If you grew up in Singapore or Malaysia, odds are your kitchen had at least one bottle of Yeo’s.

It might have been soy milk, soy sauce, or maybe chrysanthemum tea from those signature metal cans.

Today, Yeo's generates $243M (328.6M SGD) in annual revenue and exports to over 30 countries, from its home in Singapore and Malaysia to supermarkets in China, the US, Cambodia, and beyond.

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🍶 Saved by the church

The Yeo’s brand (Yeo Hiap Seng) began in 1901, when Yeo Keng Lian, a devout Christian born in Fujian, China in 1860 and his business partner pooled their savings together.

They were still short of funds for their soy sauce factory in Zhangzhou.

According to family lore, Yeo prayed for a solution, dreamt he was drifting in a storm, and was saved by a plank that turned into a bridge.

After the dream, he took it as a sign to ask his church’s pastor for help and received the rest of the funds immediately

Christian values defined Yeo Hiap Seng from the start: meetings began with prayers and hymns, staff welfare was prioritized, and hospitality was core to company culture.

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🚢 Hello, Southeast Asia

The 1930s in China were rough with unrest. So, Yeo’s eldest son, Yeo Thian In, had to make the decision. It was time to leave China and go to Southeast Asia.

He led the move to Singapore in 1937 and opened a new factory at Outram Road in 1938.

At first, business was tough. Bulk Cantonese-style sauces were the norm, and Yeo’s bottled Hokkien-style struggled to stand out.

The market was different. Customers were price-sensitive, and local competition was fierce.

Yeo refused to cut corners. Instead, he educated shopkeepers on the difference between chemically made soy sauce and his sun-brewed version.

Slowly, trust was built and family perseverance set the tone for decades to come.

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🎇 Wartime tales

During WWII, in January 1942, the factory was bombed during the Japanese Occupation.

The morning of that attack, family lore shares that Thian In’s wife had a vision of angels descending from the sky.

Like a miracle, nobody was hurt from the bombing. And it was seen as a blessing in disguise. They had zero casualties from the bombing, and the bombing made it look like the factory was destroyed.

So, the Yeo’s factory was not converted into an ammunition depot like the others.

This let Yeo’s continue operating with improvised supplies.

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🌱 Reinvention

The war ended, and the postwar years let Yeo’s bounce back quickly.

By 1947, Yeo’s expanded to Bukit Timah, launching canned curry chicken in 1953 and the region’s first vitamin-fortified soy milk (Beanvit) the following year.

Yeo’s started bottling Asian drinks in the 1950s, not just for flavor but for busy families who wanted comfort with convenience.

Soy milk, chrysanthemum tea, and sugarcane water became everyday fixes, bottled and ready as life got faster.

They went from struggling shop to staple: by 1955, millions of cans and bottles were hitting shelves from Singapore to Borneo.

New product launches brought comfort, taste, and nostalgia wherever the brand went.

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🧠 The one big move

And in 1967, Yeo’s did something huge for the business.

They became the first in the world to package Asian drinks in Tetra Brik cartons using UHT aseptic processing.

Suddenly, drinks like chrysanthemum tea could sit on shelves for months, get shipped anywhere, and reach mode families. With zero refrigeration required.

The innovation slashed distribution costs, reduced waste, unlocked strong ability to get into export markets, and set new standards for product safety and convenience.

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🎉 Culture and childhood

Yeo’s isn’t just a product or brand. They’re part of childhoods and culture.

In Singapore, its chrysanthemum tea became part of National Day “fun packs,” reaching over a million residents for the brand’s 120th anniversary.

Advertising campaigns like viral TikTok hits for “brattea” and emotional Chinese New Year ads have kept the brand fresh, making each product drop a cultural event for new and old fans.

Online, their “brattea” campaign took TikTok by storm, keeping Gen Z hooked while older fans stuck with the classics.

The brand hits every angle, from emotional CNY ads to collabs with Gardens by the Bay bringing fresh vibes to old favorites.

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🔥 The next chapter

Rapid expansion brought real challenges. By the 1980s, family disagreements over Yeo's future grew persistent.

Then in 1995, Far East Organization (Ng family) stepped in with new leadership and fresh innovation, turning Yeo’s into a professionally managed powerhouse.

Today, Yeo’s isn’t just a leading brand. It’s woven into Southeast Asia’s daily rituals and memories: from childhood school lunches and grandma’s must-have drinks, to viral TikTok campaigns.

Bold moves, belief in community, and never cutting corners are the ingredients that let Yeo’s original recipe live on, generation after generation.

Their story hasn’t just survived. It’s still being poured, shared, and refreshed every single day.

This is Yeo’s: a brand powered by perseverance and the guts to bottle a legacy for tomorrow.

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Takeaway Scoop

Lessons you can take from the Yeo’s story.

• Start with conviction. Belief, values, and a little resourcefulness can move mountains. Or, at least get a soy sauce factory off the ground when cash is tight. Let purpose fuel your risks, and ask for help when it counts.
• Don’t compromise on quality. Even when the local market favored bulk and lower prices, Yeo’s held firm to its sun-brewed tradition and educated buyers. Building trust around what you do best is a long long game, but it pays off.
• Adapt but preserve the heart. Yeo’s lived through war, migration, and hard competition by finding ways to work with what it had. They improvised supplies, made new products, and launched market-first packaging moves. Bouncing back stronger means always keeping enough of your original DNA.
• Invest in innovation for real life. Bottling Asian drinks, pioneering shelf-stable cartons, and making comfort crazes like Beanvit: Yeo’s solved for busier households and changing habits. Make things as convenient as you want them for yourself, and you’ll find customers follow.
• Keep culture alive. From festival fun packs to TikTok hits, keep your product part of everyday rituals. Nostalgia and newness (can and should) go hand in hand.
• Tough times sharpen leadership. Family feuds, market shifts, and ownership changes can renew focus. Balancing legacy with fresh perspective is what keeps a century-old brand growing.