KUCHING: A Singapore-based wellness company known for turning traditional soy sauce into cutting-edge skincare and cancer microbiome research is now partnering with Sarawak to take the state’s rainforest heritage to the world through a new essential oils brand, Trove Borneo.
KITKOJI Pte Ltd, led by its chief executive officer, Ken Koh, has teamed up with the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) to commercialise a premium line of pure essential oils distilled from plants native to Sarawak and cultivated by indigenous communities.
For Koh, whose family business has evolved from handcrafted soy sauce to microbiome-focused skincare and advanced research collaborations in Singapore and Sarawak, Sarawak represents a natural next step.
“When I first visited SBC, my mind was blown. There is a room where thousands of extracts are archived. If you bulletproof that room, humanity can continue because all the biodiversity is there,” he said, while recalling his first immersive trip to Kuching during the Rainforest World Music Festival last year.
He said learning that SBC had documented 704 essential oils from Sarawak plants, many unique to Borneo’s 130-million-year-old rainforest, immediately sparked a question: how to bring this treasure to the world.
“These are not your usual lavender or eucalyptus. Rather, these are unique essential oils native to Borneo.
“Sometimes we don’t appreciate what is in our own backyard. Trove Borneo is really about discovering the treasures in your backyard,” he said during his session after launching Trove Borneo at the Sheraton Hotel, on Wednesday (Nov 19).
Koh explained that KITKOJI’s work in Sarawak builds on years of innovation in Singapore, starting with Nanyang Sauce, his family’s traditional nine-month naturally fermented soy sauce brand.
Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) later discovered anti-ageing, antioxidant, and skin-brightening properties in its fermented soybeans, paving the way for KITKOJI’s microbiome-based skincare brand and, eventually, cancer microbiome research through collaborations with the National Cancer Centre Singapore.
“What we eat, what we put on our skin and what we breathe are all connected through the microbiome.
“With Trove Borneo, essential oils now complete that wellness ecosystem by supporting not just physical health, but also mental and emotional well-being.”
Additionally, Koh said SBC’s scientific depth and community ecosystem were exactly what KITKOJI was looking for.
“What attracted me to work with Sarawak was not only the biodiversity, but also the community model.
“This is not a case of someone coming in to buy a product cheaply and sell it at a high price.
“This is a true community–public–private partnership.”
Koh said Trove Borneo’s first collection of nine oils, distilled from leaves, fruits, roots and rhizomes, represents both scientific rigour and artisanal craftsmanship, and each 10ml bottle, he noted, requires on average more than 30kg of raw plant material.
“We are working with SBC and indigenous communities to cultivate and harvest sustainably.
“We do not remove anything from the rainforest that was not originally there. This is about honouring Sarawak’s biodiversity, not exploiting it.”
Looking ahead, Koh said he hopes to bring a bit of Borneo, a bit of Kuching, a bit of Sarawak into homes and wellness rituals around the world.
“Eighty years may sound like a long time, but for our families and for Sarawak’s heritage, it is not.
“The story is already here. Our role, together with Sarawak, is to share it with the world.”
