The seed bearing the beginning of Pryce Tea was planted more than 90 years ago by Mr Lim Kim Ban, Tian Peng’s grandfather, who astutely noticed a strong demand for Chinese teas. As a teenager, Mr Lim Kim Ban began importing tea for his family’s food supplies store along Hokkien Street in 1918. Hokkien Street, which is now gazetted as a heritage site in Singapore, was famous then for housing several well-known Chinese tea houses.
And that’s how Lim Lam Thye started. Business flourished as the company gradually became known as a tea merchant to trust for quality imports of Chinese teas.
The business took a new direction in 1976 under the stewardship of Mr Lim Keng Tong, Tian Peng’s father, when he expanded operations and brought in teas from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam. From that point onwards, Lim Lam Thye firmly established itself as an eminent name in the international arena, while upholding its legacy as one of Singapore’s largest homegrown tea companies till today.