Though Raub used to be famous for being a gold mining town, these days, it’s more known for it’s tasty Sempalit groundnuts. Liew Eng Goon, 45, and his wife Chai Swee Foong, 41, currently run the Cap Sinn Long Sempalit ground nut factory, which has been around for 75 years.

A worker showing the BRATs how to roast groundnuts.

The business was started by Liew’s grandfather, who sold the roasted groundnuts in his coffeeshop. When the senior Liew could no longer handle making the groundnuts, his wife took over the business. As the years went by, Liew was asked to help his grandmother in the business as she started to grow weak, and he eventually took over.

The family now runs a factory next to their home, and there are always rows upon rows of groundnuts laid out to dry in their lawn.

“We import the groundnuts from China and Vietnam as there aren’t any groundnut farmers in the area anymore,” said Chai who gave us a tour of the factory.

Much of the groundnut making and packaging process is performed by machines now.

However, some things are still done the old way. For instance, they still use a wood fire to roast the groundnuts as this gives it a unique flavour.

Some things like quality checks still have to be done by hand.

“We check the groundnuts after they are roasted. If we detect any cracks or holes in them, we pick them out and throw them away,” explained Chai.

Chai Swee Fong (left) giving the BRATs a tour of the Sempalit groundnut factory.

Their Cap Sinn Loong Sempalit groundnuts are sold in certain supermarkets around the country, but they do not export their products because they refuse to add preservatives to their groundnuts.

“We don’t encourage people to keep our groundnuts for more than a month because after that, they lose their freshness. But we still refuse to use preservatives,” said Chai.

Tour groups often visit the factory as it is touted as one of Raub’s attractions, and those interested in having a taste of their different groundnut flavours can purchase some in front of their house.

Amidst the exchanging of notes and coins over stacks of freshly packed groundnuts, we caught up with Chai to ask whether her children would be taking over the business in the future.

“We do not want to force them into getting involved, so it really is up to them,” she said.