PT PULAU SAMBU was incorporated as a company in 1967 but its legacy first began with Mr Tay Juhana’s pioneering spirit. The late Singaporean-born founder ventured to Indonesia’s Kuala Tungkal in the Jambi Province and planted his heart and soul to build a foundation that is both innovative and socially inclusive. He later chose to adopt Indonesian citizenship and dedicated the rest of his life to his business and his people.

Mr Tay was attuned to the interconnected nature of business and social dynamics. He envisioned a company that was holistic in all aspects and sought to build a company that would simultaneously benefit farmers, business partners, customers and Mother Nature herself. The vision and strategies that Mr Tay set out for the future has always, even from the company’s foundation, driven it away from mainstream trends and instead into uncharted territories full of opportunities.

Above all, he had the noble ambition to provide sustainability to the life and future of society as a whole. His deepest desire was to be a contributing member of his community, one that would help to pave the way for generations.

For six long decades, Mr Tay cultivated his vision into a reality. His pioneering spirit lead the entire coconut industry to greater heights and developed a system beyond anything anyone has seen before. A new business model was developed from copra trading to copra milling, which was an unprecedented establishment in the area at that time. He revolutionized the whole process, sending ripples of his innovative efforts to various corners of the world. Under his mantle of constant innovation, SAMBU GROUP unceasingly sought to widen its reach in creating results that matter to society.

His efforts soon took root and blossomed into SAMBU GROUP as we know today. Till this day, SAMBU GROUP commemorates and live by his vision and strategies, driving the company to walk down an untrodden path in search of better opportunities.

PT PULAU SAMBU (KUALA ENOK) was established in 1967 as SAMBU GROUP’s first coconut oil processing plant. The plant produced crude coconut oil, refined bleached and deodorized coconut oil as well as copra expeller for the export market. All products were eventually developed and certified in accordance to international standards.

In 1983, PT PULAU SAMBU (GUNTUNG) was built as a specialized factory for sophisticated downstream products such as coconut milk/cream, coconut cream powder, desiccated coconut, coconut water and coconut shell charcoal.

Produced using Ultra-high Temperature (UHT), the packaged coconut cream was marketed under the brand name of Kara. At that time, having packaged coconut cream was unprecedented and Kara was the pride of SAMBU GROUP as the first of its kind in the world. Even till today, Kara is the only brand that is marketed both nationwide and internationally (Asia, Oceania, North America, European markets).

Twenty six years later, fueled by the spirit of endless innovation, Mr Tay established the third processing plant and coconut plantation. It was the year 1993 and PT RIAU SAKTI UNITED PLANTATIONS was born. With the additional processing plant, SAMBU GROUP was able to increase its production volume to meet the increasing global market demand of coconut-based products.

In 1995, a pineapple production plant was set up in PT RIAU SAKTI UNITED PLANTATIONS to produce canned pineapple and subsequently pineapple juice concentrate in 1999. The expansion allowed SAMBU GROUP to deliver coconut milk/cream in cans.

In 2016, PULAU SAMBU SINGAPORE PTE LTD was established as the marketing branch to further expand its worldwide market reach. This expansion was done in hopes to further contribute to the development of the surrounding communities for coconut farmers.