The Company…..

Pek Sin Choon Pte Ltd was founded and established by Mrs Bai-Zhuang Dan Niang (白-庄旦娘) and her son Mr Pek Kim Aw (白金讴). Mr Pek Kim Aw is better known as “Buffalo Head” during his time for his just and upright character, in the year 1925 which also happens to be the year of Buffalo according to the Chinese Horoscope. As such, Buffalo also became the mascot of the company which was adapted into the logo, brand label, and many others.

The Grandfather Story…..

Pek Kim Aw was born in Anxi Province of China. At the age of 8, his father passed away and he followed his mother all the way down to Singapore in search of a living. The initial period was a time of hardship as an odd job labour and in the hope of a better life, he went to Indonesia. Over there, fate brought him and his future wife together.

At the age of 20, it marked an important milestone to him. He got married with the Indonesian Chinese and moved his first step into the world of tea. At the beginning, he had to carry the tea with a shoulder-pole and go door-to-door to promote and sell his tea. During then, other than tea, the item that he most frequently purchased was the shoe that he worn.

With strong determination and perseverance, he moved on to set up a permanent stall to sell the tea at George Street. This carried on smoothly for a few years before the tragical world war exploded. However, not only did the war not destroyed the business, it also re-ignite the determination of Mr Pek Kim Aw to make it a success.

With that in mind, he moved on to conduct research and develop Chinese Tea that were unique and suitable for Singaporean, or in a broader sense, the tropical countries. Then, in a tea session with a fellow mate, the pork rib soup and the “Iron Arhat” Tea (武夷鐵羅漢), a food culture that is unique to South East Asia, have their first appearance in Singapore. The “Unknown Fragrance” Tea (著名不知香) was developed later to suit the taste of the advance tea drinkers.

However, the search for advancement does not stopped there, continuous efforts were put in to ensure better tea are being sold to the public at a
reasonable price.

Passing On…..

As times passed, the founder cum 2nd Generation Teaman, Mr Pek Kim Aw also started to let go the business part by part to his four sons, namely Pek Bok Kim, Pek Hai Hook, Peh Hai Teo and Peh Yong Hoe, each taking up strategic roles and responsibilities of the entire business.

During that period, remarkable improvement was seen in the “Pork Rib Soup” Segment, with 60% of the entire segment using tea supplied by Pek Sin Choon Pte Ltd.

In the late 80’s, a new concept were raised by the third generation and members belonging to the fourth generation were called up to take up this challenge. After rounds of assessment, one of the youngest son, Mr Peh Ching Her, were selected to go through a final round of training starting from the very basics of being an handyman, to van sales before moving on to purchasing and eventually to manage the business. The entire process lasted for 5 years.

The fourth generation marks an important turning point for Pek Sin Choon Pte Ltd in the “Pork Rib Soup” Culture when it captured 90% of the entire segment.

The New Look…

With a firm foundation established by the earlier generations, Pek Sin Choon Pte Ltd was able to position itself as a shop supplying premium Chinese Tea that are blended and torrefied locally, in another words, tea that are unique to Singapore.

The shop also went through a stage of revamp after its shift from Teochew Street to the current location, Mosque Street. However, many of the traditions which formed part of the company’s culture were retained. These include the traditional triangular packing and squarized packing for many of the house brand, the blending of the tea leaves etc. In inheritance of the teaching by the founder, efforts are still made to improve and develop the tea leaves that are supplied by Pek Sin Choon Pte Ltd. These efforts were paid off in the late 90s when two new tastes were developed. These two new blends, namely “Charm Of Buddha’s Palm (佛手神)”and “Royal Daffodil (水仙王)”, together with their unique packaging were accredited by Singapore Tourism Board to use the Merlion Logo which made
them became one of the products that are representative of Singapore.

History, Tradition and Culture as One…..

Make a visit to us and you will be rewarded with a flood of stories on top of thegreat tea; and do remember to pay attention to the things you see in the shop as many of them has a story of their own.