Singapore’s Fresh Coconut Milk Is Becoming Harder to Find — But One 3-Generation Family Is Fighting to Keep It Alive

In an era when most home cooks can grab a carton of coconut milk from a supermarket shelf, one family in Singapore is still doing things the old-fashioned way — cracking coconuts, grating the flesh and pressing it fresh every morning.

At Fortune Coconut Whan Neng in MacPherson Market & Food Centre, the process can involve around 300 coconuts a day, producing as much as 100 litres of freshly pressed coconut milk.

But the business is about more than coconut milk. It represents a traditional trade that is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain as convenience and packaged alternatives take over.

A family business dating back to the 1970s

Fortune Coconut was founded by Lee Hong Tang in the 1970s. His son, Lee Siew Hiang, took over in the early 1990s and eventually moved the business to its current location at MacPherson Market & Food Centre in the early 2000s.

Today, the next generation is stepping forward.

Lee Zhao Yuan, 27, is helping with sales, online orders and social-media marketing, with plans to eventually take over more of the family business when his father retires.

The younger Lee's entry into the business comes at a time when freshly squeezed coconut milk is becoming increasingly uncommon.

Unlike commercially packaged coconut milk, the fresh version is highly perishable and requires considerable labour to produce — two factors that make the traditional business model increasingly challenging.

From whole coconuts to fresh milk

The process starts early in the morning.

The stall uses mature Malayan Tall coconuts from Malaysia. The coconuts are washed and split before their flesh is grated.

The grated coconut is then placed into a woven bag and fed into a custom-built hydraulic press costing about S$15,000.

Each pressing can produce roughly four litres of coconut milk.

The result is a product that the family says has a stronger coconut fragrance than packaged alternatives.

Freshness comes with a catch

There is, however, a major difference between freshly pressed coconut milk and supermarket varieties: shelf life.

Fortune Coconut's milk contains no preservatives and is recommended for consumption on the day of purchase or by the following day.

The stall currently sells the fresh coconut milk for S$7.50 per litre, with smaller quantities available for S$1.50 per 200ml and S$3.75 per 500ml.

Freshly grated coconut is also available, starting at S$6.50 per kilogram depending on the type.

That short shelf life may make the product less convenient — but it is also part of what makes the traditional trade distinctive.

The surprising TikTok effect

Zhao Yuan has been using social media to introduce the decades-old business to a younger audience.

His approach appears to be paying off.

According to his account reported by 8days, the stall previously recorded around S$300 in daily sales, while good days after his marketing efforts can reach approximately S$600 to S$700.

The strategy is simple but effective: show people how something they normally buy in a carton is actually made.

The behind-the-scenes process — from whole coconuts to fresh milk pouring from the hydraulic press — has helped give the traditional business a new digital audience.

From laksa to kaya

The coconut milk isn't only sold to individual customers.

Fortune Coconut also supplies food businesses, including Kim Choo Kueh Chang, which uses coconut milk in some of its rice dumplings, Yhingthai Palace, which uses it for Thai curries, and Slow Bakes, which uses the milk for kaya.

For home cooks, the grated coconut and milk can be used in familiar Singaporean and Southeast Asian dishes, including laksa, bubur cha cha and desserts such as ondeh-ondeh.

The man behind the next chapter

Interestingly, Zhao Yuan did not initially expect to join the family business.

He currently works as a basketball coach and has a background in operations and marketing. Those skills have now become useful in promoting a traditional business that previously relied largely on its regular customers.

His father reportedly starts work at around 4.30am, preparing coconuts and fulfilling orders before focusing on walk-in customers later in the morning. The working day generally ends around noon.

Zhao Yuan expects to take over the business within the next few years and hopes to eventually move production into a central kitchen if the customer base becomes large and consistent enough.

For now, however, the family is keeping the operation small and focused on freshly pressed coconut products rather than extending shelf life with preservatives.

Why this small stall matters

Fortune Coconut Whan Neng's story reflects a broader challenge facing traditional food businesses: how do you preserve an old craft when modern consumers increasingly choose convenience?

In this case, the answer may be an unexpected one — social media.

A 27-year-old from the third generation is using TikTok and digital marketing to introduce an old-school coconut-pressing business to people who may never have seen fresh coconut milk being made.

And while packaged coconut milk may be easier to store, the family believes there is still a place for something made fresh that morning.

For now, the graters are still running, the hydraulic press is still working and the next generation is preparing to take over.

Fortune Coconut Whan Neng is located at #01-60, MacPherson Market & Food Centre, 89 Circuit Road, Singapore 370089, and is reported to open daily from 6am to 11.40am.

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