Tamin soy sauce still a preferred choice

Seventy two-year-old brand remains a local favourite, and is gaining popularity overseas too

From using wood stoves when the company’s business started in Batu Gajah around 1951 to currently using the steam method manufacturing process, Tamin Group’s soy sauce remains a preference locally and even gaining popularity overseas.

Executive chairman Datuk Sharifah Mohd Tamin said approximately 2,000 cartons of the company’s Perdana soy sauce, sized at 330ml and 630ml, are exported to Vietnam every month due to high demand.

She said the soy sauce is also exported to Japan and the UK while the company’s soy sauce mee, sized 500ml and 2.3kg, is in demand in Brunei.

Sharifah said the company planned to penetrate more foreign markets through collaboration with the Perak Entrepreneur Secretariat (STeP) to introduce their Perdana soy sauce and several other products in various other countries, including Turkiye and Europe.

“We will be going to Turkiye in November and London in December to introduce Perdana soy sauce, garlic sauce and chilli sauce before marketing them next year.

“These products are introduced at trade exhibitions and we will also go to Pakistan to introduce Tamin soy sauce,” she told Bernama in an interview at the soy sauce factory in Enggor recently.

Recapping the company’s history, the well-known bumiputra company was founded by Sharifah’s Perakborn father, the late Mohd Tamin, with an initial capital of RM10.

The soy sauce products he produced were well-received and became popular among the local, leading him to open two modern factories in Batu Gajah and Enggor which produced tens of thousands of bottles of sauce daily compared with the hundreds produced daily at the start of the business.

The company then diversified its production to various products such as chilli sauce, tomato sauce, vinegar, tamarind, cordial, toasted grated coconut paste (kerisik), fermented soybean paste (taucu) and various types of soy sauce.

It also opened a warehouse in Sungai Buloh, Selangor.

Mohd Tamin’s business legacy was continued by his children and grandchildren through Salmi Hj Tamin Sdn Bhd, Zamani Hj Tamin Sdn Bhd and Maju Tamin Trading Sdn Bhd, which are bumiputera soy sauce producers that still use the natural fermentation process.

With new technology, Tamin soy sauce continues to maintain its quality and taste according to the original recipe that is guaranteed to be clean and halal according to the Food Act 1983 and has received global recognition.

On the company’s latest product, Tamin Signature Soy Sauce, which has a unique flavour and came in an exclusive bottle, Sharifah said the soy sauce is made from the first filtration of non-genetically modified soybeans from Canada and does not involve harmful ingredients.

“The soy sauce production process is pure and uses organic soybeans as the main ingredient, which is fermented for months to produce high-quality soy sauce that is not too salty or too sweet in taste.

“What’s special is that the water is filtered using high-tech nano filters and no additional flavourings are used, making it a healthy choice,” she said.

The mother of four children said Tamin Signature Soy Sauce is limited in production and is currently only available online, including on her Facebook and Instagram pages, priced at RM40 for a 500mm bottle.

The company is also planning to produce the soy sauce in 250 ml sizes soon.

“This product receives positive responses from soy sauce enthusiasts who appreciate its true quality because it does not contain flavourings or is produced within a short period like some other brands,” she said.

Sharifah said the product would be introduced to the international market through several business exhibitions in the near future before realising efforts to export the soy sauce, just like several other products from the company.

She added that besides Tamin Signature Soy Sauce, which was first produced last year, there are other new product releases, including garlic sauce and black pepper chilli sauce with a smoked flavour that were introduced two years ago.