Sin Boon Kee

Sin Boon Kee was founded in 1944 by Chan Kok Tong to supply local kopitiams in Penang, and is recognized as Northern Malaysia's oldest coffee factory, still operating from its original address at 348 Jalan Jelutong. The business remains family-run four generations later: Jonathan Chan Heng Liang, the current fourth-generation successor, joined the company and spent two years learning every stage of the roasting and grinding process before taking on a larger role. At full capacity the factory produces up to 1,000 kilograms of coffee powder a day and has supplied more than 800 kopitiams over the years, about 70% of them in Penang itself — a customer base of small, independent coffee shops rather than chains. Its product range spans traditional charcoal-style Kopi-O sachets to freshly roasted Arabica, and in 2023 the family introduced a cold-brew Nanyang coffee, extending a wartime-era traditional coffee-powder business into a modern ready-to-drink format. In 2020 the company opened the SBK Concept Store on Jalan Jelutong, pairing local fusion food with tastings of its own coffee. The company's official website is currently showing a maintenance notice, but its history and operations are independently documented through business press (thesun.my, Golden Bull Award) and its own social and product pages.