Fortune Coconut Whan Neng Keeps Freshly Pressed Coconut Milk Alive With TikTok Marketing

At Fortune Coconut Whan Neng, two old electric graters reduce coconut flesh to fine shavings before a hydraulic press extracts the milk. The family stall processes about 300 coconuts a day and produces as much as 100 litres of sweet, preservative-free coconut milk.

The business operates in the wet-market section of MacPherson Market and Food Centre, where freshly squeezed coconut milk has become increasingly rare. Its perishable nature and the labor required to make it have pushed many customers toward packaged products available in supermarkets.

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I decided to continue my family business because I understand how rare this trade is, and freshly squeezed coconut milk is extremely hard to find now in Singapore. Seeing my ageing parents working is also one of the reasons [I want to help out].

Lee Zhao Yuan, 27, the family’s third-generation successor, works as a basketball coach but plans to take over the stall from his father, Lee Siew Hiang. His father, 63, starts work at 4:30 a.m. each day. Lee says he wants to help his ageing parents and preserve a trade that has become difficult to find in Singapore.

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Sometimes, people choose convenience.

The stall was founded by Lee’s late grandfather, Lee Hong Tang, in the 1970s. Lee Siew Hiang took over in the early 1990s and moved the business to its current location in the early 2000s, when packaged UHT coconut milk was not yet widely available. Today, Lee hopes to attract younger customers through TikTok and other social media.

Lee says fresh coconut milk has a stronger fragrance than commercially packaged alternatives. For home cooks, it offers a traditional ingredient for dishes such as curry and chendol, without requiring them to grate and press the coconuts themselves.

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There’s a very big difference between using commercially packaged coconut milk and fresh coconut milk. When using fresh coconut milk, the fragrance is stronger.