01Starting a food factory in Malaysia
- Prove the product sells first. Sell small before you buy machines: markets, online, a central kitchen or a contract manufacturer.
- Choose premises the council allows for food production. Plan a one-way flow from raw materials to packed goods, so raw and ready food never cross.
- Plan water, drainage, waste and pest control before the renovation, not after it. Fixing them later costs far more.
- Start with a few products and do them well. Every new product brings new ingredients, labels, stock and checks.
- Budget for the paperwork: licences, label design, shelf-life tests and nutrition values all come before the first sale.
02Food safety and certificates
The general steps, in the order most small factories meet them:
- Register the company with SSM and get the local council's licences for the premises.
- Food hygiene: under the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009, food factories register their premises with the Ministry of Health, and every food handler attends a food handler training course, has a medical check and gets a typhoid vaccination.
- Labels: follow the Food Regulations 1985 (Part IV). For food made in Malaysia the label is in Bahasa Malaysia (other languages may be added). It covers the product name, ingredients in descending order of weight, allergens, net quantity, date marking, and the name and address of the manufacturer, packer or brand owner. Many packaged foods also need a nutrition information panel.
- Food safety systems, step by step as you grow: MeSTI (the Ministry of Health's food safety scheme for small and medium producers), then GMP, then HACCP. Larger buyers and export markets may ask for ISO 22000 or FSSC 22000.
General information only, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the current requirements with the authorities before you act.
03Running the day: orders, stock, production and QC
- Plan production from orders, not from what was made yesterday.
- Stock: first to expire, first out. Count what you have before you plan.
- A code on every batch. We put a QR label on every batch, so any pack can be traced back to its day and its ingredients.
- Checklists at fixed points: receiving, cooking, packing and cleaning. A check that is not written down did not happen.
- One screen on the floor with today's tasks and cleaning duty, so nobody has to ask.
- Nothing leaves before QC releases it.
04Getting export-ready
- Start from the buyer's country: its label language, the ingredients and additives it allows, and the certificates it asks for.
- Expect to need HACCP. Many importers also ask for a recognised scheme such as FSSC 22000.
- Paperwork per shipment: some markets want a health certificate or a certificate of origin. Ask your buyer and forwarder early which documents your market needs.
- Test shelf life, don't guess it. Sea freight and customs use up weeks of it.
- Cartons need their own marks: product, batch, dates and weights, plus the importer's details where required.
General information only, not legal advice. Each market has its own rules.
05From paper to systems
The factory ran on paper record sheets and spreadsheets. In October 2026 they became Rapi, a web app I designed and built. Batches, warehouse, delivery and quality are all on one screen, on any phone or computer. What I learned:
- Start with the problem on the floor, not with the software.
- One place for each record. If the same number lives in two places, one of them is wrong.
- Build in small steps, and test each one where the work happens.
- Make the right way the easy way. A checklist on a phone gets filled in. A form in the office does not.
The full story is on About me, and Rapi has its own card on What I built.
06The brand made here
I founded Truly Gourmet, and its tempeh chips are made in the factory. Read about the brand made here, or buy online.