He said that Lingham’s longevity in history, way before competition stepped in, has somewhat strengthened its roots in the country. For over a century Lingham’s hot chilli sauce has ignited the taste buds of the British, fired up the Europeans, is a hot culinary star of Asia and now it’s adding spicy heat to many iconic American foods. People ask me what Lingham’s market share is? I said zero because none in the market are original or almost natural. The rest are not really chilli sauce as they added starch and colouring. Lingham’s is the real chilli sauce,” concluded Yeoh. Meanwhile, General Manager Wendy Ng Wan Loo said to BERNAMA that although competition sprung like “mushrooms after the rain” and created a stiff market, the increasing prices of raw materials were the biggest challenge.

The brand later began investing heavily into marketing overseas which eventually led to sales of the chilli sauce in the UK exceeding local Malaysian sales. Today from Penang to Paris, New Delhi to New York, Singapore to St. Petersburg, and everything in between, Lingham’s hot sauce speaks a universal language. Understandably, he began missing the taste of home, so he started producing hot sauce in 1908 in Penang. In 1945, after World War II, a Chinese clerk named Ooi Choo Hong, who worked at a British trading house called Henry Waugh Co. Ltd, made an offer to Lingham to buy the business from him, according to the History Channel Asia. From its product range, it seems that the brand has since expanded to include more variations such as Lingham’s Extra Hot, Lingham’s With Garlic, Lingham’s With Ginger, Lingham’s Sriracha, and Lingham’s Worcestershire sauce.That’s certainly a strong statement to make, but it’s a testament to how much the team believes in the quality of their product, and it’s likely this same belief by consumers that have kept the brand thriving a century later. On how Lingam’s chilli sauce came to be known as “Lingham’s”, it is believed that this happened when Lingam consulted a British expat for product branding. It is unclear what had happened to Lingham after he had sold the company to Ooi, but the name and the recipe were retained despite numerous changes to the business throughout the years. Image Credit: Lingham’s Chilli Sauce

While Lingham’s Chilli Sauce (Lingham’s) might be what you’d call a more underrated name locally, I feel like it appears to be well-loved globally. Perhaps even lesser known are its origins, which can be traced to Butterworth, Penang.

If not because of the deep root and history that it has, I think Lingham’s wouldn’t be here today. The difference between the old food manufacturer and today’s is their thinking of sales.” Ask someone what brand comes to mind when we say “chilli sauce” and you might hear names like Life, Kimball, Maggi, or maybe even Sriracha. (Ask our office though, and you’d hear a resounding call of “Sabasco!”) In an interview with BERNAMA, Yeoh Jin Beng, the managing director of the current Lingham & Sons (M) Sdn Bhd, attributed the brand’s success to its originality, quality, consistency, integrity, and perseverance. By World War II, it had become so well-loved among the British that a bottle of the chilli sauce was included as part of every British officer’s war rations. Much loved by cooking enthusiasts throughout the world, which comes from our original 4 ingredient recipe of juicy fresh red ripe chilli peppers, sugar, salt and distilled vinegar.