‘The timing is now right’: Koufu founder Pang Lim on handing over the reins to a new generation

[SINGAPORE] After more than two decades at the helm of Koufu Group, Pang Lim has stepped down as chief executive officer and handed the baton to Chua Sher Lin, formerly the company’s chief financial officer.

Pang – who remains group chairman – and his wife, Ng Hoon Tien, founded Koufu in 2002 after selling their earlier coffee shop chain, Aik Hua, to Kopitiam.

Koufu began operations with just three branches, including its first air-conditioned food court in Toa Payoh Central. Now, the home-grown food and beverage (F&B) player has around 1,500 employees across more than 70 food courts and coffee shops in Singapore and Macau.

It also has a large, diversified portfolio of brands, including bubble tea chain R&B Tea and vegetarian restaurant Elemen. 

The leadership transition 

To mark turning 70 years old in 2025, Pang documented his journey from humble beginnings to entrepreneurship. Written in Chinese, the 463-page autobiography, yan huo sui yue zi zai xing, also spotlights his family and discusses the business succession.

Pang has three children: His first son, the eldest, spearheads an investment arm under the family business; his daughter, the second-born, is a doctor; and his second son is pursuing a business-related degree at the Singapore Management University.

In his book, Pang said that if his youngest child is interested in leading Koufu, he hopes that he can gain working experience elsewhere before joining the company.

Pang emphasised that he and his wife never forced their children to succeed, but rather encouraged them to follow their interests diligently.

In the meantime, Chua leads the company. The 46-year-old is a certified chartered accountant and a 20-year Koufu veteran; she joined the company as a finance manager in 2005, and was promoted to financial controller in 2011.

She became the group’s CFO in 2015, and assumed the mantle of CEO in October 2025.

“Although her background is in finance, her scope in recent years has extended far beyond that,” Pang told The Business Times in an exclusive interview in December, conducted in Mandarin.

“She personally handled the entire process for our acquisitions and factory applications over the past seven to eight years. Honestly, if you asked me to read the documents, I wouldn’t be able to read the English,” he added candidly.

“I believe her track record proves she is the ideal candidate. She possesses vast experience, having spearheaded both our initial public offering and our subsequent privatisation.” 

Chua, who joined the interview, said she was initially hesitant to take on the role of CEO when Pang floated the idea a few years ago. She wondered if the company would consider an external hire instead.

Regarding other contenders for the top job, Pang said the transition to Chua was not a recent development, but part of a “long-term plan established years ago”. 

He noted that over the past two years, Chua actively expanded her scope to include the management of operations as well as leading meetings. “Essentially, I’ve taken a step back from leading most meetings. I believe the timing is now right for this transition,” he said.

“I’m also worried because, as you know, when people age, they tend to walk slower, right?” he joked. “So, the company might slow down as well. We need a younger team. Maybe they will have a lot of new ideas, so they can boldly try a different path.” 

Post-privatisation

Koufu listed on the Singapore Exchange in 2018 and went private in 2022.

Pang said the decision to delist was driven by the need for greater flexibility and swifter decision-making when the group’s revenue took a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“In my decades in the F&B industry, I’ve never heard of anyone experiencing a year without challenges,” he said. “There are all kinds of challenges. But through the process, we slowly adjust, learn and find the breakthroughs to discover the best ways of solving problems.” 

Chua said the biggest challenge that lies ahead for Koufu is maintaining the cultural heritage of food courts and coffee shops, while also incorporating innovation and digitalisation.  

Based on the group’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority filings for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2024, it earned S$307.1 million in revenue and recorded a net profit of S$37.8 million.

“I think going public definitely raised our profile,” Chua noted, adding that, post-privatisation, Koufu has continued to pursue strategic assets and enter new market segments with a long-term perspective.

Pang said the company could re-list if liquidity becomes a need, but that is not the case for now. 

Further diversification

Koufu’s food court and coffee shop business makes up about 80 per cent of its total revenue; the rest comes from its F&B brands and its property and rental business, said Chua. 

Over the years, Koufu has built up its portfolio through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as well as establishing its own brands. 

Its food court concepts include Rasapura Masters at Marina Bay Sands, Cookhouse by Koufu, Happy Hawkers, halal-focused Fork & Spoon, and Gourmet Paradise. 

The group has stakes in various F&B businesses such as dessert shop Nine Fresh; snack chains Dough Culture and Delisnacks; and eateries 1983 – A Taste of Nanyang, 1983 – Coffee & Toast, and Pang Pang Kopi.

Through one of its subsidiaries, Koufu also manages Punggol Plaza. (*See amendment note)

M&A is “definitely a core and important part of our growth strategy”, said Chua. “We’ll continue to explore active partnerships and new opportunities that we can acquire that bring synergy to our business.

“Buying new brands can give us faster entry into a new market, so if we see opportunities, that will be an important part of it.”

Outside Singapore, Koufu operates two food courts and an outlet of 1983 – A Taste of Nanyang in Macau. It has also brought R&B Tea to the Philippines through a franchise which has grown to 50 outlets.

The group is eyeing expansion primarily within South-east Asia for certain brands, and also intends to tap the market for retail products including packaged food, Chua said.

In 2025, the group continued to scale its brands within Singapore. It opened an R&B Tea outlet at Changi City Point, and added two more locations for Dough Culture and Nine Fresh each. It also expanded Pang Pang Kopi by three outlets. 

Koufu will grow its food court footprint in 2026 with a new outlet at Piccadilly Grand, a Cookhouse by Koufu at Changi Airport Terminal 2, and a Gourmet Paradise at Parc Point. 

“Success or failure is not the key because, inevitably, either outcome will happen. The moment we stop investing and looking ahead, the company will plateau at this level,” said Pang.

“That’s why we have to keep investing and advancing. Then we will be able to keep moving forward, one step at a time.”

*Amendment note: This story has been updated to reflect that Koufu manages, not owns, Punggol Plaza through one of its subsidiaries.