Tan Ding Jie

Food scientist Tan Ding Jie co-founded Prefer with Jake Berber in 2022 to produce Asia’s first bean-free coffee by upcycling barley, bread and soy. In the works is a line of coffee capsules, a larger manufacturing facility and expansion into the Philippines, with plans to extend its portfolio of alternatives to climate-threatened crops to the likes of cacao, hazelnut and vanilla. Ding Jie previously supplied uniquely Southeast Asian ferments to leading restaurants and bars.