Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Biscuit maker in expansion mode

With the nine-year legal battle among shareholders ending with an out-of-court settlement recently, Ghee Hiang is ready to expand and diversify its core business and also venture into the property development sector.

Ghee Hiang executive chairman Datuk Ooi Sian Hian said this year, the company is planning to produce cold pressed sesame oil for the Middle East market.

He added that cold pressed sesame oil is widely used in Middle Eastern cuisine and he foresees a huge market there for the product.

“It is like what soya sauce is to the Chinese and is widely used for everything, even for dipping breads.”

Ooi said the sesame oil produced by Ghee Hiang now comes from fried seeds and is preferred by Asian consumers. The company is moving into producing cold pressed sesame oil which is extracted from raw sesame seeds, he said.

“We are currently looking for a distributor in the Middle East and once we have finalised everything, we will start production for export,” he said.

Ghee Hiang is also in talks to acquire a bakery in Penang to start its own range of bread and related products. Ooi said this would give the company a bigger market than just biscuits.
Ghee Hiang's two mascots greet visitors to the company's showroom-cum-office at Jalan Macalister.





Ghee Hiang's two mascots greet visitors to the company's showroom-cum-office at Jalan Macalister.

Ghee Hiang is also diversifying into the pharmaceutical sector, in particular health supplements related to its core sesame seed oil business.

Over the past 1½ years, it has carried out research and development and is now in the process of being audited by the Health Ministry.

“We must have the ministry’s accreditation and it will take us at least six months before we can put the products on the shelves. Since we undertook this as our own private initiative, we are hoping for a grant from the government under the biotechnology sector,” Ooi said.

Ooi, an architect by profession, said the company is also in the midst of venturing into property development on the island. The current property boom made it only natural for the company to jump on the bandwagon, he added.

“Our core business is still biscuit-making and sesame seed oil but since we have the land bank, we want to develop it while the going is good,” he said.

Located at Green Lane, Ghee Hiang has a two-acre site within an existing housing estate called Ghee Hiang Gardens.

Ooi said Ghee Hiang was now in talks with a joint venture partner to build 30 three-storey houses on the site.

Ghee Hiang also has a 4.4-acre site on the mainland near Autocity in Juru where its future factories for producing biscuits and sesame oil will be located.

“For now, our facilities for biscuits at Macalister Road and Beach Street and our sesame seed oil factory in Jelutong are able to cope with the demand.

“We will expand when there is a need to do so,” Ooi said.

Ghee Hiang is also currently looking for land on the island in Teluk Kumbar for another biscuit factory. - by Regina Willia, theedgemalaysia

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