1963
Humble Beginnings
With a small zinc roof factory and only a few staff, we began operations with Peking peanuts, a variant known for being unusually large.
About us
Our Story
Tong Garden began in Singapore with one man, his bicycle, and the humble peanut. Today, we’re a household name in Southeast Asia with a much wider range of products.
But even after five decades, some things stay the same. We’re still family-owned and operated. More importantly, we’re not just another profit-driven company. It was passion that drove our founder Ong Tong Guan to start the business. Along the way, this same passion helped us grow into a serious food manufacturer and a formidable competitor.
Being passion-driven simply means that we care deeply about our products, our people and our customers. Most of all, it means that we’ll never compromise on quality, and we’re constantly innovating to bring you more great-tasting snacks.
Our History
When our founder Mr Ong Tong Guan left his hometown of Fujian Province in China for Singapore in 1933, he was filled with hopes and dreams of a great future ahead. But he wasn’t expecting that he would soon start a little peanut business, one that would grow into one of Asia’s greatest nut giants.
Here are some of our key milestones in this wonderful journey:
1966–1977
Nuts, nuts and more nuts
Gradually, we expanded our product range to cater to different appetites. In 1966, we started selling Shandong peanuts. And in 1970, we introduced the cashew. This expansion meant we needed a bigger space, so we moved to a bigger factory at Geylang Bahru in 1973. Thereafter, we added broad beans (1974), cracker biscuits (1975), as well as chickpeas and green peas (1977) to our product range.
1980–1989
Making a mark
In 1980, Tong Garden Food Products Pte Ltd was formally incorporated in Singapore. Four years later, we established our presence in Malaysia. This was followed by Hong Kong in 1986, and Thailand in 1989.
Even as we were moving across boundaries, our focus on the quality of our products remained. In 1984, we introduced pistachios to the market with a new packaging, and at a lower retail price. While others packed their pistachios in plastic, we used aluminium foil. This was revolutionary at that time, as it helped retain the freshness of the pistachios. All these factors quickly made us the market leader for pistachios.
To accommodate this rapid expansion, our factory moved once more in 1987. We settled in at Chin Bee Crescent, in premises that are twenty times larger.
1989–1995
New brand, new location, and more new products
Gradually, we expanded our product range to cater to different appetites. In 1966, we started selling Shandong peanuts. And in 1970, we introduced the cashew. This expansion meant we needed a bigger space, so we moved to a bigger factory at Geylang Bahru in 1973. Thereafter, we added broad beans (1974), cracker biscuits (1975), as well as chickpeas and green peas (1977) to our product range.
1996–Today
Changing times, changing tastes
Alongside our customers’ changing tastes, we experimented with new products to offer something innovative and refreshing. This resulted in our honey-coated nut series (1998), Seaweed & Wasabi Cashew Nuts Mixed Macadamias, and most recently, our Almonds with Dried Cranberries and Banana Chips. New products, new processes, aggressive strategies and creative use of R&D produced triple digit growth in sales between 1996 and today for Tong Garden.
Tong Garden continues to rank at the top in South-east Asian markets when it comes to nuts products and snacks.
In 2014, Tong Garden was the overall winner of the Singapore Prestige Brand Award (Heritage Brands Category), for brands that have been established for more than 25 years.
These product innovations and production volumes were made possible with our two manufacturing plants in Thailand and Malaysia, which has a combined land of 20 acres and nearly 1,000 staff. Currently, we’re also setting up offices in various countries to expand our distribution network. Coupled with Tong Garden’s ability to capitalise on quality, food safety, great taste and other health benefits of nuts, more growth can be expected. We will continue reaching out to a wider base of customers across the region and continue developing more exciting products for everyone in the years to come.
Message from Chairman
James Ong Teck Chuan
Chairman, Tong Garden
Tong Garden began with our founder Mr. Ong Tong Guan’s passion for greatness and his desire to provide nothing but the best for his customers. The same fire still burns in us today. Even after five decades, our founder’s passion and vision continue to live on in each and every product that we put on the market.
At Tong Garden, we take quality seriously. We have spared no effort to search for the finest ingredients from all over the world. Our products contain nuts from California, Australia and many other countries, all carefully chosen to select only the best. Our ultimate goal is to deliver to our customers the highest quality end products that they have come to expect from us as a first-class industry leader.
We have also never ceased to innovate. Innovation and improvement are part of our DNA. We invest heavily in research and development facilities to produce a wide range of delicious and healthy products that cater to different groups of people. As a result, we have one of the most diversified product lines available in the market. To us, variety is the spice of life, and we will not hesitate to provide to customers the greatest range of products to choose from.
Looking back at what we have accomplished, we are proud to be one of the largest nut and snacks companies in Asia. Our humble beginnings in Singapore has been followed by our expansion across Southeast Asia. We now have more than 1,000 staff members in our family, and our products are enjoyed by millions across 35 different countries. Our journey to remain at the forefront of the industry continues with our expansion into other countries, where we have set up distribution offices to bolster our current network. Yet, despite our growth, Tong Garden remains a family-owned and operated company, whose top priority has always been to continue the tradition of excellence established by our founding father. Our passion and love for our products are what makes our company different. We accept no compromise on quality and are committed to bringing only the best to our customers.
We are nuts about our product, and we hope you will be too.
