How 3 Bottles a Day Sparked a Jamu Legacy | PETANI Jamu Malaysia

📢 This article is available in Bahasa Melayu here

From a roadside stall in Muar to becoming a household name in Malaysia, discover the humble beginnings of PETANI and the legacy behind every Ma’ajun and Jamu product.

🌾 Humble Beginnings Rooted in Hardship

PETANI’s story began with hardship, resilience, and unwavering hope.

The founder — the eldest son of the family — grew up in extreme poverty in Muar, Johor. At just 12 years old, he was forced to quit school. His father’s rule was harsh but clear:

“If you don’t bring home 2kg of rice every day, you cannot come home.”

It was a heavy burden for a boy, but one he bore with determination to give his younger siblings a better future.

His early careers were built on sheer survival — working in the rice fields of Sawah Ring, then ferrying passengers as a trishaw rider.

🎬 A Turning Point: The Spark for Change

In his 20s, after getting married, the founder found himself working at Panggung Wayang Asiatic — an old cinema on Jalan Abdullah, Muar — as a film operator.

One fateful day, a conversation with a man changed his life. The man asked:

“Until when will you continue living like this? Why not try something new, like selling Ma’ajun?”

This question ignited a new ambition. Together with his wife, he began experimenting in their small kitchen at home, attempting to craft Ma’ajun with only a tiny pan. After countless failed batches and late nights, the breakthrough came – Ma’ajun PETANI was born.

🚶‍♂️ 3 Bottles a Day: The First Steps

The first production yielded just three bottles. The founder sold them door-to-door. When those sold out, he made six bottles. Then twelve. Day by day, bottle by bottle, PETANI’s reputation grew.

After his shifts at the cinema, he would set up a small table outside Panggung Wayang Asiatic to sell his Ma’ajun. As demand grew, he expanded into producing the first PETANI ointment, responding to customer requests. After many more rounds of research and experimentation, PETANI’s first herbal ointments – Minyak Urat PETANI was born.

To this day, the packaging of Ma’ajun PETANI and Minyak Urat PETANI has remained unchanged to honor PETANI’s identity — simple, traditional, and unmistakably PETANI.

🏭 From Passion to Enterprise

By producing about 12 bottles daily for each product, PETANI steadily grew. In 1972, recognising the need for legitimacy, the founder officially registered the business as Syarikat Zulkifli Bamadhaj.

The 1970s marked a golden era for PETANI:

• 30 salespeople (men and women)
• 10 commercial cars and 5 vans
• Products that sold out faster than they could be made

Together, the founder and his wife would work tirelessly until 3–4 AM every day to keep up with demand, maintaining a commitment to fresh, quality products — a tradition that PETANI still upholds.

📉 A Business on the Brink of Collapse

By the mid-1980s, the founder shifted his focus to agriculture (plantation), and PETANI’s momentum declined sharply.

What was once a thriving business was now left with:

• 1 salesman
• 1 van
• Only a few cartons of Ma’ajun PETANI and Minyak Urat PETANI

PETANI stood at the brink of collapse — a legacy nearly lost.

In 1990, the founder’s 20-year-old son, Mr. Zulkifli Khalid, was given two choice:

“You’ve got two options – come work the plantation with me or take the van.”

He chose to fight for the brand.

Armed with only RM20 and one battered van, he set out to Kuala Lumpur. Every day, he had to hustle — selling enough products to cover petrol, meals, and accomodation, while slowly rebuilding customer trust, one bottle at a time.

“Survival meant selling. Growth meant never giving up.”

🔥 Revival Against All Odds

The early 1990s were tough.

PETANI was mainly known in Johor and parts of Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur. In other districts, it was often misunderstood — some thought PETANI is a brand that sells rice, cooking oil, or even mistook it as a Kedah-based brand due to the name “Petani.”

Despite this, PETANI began penetrating FELDA shops, kedai runcit, and traditional Jamu shops — slowly but surely. Despite fierce competition, PETANI held on, powered by relentless grit.

In 1998, a critical milestone was achieved. With the next generation at the helm, PETANI began evolving. From a small home-based operation, it matured into a reputable, certified business. PETANI opened its first factory registered under Biro Pengawalan Farmaseutikal Kebangsaan (now is known as National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency) and adopted GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), ensuring that every product produced remained true to its roots — but with the assurance of modern science and safety. With no machines and help from anyone, Mr. Zulkifli did everything alone: manufacturing, packaging, selling, and marketing — a true one-man army. This spirit of survival shaped the PETANI philosophy.

This factory gave PETANI a new spirit. Mr. Zulkifli’s vision was clear:

“Whatever others have, PETANI must have. Whatever PETANI has, others does not.”

Thus began PETANI’s expansion into being a One-Stop Jamu Centre — offering not only Ma’ajun and Minyak but a full range of traditional herbal products.

🚀 A New Era of Growth

By the early 2000s, PETANI began hiring more employees:

• 2000: First production assistant hired
• 2007: Over 40 production staffs excluded sales and management staff

This period also saw the formation of subsidiary companies:

• 2006: Zulkifli Bamadhaj Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd (sales & marketing)
• 2007: Zulkifli Bamadhaj Beverages Industries Sdn Bhd (FMCG, instant premix drinks, and fruit juices)

From 2003 onward, PETANI’s brand presence re-emerged:

• Growing nationwide
• Securing bulk deals 
• Expanding into well-known supermarkets and hypermarkets in Malaysia like Mydin and Tesco (now Lotus’s).

The once roadside brand had officially become a trusted name in households and hypermarkets alike, known not just for Ma’ajun PETANI and Minyak Urat PETANI — but for being a One-Stop Jamu Centre, blending tradition with modern wellness. PETANI transformed from a product people trust to a legacy Malaysians rely on.

🌿 Legacy That Lives On

Today, PETANI stands tall – as a testament to hard work, generational resilience and the enduring power of Jamu traditions. This is more than a story about products. It’s about grit. About heritage. About a Malaysian family that turned three bottles a day into a national name. A brand built by hand, carried by heart, and passed down with pride.

From a boy forced to bring home rice…
From selling 3 bottles door-to-door a day…
From the edge of collapse…
To a legacy trusted by generations.

This is PETANI. A legacy in every bottle.

“Never say you can’t do it when you haven’t even tried and given your best.”

— Mr. Khalid Ahmad Bamadhaj, PETANI’s Founder

📢 Discover the PETANI legacy and explore our trusted Jamu products here.