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DKSH buys Auric Pacific to enlarge operations in Malaysia, Singapore

By
Tan Heng Hong
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DKSH Holdings (M) Bhd, a leading provider of market expansion services, announced on 21 December 2018 that it had entered into a conditional share purchase agreement to acquire the entire equity interest in Auric Pacific (M) Sdn Bhd for SGD157.7 million (equivalent to RM480.9 milion).

Also on 21 December 2018, DKSH Holding (S) Pte Ltd entered into a conditional share purchase agreement to purchase the entire equity interest of Auric Pacific Marketing Pte Ltd and Centurion Marketing Pte Ltd.

Auric Pacific, through its subsidiaries, is into the supply of bakery and confectionery materials and other general products as well as a manufacturer of and dealer in butter, margarine and related confectionery products. The company is known for its SCS butter/cheese, Buttercup luxury spread and Twin Cows blended spread. SCS is the market leader in butter in Singapore and Malaysia.

Auric Pacific’s distribution business is similar to DKSH but with strength in the distribution of chilled and frozen products including helping brands like Emborg.

In Singapore, Auric Pacific Marketing distributes products under brands like Lee Kum Kee, Heinz, Kraft, McCain, Sara Lee and Berri.

The acquisition of Auric Pacific (M) will give DKSH greater access to the foodservice side of the business, an entry into food manufacturing and stronger economies of scale.

Enjoy Hainan tea, Teh C with Ah Huat Tea Blends

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Ah Huat white coffee brand of Power Root has extended to hot tea with Hainan Tea (海南茶) and Teh C Aromatic (Teh C 香). The new products come under the Tea Blends series that showcases Malaysia’s heritage tea drinks.

In Kuala Lumpur, Hainan tea is synonymous with Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea & Coffee, formerly at Pudu Wet Market before relocating to its present location at ICC Pudu. Interestingly, Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea & Coffee even has its own packaged Hainan tea. Hainan tea, which is a mixture of tea and coffee, is usually eaten with roti bakar (bread toast with kaya/butter spread).

Teh C is tea with evaporated milk and is a common fixture at kopitiams and mamak restaurants.

New Joybean soy milk in town

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Joybean soybean drink is now available at 7-Eleven Malaysia and in other participating outlets including online stores. Joybean (320ml) comes in three variants – Original, Black Soy + Charcoal and Collagen and is made with Canadian non-GMO soy beans. The soybean milk drinks are free from preservatives, colouring and no added oil. Joybean is a product from Berjaya Food Trading Sdn Bhd.

The soybean drink category is increasingly moving towards value-added ingredients such as collagen and black soy + charcoal as well as flavours including matcha as consumers want something different.

Soybean milk can also stress its protein content to position plant-based alternative as a good source of protein.

Honestbee offers peace of mind for Muslim consumers

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Honestbee, an online grocery and food delivery service provider, has introduced Malaysia’s first halal certified food delivery service. Known as Bungkus by Honestbee (registered company name Echo Foxtort Sdn Bhd), the new entity is officially certified as a halal food delivery service provider by JAKIM.

The entire process is 100% halal thanks to a dedicated team and riders that only deliver halal food from halal certified restaurants. Unlike the normal Honestbee delivery staff, Bungkus (takeaway in Malay) by Honestbee has their own branded shirts, lanyards and delivery bags that can be easily identified as separate from the yellow corporate identity of Honestbee.

The reason for coming up with the halal certified food delivery service is to meet consumer expectation in terms of halal integrity. According to Honestbee, they “understood that customers and Halal certified restaurants do not want their food and drinks to be combined and contaminated by non-Halal food and drinks during delivery.” With “Bungkus by honestbee, there is a clear distinction in the minds of customers and Halal certified restaurants that they are engaging with a Halal certified company that is fully committed to Halal food delivery. “

Honestbee even has a separate social media platforms – Facebook and Instagram for Bungkus by Honestbee.

The participating halal food service providers include

  • Mcdonald’s
  • Marrybrown
  • Wendy’s
  • The Chicken Rice Shop
  • Vivo Pizza
  • O’Briens
  • Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart
  • Secret Recipe

The halal-only delivery business model works in Muslim-majority Malaysia but not in China where there was a backlash against a similar service by leading meal delivery company Meituan Dianping in 2017. Netizens cited the move to separate the boxes for halal delivery as discriminatory towards non-Muslims.

In Malaysia and Indonesia, brands are increasingly catering to the lifestyle needs of Muslims by coming up with special halal-only products and services such as halal refrigerator (Sharp) and halal convenience stores. The latest move by Honestbee is expected to encourage other meal delivery firms to follow suit.

Ultimate sakura experience with new OYOSHI Sakura Strawberry RTD tea

By
Tan Heng Hong
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F&N OYOSHI RTD tea has tapped into the popular sakura flavour with the new OYOSHI Green Tea + Sakura Strawberry. The beverage offers the sweet and sour taste of Sakura and fruity strawberry flavours.

As part of the launch, F&N is giving away 3 x sakura viewing in Japan for 2 pax and 10 weekly prizes comprising RM 200 Uniqlo vouchers for 9 weeks. The contest ends on 5 February 2019. Click her for the T&C.

Mytea finds inspiration from Teh Poci

By
Tan Heng Hong
-
Image from Suntory Garudafood

Mytea, the RTD tea brand of Suntory Garudafood, has introduced Mytea Teh Poci Oolong, which is inspired by the Indonesian teh poci. Teh poci or black tea in a teapot, comes from Tegal, Central Java, home to the famous teh poci producer Tong Tji. Teh poci is usually brewed in a teapot made from clay and sweetened with rock sugar.

Mytea Teh Poci essentially turns teh poci into a tea that is ready to drink with the “Ini Teh Pociku” slogan or “This is my Teh Poci” that matches the product’s inherent quality.

Without breaking down into sub-categories, PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya is experiencing a decline in the turnover of its beverage division with revenue falling from IDR 1.8 trillion in 2015 to IDR 1.68 trillion in 2016 and subsequently to IDR 1.16 trillion in 2017. Its beverage division includes brands like Super O2, Okky Jelly Drink, Koko Drink, Mountea, Mytea and Goodmood.

The new Mytea Teh Poci will likely play a leading role to bring growth back to the beverage business.

Ayam Brand dives into VCO, coconut cooking oil

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Ayam Brand has introduced organic virgin coconut oil (VCO) and coconut cooking oil in Malaysia tapping into the growing interest and awareness of the benefits of VCO and coconut oil as a healthy cooking oil. The VCO is certified organic by the European Union and Japan’s JAS.

Ayam Brand Coconut Oil is recommended by Prof. Takuji Shirasawa MD. PhD. He is the professor is an anti-aging practitioner at Ochanomizu Longevity & Health Clinic, director and researcher at Shirasawa Anti-Aging Medical Institute and Visiting Professor at Dokkyo University.

Prof Shirasawa is a prolific author in Japan with more than 230 books published for both the public and the scientific community. His anti-aging books have sold more than three million copies in Japan.

The Ayam Brand Coconut Cooking Oil is said to help the digestive system process, provide instant energy and encourage weight management. It has neutral taste, odourless, cholesterol free and has more than 60% medium chain triglycerides (MCT). MCTs are more easily absorbed, metabolised and used for energy than long-chain triglycerides.

Malaysians like to consume fried food. The Ayam Brand Coconut Cooking Oil is suitable for normal cooking or frying at high temperature as it has a high smoke point.

Ayam Brand Coconut Cooking Oil is sold at Jaya Grocer for a price of RM 20.20 (1L) and RM 10.40 (500G). As a comparison, Medella Coconut Cooking Oil is selling respectively at RM 25 (1L) and RM 33.99 (1.9L) and Koko Nut Coconut Cooking Oil (2L) at RM 41.50.

The Ayam Brand Organic VCO is available in 250ml and 500ml.

VCO is a crowded market but there is huge potential for coconut cooking oil if companies can encourage consumers to switch to coconut oil such as with a small trial pack as coconut oil is not cheap.

URC produces Nice & Natural snack bar in Indonesia

By
Tan Heng Hong
-
Photo Credit: Minimeinsights.com

Philippine-based Universal Robina Corporation (URC) has started localising the production of Nice & Natural snack bar in Indonesia. Nice & Natural is a snack bar brand of Griffin’s Food Company in New Zealand. URC acquired the New Zealand snack giant in 2014 with plans to introduce Griffin’s products into Southeast Asia.

The Nice & Natural snack bars (30g) comprise mixed berry crunch and choco almond crunch and are manufactured by PT URC Indonesia in Bekasi. They are claimed to be sources of protein (4g of protein per bar) and sources of fibre.

Each bar is priced at IDR 5,600 (USD 0.38) at Indomaret, which is competitive against other local brands.

Foreign snack bars are unable to compete in price. But with localisation of production, Nice & Natural is in a good position to challenge local leading players, not just in Indonesia but also in other markets in Southeast Asia.

Mama very own salted egg instant noodle

By
Tan Heng Hong
-
Image from http://www.tidreview.com/orientalkitchen/

Salty egg could potentially become a new flavour trend in Southeast Asia’s instant noodle category. Following on the heels of Indomie Salted Egg launch in the second half of 2018, Thai President Food, the maker of Mama instant noodle, added its own version – Stir Fried Salted Egg under the OK (Oriental Kitchen) label.

Mama OK Stir Fried Salted Egg is available at Lawson and Sahapat Home Delivery and is a limited edition product.

Sahapat Home Delivery

Click here for a third party review.

Reignwood to export War Horse energy drink in 2019

By
Tan Heng Hong
-

Reignwood Group (华彬集团), the producer of Red Bull in China, plans to export its energy drink War Horse (战马) in 2019, said Lu Zhan (卢战), president of Reignwood FMCG Group. First launched at the end of 2016, War Horse is becoming a key energy drink product for Reignwood as it diversifies from its dependency on Red Bull where Reignwood is facing an onging dispute with the Thai brand owner TC Pharmaceutical Industries.

War Horse is currently available in PET (400ml) – carbonated and non-carbonated and in a 310ml can launched in March 2018. Total sales of War Horse in 2018 reached CNY 830 million, which is a stellar performance but still accounts for a small share at around 3.5% of Reignwood’s 2018 beverage revenue.

Total revenue of Reignwood’s beverage business in 2018 rose 13% year-on-year to CNY 22.68 billion, reversing the decline in the past few years. Nielsen data shows Red Bull sales fell 7% in 2017 to CNY 19.6 billion impacted by the dispute.

Reignwood FMCG group currently has Red Bull, Vita Coco, Capri-Sun, Warhorse and Voss. Vita Coco has a market share of around 70% but the market is worth only CNY 500 million. The company plans to make Vita Coco available in more channels concentrating on yoga studios, cinemas, gyms, bread outlets, imported food stores and modern retail outlets.

Voss Water of Norway, which Reignwood bought over a majority stake in 2016, opened its first overseas factory in China’s Zhuxi (竹溪) in Hubei province in mid-2018 to supply the local market with locally-sourced water.

Reignwood could possibly follow the One Belt One Road initiative to enter Southeast Asia. However, the energy drink market in Southeast Asia is sluggish at the moment and this is something Reignwood has to take into consideration.

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