Brewing Something Bigger: Bryan Loo on purpose, reinvention and the making of a Malaysian empire

Loo didn’t have a business plan, only clarity on what he didn’t want. “None of our family members know the industry, and I can only do a very basic F&B setup. I didn’t want to involve a chef, or oily food, or heavy cooking. I told my father I just want something simple, kiosk-based and easy to duplicate.”

This narrowed his options considerably: “Which only leaves us with two choices: bakery or beverages.” From there, Tealive was born—and with it, a playbook built on adaptability.

Aside from Tealive, Loob Holding’s growing portfolio has expanded to include Bask Bear, Happy Potato, Gindaco, WonderBrew Kombucha, and Sodaxpress. True to form, Loo has grown Bask Bear into one of the largest coffee brands in Malaysia in just four short years, with over 140 outlets.

Meanwhile, according to Loo, Loob’s strategic stake in WonderBrew, Malaysia’s first halal-certified brand of kombucha, will likely help propel Loob to be the leading multi-channel beverage group as it is already a market-leading brand available across 2,000 touchpoints. Likewise, Loob’s recent investment in associate company Happy Potato Ventures has helped it scale up to 90 stores and is on target to reach 100 outlets by year-end. 

“This industry moves in waves,” Loo says. “We’ve had brown sugar waves, cheese tea waves, the transition from powder to real tea leaves and the China brand invasion. And these brands from China have a different modus operandi than the previous competition in the market. China is a low-cost and low-price leader. To compete with them, you cannot go with pricing. To compete with them, you gotta add value beyond just the product itself. What are we giving the consumer? What sort of sense of emotion and belonging that we could build a brand that can deliver beyond the drinks?” Loo asks.  

And when the nature of the business is never static, Loo’s response is to keep moving, keep innovating and keep reinventing. “Doing business has endless risks compared to working for other people. I think the day when you decide to become a businessman is the day you decide to take far bigger risks than anyone else. There are many people behind your business, so failure is not an option and we have to continuously innovate and reinvent ourselves.”

See also: Billions from bubble tea and other success stories from Asia’s beverage moguls

At the heart of Loob Holding’s growth is Loo’s belief in delivering more than just a drink. “We used to say ‘Always more than tea,’” he says of Tealive’s original tagline. “Now it’s ‘Brewing Positivity.’ Because what we’re offering isn’t just a beverage but an emotion. Whether it’s comfort on a bad day or celebration on a good one.”

This philosophy extends beyond marketing. It’s embedded in his leadership style, which balances big-picture thinking with hands-on grit. “Leadership, to me, is being able to look from 40,000 feet while still being four feet from the ground,” Loo says. “I’m very detail-oriented. I wear two hats—one as a hands-on operator and the other as a mentor and coach.”

That second hat, the mentor’s, wasn’t always part of the plan. “I didn’t start with that mindset,” Loo admits. “That’s all from lessons learned. I had to go through a lot of painful experiences to get here.”   

It’s no surprise, then, that Loo is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs. In recognition of his impact, he was named an Endeavour Entrepreneur in July 2023 by the international selection panel of Endeavour—a global network supporting high-impact founders. He was later invited to join the prestigious Endeavour Outliers Class of 2025, an elite cohort of entrepreneurs leading some of the world’s fastest-growing scale-ups. The Outliers programme highlights exceptional companies emerging from unexpected places, fostering a high-level community where founders exchange ideas, offer support, and inspire the next wave of entrepreneurial talent. Loo is one of only three Malaysians selected for this exclusive group.

His advice to budding entrepreneurs is strikingly pragmatic: know your numbers. “Because if we don’t have our fingertips on the numbers when running F&B, we will go everywhere. This means knowing exactly the business model we’re running, what kind of headcount, what the labour costs are, what the utility costs and rental are, what the bottom margin is, etc. That kind of playbook has to be there before we decide to build. A lot of people build before understanding the unit economics of running a business. Yes, the recipe to start is passion and spotting certain gaps in the market. However, a lot of people do not think through that part of unit economics before making decisions. And when they’ve made their move, they realise that they might be going in the wrong direction or doing the wrong business.” Loo explains.

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Optimism, he says, is important—but it needs to be balanced with substance. “Young entrepreneurs are often very optimistic, and that’s great. You can think broadly and be very creative. You don’t have any burden of what you’ve been through in the past. But that has to come with substance. You need to do enough homework to validate your idea.”

It’s a perspective forged through hard-won experience. Loo has seen firsthand the price of missteps and, especially in ventures that couldn’t scale. “When it comes to proper restaurants, I realise that is still not my strength,” he says candidly. “Starting is one thing, but ending is painful.  I still want something that can be highly duplicable and scale very quickly. I sort of drew a conclusion that if you were to build a business that gives you maybe three to five restaurants, that’s no different than building a hundred stalls because both will give an equal amount of headache!” quips Loo. Even now, with a thriving business under his belt, Loo remains restless. “The pursuit of new ideas has become routine. What’s tiring is when the results don’t pan out. That’s what drains you,” he admits.

Yet, he’s not one to romanticise the hustle. His perfect weekend? It’s surprisingly grounded. “Chilling with my kids, playing Roblox, a good breakfast, some badminton, maybe a movie at night.” Despite his entrepreneurial image, Loo reveals that he’s “not actually a big fan of travel.” He finds his rhythm in routine. “I love to work. If I have nothing to do, I go to the gym. I just can’t sit still for long.”

Creatively, he’s drawn to art and design. “I like creative work. I’m somewhat of an art collector. Anything related to visual merchandising, interior design, and supporting the local art scene, I think that might’ve been something I would do,” he shares.

Looking ahead, Loo’s definition of success continues to evolve. “Right now, success means building a Malaysian-owned international brand,” he says. Being a “foodie” and realising that content is the future, he invested in Good Foodie Media, an online content powerhouse in the region with 20 different titles. “We need to become a content-centric brand. The product should be the brand’s heartbeat, but content keeps it alive.”

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