Hacks is a Malaysian confectionery brand primarily recognised for its medicated cough sweets and hard-boiled candies. The brand has long been associated with Kumpulan Barkath, a food and manufacturing group headquartered in Penang. Hacks holds significant recognition across Malaysia and Southeast Asia, including markets such as Singapore, where it was historically distributed by the same regional agents who established its local manufacturing base.

The brand’s presence in the region dates back to the 1950s, when entrepreneur Haji Abu Backer bin Mohd Hussain, founder of Barkath Stores, identified commercial opportunities for Hacks medicated cough sweets in both Malaya and Singapore. Barkath Stores initially served as the sole agent for Hacks in these regions before securing manufacturing rights for local production.1

Origins and Regional Expansion

The development of Hacks in Malaysia and Singapore is closely linked to the growth of Kumpulan Barkath. The parent company originated in 1940, when Haji Abu Backer established Barkath Stores on Union Street in Penang. The business expanded from retail into manufacturing and distribution across the region.

According to corporate history, Abu Backer recognised the potential for Hacks medicated sweets during the mid-1950s. He contacted manufacturers in England and successfully argued for the viability of the product in the regional market. Consequently, Barkath Stores became the sole agent for Hacks in Malaya and Singapore.

This agency relationship evolved into direct manufacturing capabilities. In the mid-1960s, Abu Backer obtained manufacturing rights from the original English producers and established a Hacks manufacturing facility at Mak Mandin, Penang. Records indicate that a licence arrangement enabling this local production was negotiated in 1965.

Establishment of Hacks Malaysia Sdn Bhd

HACKS Malaysia Sdn Bhd was incorporated in Malaysia on 13 May 1969. Corporate records describe its primary activities as the manufacture and sale of confectionery, alongside transport-agent services.

Over subsequent decades, Hacks became a familiar fixture in popular culture across the Malay Peninsula and Singapore. The products were widely sold through traditional grocery shops and retail outlets, becoming familiar to successive generations of consumers in the region. Historical accounts note the brand’s strong place in the memories of those who grew up before the new millennium.

Hacks is primarily associated with medicated sweets and hard-boiled confectionery. The brand’s traditional range includes:

• Hacks Original: The traditional herbal/medicated sweet.
• Honey Lemon: Combining honey and lemon flavours.
• Blackcurrant
• Mandarin Ginger
• Clove & Apple

The company describes its cough drops as being based on a traditional English recipe containing a blend of herbal extracts. Ingredients such as menthol, eucalyptus, and liquorice are associated with the products, providing their characteristic flavour and cooling sensation.

It is important to distinguish between Hacks’ medicated cough sweets and its ordinary hard-boiled confectionery. While popularly remembered as a “cough sweet,” the portfolio has included both products intended for soothing coughs and throats, as well as fruit-flavoured sweets intended primarily as confectionery.2

Hacks positions itself around the combination of confectionery, traditional herbal ingredients, and throat comfort. This positioning helps differentiate it from standard boiled sweets. Its longevity is a distinctive feature; rather than being a recently created brand, Hacks has roots extending back more than seven decades in the Malaysian and Singaporean markets. Kumpulan Barkath identifies it as one of its key household-name brands.3

The brand also has an interesting international history: although deeply associated with Malaysia and the broader region, its original manufacturing connection was with England, before production rights were brought to the region by Haji Abu Backer.4

Kumpulan Barkath

Hacks is part of Kumpulan Barkath, a Malaysian business group founded by Haji Abu Backer. The group has developed interests spanning manufacturing, import-export, distribution, property development, investment, plantations, healthcare, and communications.

The group is currently associated with Dato’ Seri Barkath Ali, Haji Abu Backer’s eldest son, who has played a major role in the development of the business and the Hacks brand. Current operations identify Hacks Malaysia Sdn Bhd as one of three food-product manufacturing subsidiaries within the group.

Hacks’ manufacturing history is tied to Penang. After initial production at Mak Mandin, the company developed a new manufacturing facility at Bukit Minyak, Seberang Perai. Construction began in 2014 on a six-acre site, bringing together the Hacks plant, other Barkath food operations, and corporate facilities. The complex officially opened in January 2018.

This move represented an effort to modernise manufacturing infrastructure while keeping the brand within the Barkath group’s industrial base.

One of Hacks’ strongest assets is its nostalgic status in Malaysia and Singapore. The brand has been consumed across multiple generations, making it more than simply a confectionery product.

A 2025 historical feature marking 75 years of Hacks in Malaysia noted that older consumers commonly associate the brand with childhood memories, traditional sundry shops, and inexpensive sweets. The article highlighted the continuing popularity of flavours such as honey and lemon among older demographics.

This gives Hacks a distinctive position in the market: it combines the identity of a traditional medicinal sweet, a mass-market confectionery brand, and a nostalgic local consumer brand.

There is another prominent entity called Hacks—the HBO/Max comedy-drama television series—so this profile specifically concerns Hacks sweets / Hacks Malaysia.5

1. Company
2. HACKS MALAYSIA SENDIRIAN BERHAD: Company & Credit Report
3. HACKS MALAYSIA SENDIRIAN BERHAD | Get Company & Business Report
4. 75 TAHUN GULA-GULA HACKS
5. Hacks