The moment you step onto the grounds of Yit Foh Coffee Factory in Tenom, the smell of freshly roasted coffee immediately greets you.
Located about 170km from the Sabah capital of Kota Kinabalu, the town of Tenom is synonymous with coffee.
About Yit Foh Coffee Factory
Yit Foh Coffee Factory, also known as Yit Foh Tenom Coffee, is the oldest coffee manufacturer in Sabah.
Founded in 1960 by Yong Loong Vun, the factory still produces coffee grounds the traditional way by roasting the beans over a wood fire.
Visitors can visit the factory shop where you can look for various Yit Foh coffee products.
If you are a purist, you can purchase packages of coffee powder and make your own drinks.
But they also sell coffee sachets such as kopi O (black coffee with without sugar), kopi O 2 in 1 (black coffee with sugar), cafe latte 3 in 1 (coffee with sugar and creamer) and cafe latte 2 in 1 (coffee with creamer).
Other products are white coffee, cafe au lait, oat cereal, teh tarik kaw and three types of drip coffee; Americano coffee, Italiano and Java Mandheling.
When it comes to staying in Tenom town, however, there’s not much choice when it comes to accommodation.
But if you are willing to stay about five minutes outside the town, how about staying near a coffee factory at Yit Foh Coffee Cottage.
It has a longhouse style cabin, deluxe chalet and family hut and each room is named after a type of coffee beverage. How cute is that?
Having a meal at Kafe Robusta
Even if you are not staying overnight, drop in on Kafe Robusta and have a meal.
They serve soto (chicken or beef soup), bakso (meatball served in soup with noodle), rojak (beef noodle in peanut gravy), laksa (spicy noodle soup) and other rice dishes at affordable prices.
Plus, you can order one of Yit Foh product to complement your meal.
If you are visiting Tenom for the first time, your visit to Sabah’s coffee capital is incomplete without a visit to the oldest coffee producer.
