Nam Lee Cheong is among Malaysia's oldest and largest homegrown importer and distributor of wines and spirits. Distributing to hotels, hypermarkets, restaurants, retail outlets and end consumers, Nam Lee Cheong moves an excess of 1,000,000 bottles per annum.
Our company is also one of the biggest distributors of locally produced spirits.
We have been a driving force of innovation in the Malaysian wine, spirits and liquor industry, from pioneering the concept of appointing dealers in the 70s to the development of the wine industry and classified growths.
We are constantly expanding our portfolio, venturing into new products, seeking new alliances, developing and educating our customers and associations as well as finding new ways to bring value to the marketplace.
In 1946, Leong Kin Nang and two associates met to open a liquor retail shop by the name of Nam Lee Cheong in Petaling Street. Few years later, Leong acquired the rest of the business to become the sole owner.
In 1970, Tony Leong (son of Leong Kin Nang) took over operations. In the next few years, he shifted the company's focus from a simple retailer to a full-scale distributor of liquor and spirits. By 1978, Nam Lee Cheong was one of the major distributors for leading global distilleries such as Martell, Hennessy, Johnny Walker and Chivas.
In 1979, the company relocated to a larger premise at Jalan Sultan Ismail in the heart of the business district. The 1980s saw Nam Lee Cheong continuing its growth and expansion of its portfolio and customer base growing to be one of Malaysia's largest privately owned importer and distributor.
In the mid-nineties, Nam Lee Cheong expanded its portfolio future by venturing into the wine trade and the company began importing international wines.
Nam Lee Cheong was awarded its first agency, Moillard of France. This continued to grow with Montes (Chile), Penley Estate (Australia), Tommasi Viticoltori (Italy), Graham Beck (South Africa), Bodegas Principe De Viana (Spanish), Domaine Schlumberger (Alsa), Warburn Estate (Australia), Chateau Barreyre (France) and Vintex & Les Vignoble Gregois (France).
Always looking to stay ahead of the market, Nam Lee Cheong then ventured into classified growths with French wine negociants such as Ulysses Cazabonne (owned by the House of Chanel) and Seignouret Freres. The company strongly believes that classified growths will be a key to its portfolio in the future.
The turn of the new century also marked Nam Lee Cheong expanding its portfolio to international Asian wines and spirits. Most notably were Bokbunja, one of Korea's most popular wines and Kuaijishan, China's largest and oldest producer of Chinese Shaoxing wine.
With Leong Keng Mun, Tony Leong's son taking over the helm of the company in 2006, the company continues to follow its tradition of innovation, market development and integrity. The company has been aggressively modernizing its IT infrastructure, expanding further into classified growths, developing its portfolio and is now moving into a new area – the World Wide Web.
A traditional family business spanning three generations, we are grounded on strong professional integrity and traditional family values while moving forward in an ambitious yet customer centric approach.
