PETALING JAYA, Dec 2 — You wouldn’t expect it, but one of Malaysia’s boldest plant-based flavours is emerging from a quiet production space in Petaling Jaya.
This is Vegecore — Jessica Yeong’s answer to a question she has carried since she was young: what if plant-based food could taste like home?
For Yeong, food has always been personal. The 29-year-old food scientist grew up vegetarian, surrounded by the aromas of her family’s vegetarian restaurants and the warmth of makciks and aunties who would adapt their cooking so she never felt left out at the table.
“Being vegetarian since birth shaped how I see food,” she says. That early experience of inclusion — of dishes prepared specially so she could join in — laid the emotional groundwork for Vegecore, her line of ready-to-eat Malaysian plant-based meals.
“Those dishes were sincere, flavourful, and made me feel deeply included… If this made me feel so loved, why not spread that love wider?”
What Yeong didn’t have, growing up, was convenient access to the classics most Malaysians take for granted. “Most Malaysian dishes contain meat,” she explains. “Even when plant-based versions were available, they often didn’t carry the real Malaysian flavours I imagined.”
Later, working long hours in food manufacturing, she found herself constantly hungry for local flavours but with no time to cook. “I realised if I could create something to solve my own problem, it would help many others too.”
Thus, Vegecore: “The name represents going back to the core of what food means — comfort, culture, and a sense of home.”
Yeong’s technical background also shapes the brand. Reimagining rendang, sambal or dendeng without meat — and ensuring they survive the rigours of retort processing — required equal parts science and intuition.
“Malaysian dishes are layered and complex, so achieving depth of flavour without meat-based ingredients was the biggest challenge,” she says.
Rather than replicate meat, Yeong focused on “honouring the rempah, the slow cooking, the layers of spice, and the emotion behind each dish.”
Heat sterilisation can dull or distort flavours, so her team designed recipes that would actually improve under high temperatures.
“Sometimes people assume plant-based food is just ‘flour,’ but that’s not us,” she says. “The textures and flavours come from the ingredients themselves and how they behave under heat.”
Mushrooms, konjac, aromatics and chillies form the backbone of Vegecore’s dishes, with no preservatives required.
Growing up in her parents’ vegetarian restaurants left another imprint: discipline and consistency.
Yeong shares, “My parents always told me: ‘If you yourself don’t want to eat it, don’t feed it to other people.’”
Every Vegecore dish thus begins with traditional principles — a proper rempah, slow cooking where needed, and no shortcuts.
“Food should make people feel included,” she adds, a value drawn from her own childhood.
That inclusivity drives Vegecore’s approach to halal consumers, vegetarians, flexitarians (those who follow a primarily plant-based diet but occasionally include meat and fish) and anyone who simply wants something convenient.
“You can literally eat it straight from the pouch,” Yeong says. Certifications — HALAL, ISO 22000, HACCP and GMP — reinforce that sense of trust.
For cafés and restaurants, Vegecore offers a way to serve plant-based meals without needing a specialist chef.
“Eateries often tell us they’ve wanted to introduce plant-based items but weren’t sure how to execute them consistently,” Yeong says.
With Vegecore’s ready-to-heat format, “the meals are chef-free, easy to prepare, and still deliver authentic flavours every single time.” She sees the B2B segment growing as diners increasingly expect inclusive menus, especially tourists and flexitarians.
Customer reactions frequently mention how close the dishes come to their meat-based counterparts. Yeong welcomes this, though imitation has never been her mission.
“We’re not here to imitate meat for the sake of imitation, and we’re definitely not here to preach,” she says. Instead, she relies on ingredients that naturally offer depth and satisfying texture.
“Meat eaters enjoy Vegecore because the flavours and textures feel familiar… Vegetarians and vegans get to enjoy authentic Malaysian flavours without compromising their values.” For Yeong, “good food should be universal.”
With Vegecore now shipping to Singapore, larger international markets await — each with its own culinary expectations. “Every market has its own palate, so the biggest challenge is awareness,” she notes.
Still, she sees opportunity in the very thing that makes Malaysian food distinct. “Malaysian flavours are rich, bold, and unique — which is also our biggest strength.”
Regulatory hurdles and logistics are the other obstacles, but “that’s why we built our manufacturing on strong certifications so we’re structurally ready for expansion.”
Keeping her team happy strengthens Vegecore’s foundation too, preparing the business for growth.
In her view, the appeal of Malaysian flavours is timeless: “Our flavours tell a story, and our convenience fits modern lifestyles everywhere.”
Looking ahead, Yeong’s vision is clear. Success means seeing Vegecore embedded into everyday life, “not just in Malaysia, but internationally.”
She hopes that one day, someone abroad picking up a pouch of plant-based rendang will immediately think of home. “If someone thinks of Malaysian plant-based food and naturally thinks of Vegecore — for convenience, comfort, and authenticity — that would be a huge milestone.”
As for the broader movement, she hopes plant-based eating becomes “simply another delicious choice” rather than a niche identity. “If we can inspire people to have even one plant-based meal a day… that’s already a meaningful win.”
And at the heart of it all, Yeong hopes to prove a simple truth: “Plant-based food can carry the soul of Malaysian cuisine, and still be absolutely delicious.”
You May Also Like