Case Study: Old Town White Coffee Malaysians have been coffee drinkers ever since the late 19th century. This habit was influenced by the Chinese immigrants. Unaccustomed to the bitter and strong British Coffee, the Hainan Chinese modified the taste of Western coffee to be better suited to the palate of the Chinese population. Thus the white coffee of Ipoh Old Town was born and the tradition of making white coffee has been carried on for generations. White coffee is now one of the staple drinks of Malaysians. White coffee was first sold by a Hainanese coffee roasting master in one of the old coffee shops in ‘Old Town’ Ipoh. Gradually, white coffee began to put its mark on Malaysian culture and society. The rise of the popularity of this drink was also due to the arrival of branded retail outlets such as Coffee Bean and Starbucks in the local market around 1997-1998. The Malaysian local coffee culture grew, starting with the commercializing of so called ‘kopitiams’ (derived from the word ‘kopi’, from Malay/Hokkien for coffee and ‘tiam’, which means shop in Hokkien), which is the rebranding of local coffee shops by upgrading their services by not only selling products, but also embracing technology as part of their marketing plans. The OLDTOWN White Coffee brand is an example of this upgrading. Today, OLDTOWN White Coffee is Malaysia’s largest halal-certified kopitiam. OLDTOWN White Coffee was established by a two-man team, Mr Goh Chin Mun and Mr Tan Say Yap in Ipoh, Perak, in 1999. Initially, the company operated as a local coffee shop but has now expanded its business to almost all states in Malaysia and as well as internationally. The group opened its 200th outlet in a period of just over seven years. Now, OLDTOWN is diversifying its products by exporting its instant beverage mixes to more than 14 countries and is publicly listed on Bursa Malaysia’s main board and has