This M’sian team created the country’s first plant-based beverage innovation lab, here’s why 

Over the years, alternative milk products have become more and more popular in Malaysia. Most cafes nowadays offer a dairy substitution in the form of oat or soy milk, and the product can easily be sourced in most grocery stores. 

However, Malaysia is still lagging behind when it comes to our own homegrown innovations in this space. Most of the products are typically imported from other countries. 

That gap is why The Mylky Way was established. 

The Mylky Way is not just a factory but an ecosystem. It houses labs for R&D and microbiological testing, a pilot plant for prototyping, an ambient-ready production floor, and even a training centre for the next generation of food scientists. 

With those facilities, they claim to be Malaysia and Southeast Asia’s first full-spectrum plant-based beverage innovation hub. 

The man behind the “mylk” 

The company behind The Mylky Way is Pure Mylk, a startup led and founded by Marcus Khoo. 

The CEO shared with Vulcan Post that he comes from a finance background, but has always been passionate about food. 

“Over the years, working across industries and travelling, I started to see how deeply food connects people, the planet and long-term well-being,” Marcus shared. “That perspective changed the way I looked at my own career path. 

Marcus began to wonder, why are good clean food such as clean-label, plant-based beverages not more accessible, especially in Southeast Asia? 

When he couldn’t find a satisfying answer, he decided to be a part of the solution by starting Pure Mylk—a platform that can hopefully make a small but meaningful difference in how plant-based products are made, shared, and scaled across the region.

A launchpad for other “mylksters”

According to Marcus, despite growing demand for plant-based milks, many brand owners still struggle with limited access to suitable facilities, formulation support, or scalable manufacturing. 

That’s why, while the general consensus is that plant-based food is better for the planet, many plant-based milks are still inaccessible due to their premium price or inconsistent quality. 

“It became clear to me that the issue wasn’t demand but infrastructure,” Marcus realised.

Thus, he built Pure Mylk to be what he wished existed—an integrated, innovation-focused partner that helps brands go from idea to shelf. They seek to provide the right tools, tech, and support to help brands make better products at scale. 

To clarify, Pure Mylk isn’t a milk brand itself. As a B2B business, it doesn’t carry any consumer-facing products, but rather, plays its part behind the scenes. 

“While we do develop our own IP and work on internal innovations, our focus is on helping partners bring their ideas to life. We’re not here to compete but we’re here to collaborate. If our partners grow, so do we,” Marcus elaborated.

To do this, the team takes a structured but flexible approach that they call the 4Ds: Design, Develop, Deliver and Disrupt. 

The process starts with understanding the brand’s goals, what they want to solve, and who they’re serving. From there, they support formulation, pilot trials, process optimisation, and full-scale production.

The Pure Mylk team comprises scientists, biologists, and food tech specialists who work together with partners. 

Marcus added, “But we don’t see ourselves as experts above anyone. We just bring what we’ve learnt to the table and co-create from there. We do believe success happens through shared effort.”

More than ideas

Starting out as more of a consultancy, Pure Mylk eventually realised that a physical space was needed to carry out their mission. Hence, The Mylky Way as a hub was established. 

“We kept seeing great ideas from brand owners, but very few had access to the space or support needed to test and scale those ideas properly,” Marcus said. “Many were jumping straight from lab trials to market without validation and were struggling.”

“We never thought of it as a bold move, just a necessary one to give founders the right tools to succeed without having to go abroad or compromise on quality.”

Marcus pointed out that Malaysia has so much potential from agricultural resources to technical talent to halal credibility. But what’s often missing is infrastructure. 

“We realised early on that building good products requires more than a good idea. You need the right support system to test, validate, scale and stay competitive,” he said. 

The Mylky Way is a hub that’s open to startups to multinationals, universities to ingredient companies. It’s made up of two purpose-built buildings, housing R&D labs, pilot-scale processing, aseptic filling, and other specialised tech. 

The hub also offers a validation pathway from market testing, taste studies, regulatory checks, so brands can go from concept to commercial in a way that’s thoughtful and grounded. 

A network of likeminded collaborators 

“It was definitely a significant investment and one we didn’t take lightly,” Marcus said about The Mylky Way. “Funding came from personal backing and investors who saw the long-term value in building infrastructure and not just launching a product.”

Raising capital wasn’t easy, the founder admitted. With their novel ideas, they had to earn people’s trust and show them why their purpose matters. 

Although there was lots of scepticism early on, as people saw their work over time, those doubts turned into support. Thankfully, they were able to find supporters who believed in the mission.

“Most of our partnerships came about naturally through conversations and shared goals,” Marcus said. “We looked for collaborators who cared about the same things we do: food innovation, sustainability, and making things better for future generations.” 

Pure Mylk has entered strategic collaborations with notable companies such as Tetra Pak, a global leader in food processing and packaging solutions, and Novonesis, a leading biosolutions innovator. 

These partnerships further mark the company’s commitment to functional ingredient development and future-proof formulations. 

Becoming a powerhouse

As they strengthen their operations, Pure Mylk intends to grow alongside its clients, exploring new product formats, improving technology, and finding ways to collaborate more meaningfully across the region.

With that, they aim to contribute to something bigger than just contract manufacturing. 

“We hope to become the catalyst not only for great products but for nurturing the next generation of food innovators,” Marcus mused. “That means investing in education, hosting school visits, opening our space for knowledge exchange and forums, and shaping a more inclusive, future ready ecosystem for plant-based innovation in Southeast Asia.”

With their hub, Pure Mylk has received interest from across ASEAN, the Middle East, and beyond. To the CEO, though, the most meaningful validation comes when a local founder tells them: “I didn’t know this was possible here.” 

“And really, wouldn’t it be nice if one day you walk into a cafe and plant-based milk doesn’t cost extra? That’s the kind of change we hope to quietly make by making the supply chain stronger, more efficient, and more inclusive behind the scenes,” Marcus concluded. 

Featured Image Credit: Pure Mylk