Malaysia has always been home to a strong yumcha culture that has led to the proliferation of many beverage brands. There had been the boom of milk tea about a decade ago, and today, coffee shops are a dime a dozen.
What’s the next big thing? Malaysian brand Being Juice is betting on juice being the answer.
Meet the juicer
The man behind Being Juice is Sayantan Das. Originally from India, he spent most of his life in Singapore.
With a background in finance, he has collected various professional experiences including a stint in the Singapore Exchange, a Jakarta SME, Tripadvisor, and even his own tech startup.
“I decided to take a leap of faith and co-founded a startup with a friend from my high school in Singapore,” Say explained. “We launched an all-in-one crowdfunding and ecommerce platform, and this is where my experience in building and running a startup really came to the forefront.”
Unfortunately, this platform closed down after three years due to a lack of traction.
But the experience was pivotal for Say, teaching him the fundamental skills needed to run a growing startup. From there, he began looking for opportunities that would further enhance his leadership skills. This was how he ended up as Managing Director at foodpanda.
After almost seven years there, he decided it was time for another change.
“I’ve always been passionate about starting and scaling businesses,” he said. “This led me to explore new opportunities where I could influence the direction and the strategy of the business from day one. Inevitably, this meant that I ventured out to launch another startup.”
Spotting a gap
At foodpanda, Say witnessed the exponential growth of numerous beverage brands such as Malaysia’s Tealive and ZUS Coffee as well as international powerhouses such as Chagee and Mixue.
These observations fueled Say’s curiosity to explore what could be the next big thing in the made-to-order beverages spaces.
After hours of networking, brainstorming, and ideating, he came to a conclusion that customers were seeking healthier, fruit-centric beverages.
However, the category of juices and smoothies in Malaysia is lacking, especially compared to other verticals.
“I became convinced that there was a significant amount of product and brand innovation that could be driven around juices and smoothies, as I felt the market was underpenetrated and the timing was right to grow a fruit based beverages brand,” Say determined.
With that, Being Juice was formed.
Becoming juice
Say also leveraged numerous other insights from foodpanda to offer a better product for Being Juice’s customers.
For one, he knows people today highly value convenience and efficiency. Especially in the QSR space, consumers expect to be served in five minutes or less.
Understanding this, Being Juice prioritised efficiency from day one. Say shared that their drinks take just two and a half minutes to blend, and the team strives to serve all customers in five minutes or less.
This is a notable feat, since Being Juice’s drinks are made to order.
“We only blend fresh frozen ingredients, so as to retain the freshness and the nutritional value of the fruits and vegetables across our drinks,” Say explained.
Growing the juice trend
Juice might seem like a simple product, but creating the perfect mix actually takes plenty of R&D efforts.
“Right from the get go, we wanted to create drinks that are relatable and reflect the taste profile of Malaysians,” Say shared about their product development ethos.
Using unique Asian ingredients such as longan and even edamame is one way the business aims to stand out.
Moreover, Being Juice stays away from any artificial sweeteners and added sugars. For those with a sweet tooth, there’s the option to add honey at no additional cost.
Plus, Being Juice focuses on being digital first through its own app.
You might be thinking—another app? Just how many do we need? Well, Say believes that Malaysians will still download their app if they feel it brings them a great experience.
While Being Juice may have carved out a niche in the juice sector, can it really stand out against other beverage options?
For Say, he’s confident that there is still room for beverage brands to grow and succeed in Malaysia and beyond, especially when these brands provide a healthier and more affordable alternative.
Bagging the funds
In January, it was announced that Being Juice bagged US$1 million in seed funding, a sizeable sum for a relatively new business.
Before bagging VC funds, though, the business self-funded its first few stores.
“After seeing encouraging early traction out the first few stores, we knew that we had come across early signs of what could potentially be a successful business,” Say explained.
And to become successful, they must build more stores to get richer feedback from customers.
To Say, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to raise external financing and bring in like-minded shareholders. “This is ultimately what led us to get funding from VC.”
A portion of the funds will go towards developing Being Juice’s consumer app. But most of the funds will be used to build more stores across Malaysia and the Philippines.
By the end of 2025, they aim to hit between 15 to 20 sites, while potentially looking into another SEA country to launch Being Juice.
Being bigger
Even though the Malaysian juice brand only launched in April 2024, Being Juice had already expanded to Manila, Philippines in December 2024.
“From the very start of our journey at Being Juice, we knew that we had to become a regional brand to be able to achieve the distribution and volumes that we wanted,” Say shared.
The Philippines was their first pick due to its well-established juice and smoothie-drinking culture. Plus, Malaysian brands such as Tealive and ZUS Coffee have also enjoyed success by venturing into the Philippines recently.
But beyond just the Philippines, Say’s vision is to become APAC’s largest consumer brand for fruit-centric F&B products.
To reach this envisioned scale, Being Juice will have to diversify and enter different market segments, including but not limited to the consumer packaged goods (CPG) space.
The team also plans to further innovate around their distribution channels, potentially setting up different selling points through formats such as vending machines.
“We don’t have plans to offer franchising opportunities as of now, but this could change in the future if we find the right partner,” Say said.
Featured Image Credit: Being Juice