasmine green tea. But its product portfolio also includes H-TWO-O isotonic drinks, Justea tea beverages, Pink Dolphin fortified water and Cintan noodles.