Ng Tuck Ming

Ng Tuck Ming was born in the early 1930s in Ipoh, Perak—a Malaysian tin-mining town with a significant Hakka Chinese population, far from the chocolate capitals of Europe. When he traveled to Singapore in the 1960s and secured employment at Allied Chocolate Factory at Tanglin Halt, he entered Southeast Asia’s first chocolate manufacturing facility. The Van Houten brand owner’s factory became his classroom, and company materials describe his time there as fueling a passion that would drive five decades of entrepreneurship.

Against the bias #

In 1973, amid a global oil crisis that sent Singapore’s inflation spiraling from 2 percent to 22 percent, Ng made what company narratives call a “bold decision” to establish Highland Chocolate as a micro-factory. The economic headwinds were only part of the challenge. He also faced what sources consistently describe as bias against local products from Singaporean consumers who preferred European imports.

Through what company materials call “innovative marketing strategies and stringent quality control,” Highland Chocolate overcame this prejudice to become a household favorite across Singapore and the region by the 1980s. The operation was modest, but his instincts for regional taste proved sharp.

Ng developed several industry firsts during this Singapore era: Asia’s first freeze-dried fruit chocolates, the continent’s first durian chocolate—now an iconic Southeast Asian confection—and chocolate mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival market. While multinational brands offered standardized products, Ng built a regional identity around distinctively Asian flavors that others considered too niche or culturally specific.

The contrarian’s gamble #

The 1998 Asian Financial Crisis devastated Southeast Asian businesses. Singapore’s GDP growth collapsed from 8 percent to 1.5 percent. The manufacturing sector contracted 9 percent. Currency collapses, capital flight, and consumer spending freezes forced many manufacturers to retreat or close entirely.

Ng Tuck Ming, then in his mid-sixties, made the opposite choice. Rather than consolidating in Singapore or shutting down, he relocated the entire operation to Malaysia—a country in economic freefall. The decision appeared counterintuitive, but Ng anticipated that Malaysia would become a major cocoa processing hub. That prediction proved accurate as Malaysia emerged as one of the world’s largest cocoa grinders.

The March 22, 1999 incorporation of Benns Chocolate Factory Sdn. Bhd. in Cheras, Selangor validated the strategy. The Malaysian base would weather subsequent economic cycles while building the commercial foundation that enabled his son’s later transformation.

The chairman’s presence #

At 93, Ng Tuck Ming remains active. As his son Wilfred noted in a 2023 interview: “My father is still around, coming to 90 years old this year. Still active in the sense that he still moves around in the factory, but not so active in operations and such.” Wilfred bounces ideas around with his father, who remains involved in an advisory capacity.

When Wilfred proposed the 2017 pivot to ethical bean-to-bar production with Benns Ethicoa, Ng supported the transformation rather than defending the commodity model he’d built. The family holds 70 percent of Benns Chocolate and plans to pursue an IPO in 5-6 years rather than passing leadership to a third generation—a pragmatic succession philosophy.

In June 2023, Ng appeared alongside government officials at the launch of Benns Malaysia Single-Origin Chocolate, one of his few documented public appearances. His presence embodied the continuity between the micro-factory that defied consumer bias in 1973 and the award-winning ethical chocolate operation that his son now leads.

The Benns story encompasses two generations, but the foundation Ng Tuck Ming laid—through technical innovation, regional positioning, and crisis-era conviction—created the platform that made transformation possible. His openness to allowing the next generation to revolutionize rather than merely inherit may prove his most significant contribution.

Last updated: January 23, 2026