Old Town White Coffee, one of Malaysia’s largest kopitiam (coffee shop) chains with over 82 outlets, made their Singapore debut at East Coast Park. The layout resembles most kopitiam cafes recently opened here: marble tables and wooden chairs are set against walls printed with green designs for your coffee fix!

This coffee chain is also the largest halal-certified chain in Malaysia, meaning all food and beverage items prepared according to Islamic rules are certified halal by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM). Their Malaysian outlets have already obtained their certificates; now work is underway to obtain certificates for Singapore cafes as well.

Gongga Food, in addition to operating cafes, also operates as a manufacturing division of the company. Established in 2004, they began operations by producing roasted coffee powder for road services sector distribution through traditional coffee shops in Ipoh and other states within Malaysia as well as retail industry outlets selling 3-in-1 instant coffee mix in addition to expanding into Hong Kong markets for export sales.

Apart from coffee, this company also manufactures and sells other types of food like biscuits, noodles, and cakes. Their biscuits and cakes are manufactured at their factory located in Ipoh that has been certified to follow Islamic guidelines in terms of preparation; additionally, a Muslim religious official oversees production processes during production for their biscuits and cakes.

The company is currently undertaking a halal certification process for their Singapore outlets and anticipates it being complete within one month. According to their executive chairman, they believe achieving certification will enable them to attract more Malay customers; something which has already proven fruitful with several outlets popular with Malaysia’s Malay population there and further ones planned in future.