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It all started when two Sabahan childhood friends came together to experiment with different recipes
Wong (left) and Liew.
Image via Suhaimi Yusuf/The Edge
After living overseas for awhile, James Wong developed a love for ginger beer and wanted to make products using Malaysia’s own natural ingredients.
However, things only became a reality when he teamed up with his childhood friend, Matthias Liew, and both of them then began testing different recipes in the back of his mum’s kitchen.
After many experiments and backyard parties, they eventually launched Uinah Ginger Land, a ginger craft beverage that they revealed at a local artisan market in Kota Kinabalu in 2018.
At the launch, the guys sold out 800 bottles within hours, taking them by surprise
When they sold another 1,200 bottles at a second event the following month, that’s when the pair decided to take things to a bigger scale.
UINAH now supplies its craft drinks to supermarkets all over Malaysia.
Image via UINAH
“During our travels to Taiwan, Japan, Korea, etc, we saw plenty of exciting products being sold with great branding, design, and packaging, but the quality of the natural ingredients or product itself was generally a let-down,” they shared in an interview with SAYS.
“In Malaysia, it is quite the opposite, we have great quality natural raw ingredients, but generally poor product design, story development, and branding. UINAH seeks to change that, and develop quality products, with great international branding, and export to the world! The uniqueness of our product comes from the raw and quality ingredients.”
As of February, the company has been certified as a halal business and have since also launched Roselle Paradise, a craft drink made by hand-harvested roselle flowers in Sabah
Image via SAYS
As for future plans? The duo aims to produce more flavours, such as pineapple, guava, honey, pomelo, and more.
In the meantime, they’re working to distribute UINAH ginger powder, wild honey items, and Trigano honey.
Image via UINAH
UINAH’s craft beverages are available in supermarkets all over Malaysia, including Kota Kinabalu and other parts of Sabah, Miri, Kuching, Selangor, KL, Bintulu, and Johor Bahru.
Each bottle is sold at RM9.80 (Kota Kinabalu) and RM12.90 (everywhere else outside of Kota Kinabalu).
Customers can also purchase their drinks on Shopee and Lazada.