Making local meat tastier
Serving fastidious tasters: The BMC booth at the IHP Expo lures young patrons eager to taste the meat processor's new offerings. Picture: BT /Jefrisalas
Saturday, August 16, 2008
MEAT processor BMC Food Industries Sdn Bhd was established more than a decade ago when Brunei's grocery shelves looked as if they had no room for locally produced meat products.
"The market was dominated by imported products, and at that time, consumers in Brunei still had the mentality that imported products were better than locally made products," recalls managing director Tan Too Liang. He and his partners speculated in 1995 that consumers were ready to accept local products and in 1997 set up their factory of processed meat for the local market.
It has come a long way since, with partners now eyeing the export market. More than ever, the partners have become particular about factory operations complying with standards and following quality control to the letter.
In 1998, the partners identified a premise along Jalan Tutong where they would manufacture and process burger patties, and the result was overwhelming.
"In 2002, we expanded (our product line) to sausages and burger patties, and in September 2005 we found that our old premises weren't big enough to sustain the growing local demand so we moved to our factory in Junjongan," he says.
The certified halal manufacturing company now has 22 employees and has expanded to manufacture 23 products in total, including chicken nuggets, sausages, burger patties and chicken wings.
"The processed meat market is growing, and the halal market is huge so there is a lot of opportunities and plans," says Too Liang.
Asked about whether plans for exports are in the pipeline, Too Liang says there is no doubt that they are planning to export and are currently in the final stages of getting their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), a global systematic licence, to allow them to start exporting.
BMC Food Industries Sdn Bhd factory manager Tan Too Yeo says that the factory has the capacity to increase production and as of July 2008 they were sustaining a monthly production volume of about 55,000 kg.
"The local meat processing industry is competitive but there is a market so one of the plans to overcome the competition is to break into the gourmet portion of the meat processing industry," says Too Liang, explaining that the products they wish to expand into would include German bratwurst, sausages and cold cuts.
"We notice that there is a rising trend in premium processed meat and that the Brunei consumers are interested in paying the premium price for these products."
Diving into the local market was the first step but Too Liang and Too Yeo agree that their stringent quality and cleanliness controls to acquire the halal approval were critical to getting accepted by the market.
"It is not easy to get the halal approval but we are very strict with our preparation and we try our best to comply with the criteria given to us to achieve the halal approval," says Too Yeo. He adds that one of the ways they stress on their quality control is by having weekly in-house training with their employees where a consultant is hired to continually train them on different topics of manufacturing cleanliness and hygiene.
"When you go somewhere to eat, or when you buy something to consume, you want to know how your food is being prepared. Taste is one thing, hygiene is another," says Too Yeo. After their products are processed, they go through three detector tests to make sure they are free of chemical, physical and microbiological elements.
Too Liang says that in the previous years, their monthly production spiked to 80,000 kg due to the bird flue epidemic.
"Brunei authorities closed (the market to) the import of all chicken products and so our (market share) grew and the local market was able to be self-sufficient. In 2007, we had a stable year with minimal fluctuations but this year there are some fluctuations mainly due to the rise in chicken feed prices and oil prices.
"If we manage to get our HACCP (certification), then it will be possible to start planning to export our product to the Middle East and around Southeast Asia," he says.
The Brunei Times
"The market was dominated by imported products, and at that time, consumers in Brunei still had the mentality that imported products were better than locally made products," recalls managing director Tan Too Liang. He and his partners speculated in 1995 that consumers were ready to accept local products and in 1997 set up their factory of processed meat for the local market.
It has come a long way since, with partners now eyeing the export market. More than ever, the partners have become particular about factory operations complying with standards and following quality control to the letter.
In 1998, the partners identified a premise along Jalan Tutong where they would manufacture and process burger patties, and the result was overwhelming.
"In 2002, we expanded (our product line) to sausages and burger patties, and in September 2005 we found that our old premises weren't big enough to sustain the growing local demand so we moved to our factory in Junjongan," he says.
The certified halal manufacturing company now has 22 employees and has expanded to manufacture 23 products in total, including chicken nuggets, sausages, burger patties and chicken wings.
"The processed meat market is growing, and the halal market is huge so there is a lot of opportunities and plans," says Too Liang.
Asked about whether plans for exports are in the pipeline, Too Liang says there is no doubt that they are planning to export and are currently in the final stages of getting their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), a global systematic licence, to allow them to start exporting.
BMC Food Industries Sdn Bhd factory manager Tan Too Yeo says that the factory has the capacity to increase production and as of July 2008 they were sustaining a monthly production volume of about 55,000 kg.
"The local meat processing industry is competitive but there is a market so one of the plans to overcome the competition is to break into the gourmet portion of the meat processing industry," says Too Liang, explaining that the products they wish to expand into would include German bratwurst, sausages and cold cuts.
"We notice that there is a rising trend in premium processed meat and that the Brunei consumers are interested in paying the premium price for these products."
Diving into the local market was the first step but Too Liang and Too Yeo agree that their stringent quality and cleanliness controls to acquire the halal approval were critical to getting accepted by the market.
"It is not easy to get the halal approval but we are very strict with our preparation and we try our best to comply with the criteria given to us to achieve the halal approval," says Too Yeo. He adds that one of the ways they stress on their quality control is by having weekly in-house training with their employees where a consultant is hired to continually train them on different topics of manufacturing cleanliness and hygiene.
"When you go somewhere to eat, or when you buy something to consume, you want to know how your food is being prepared. Taste is one thing, hygiene is another," says Too Yeo. After their products are processed, they go through three detector tests to make sure they are free of chemical, physical and microbiological elements.
Too Liang says that in the previous years, their monthly production spiked to 80,000 kg due to the bird flue epidemic.
"Brunei authorities closed (the market to) the import of all chicken products and so our (market share) grew and the local market was able to be self-sufficient. In 2007, we had a stable year with minimal fluctuations but this year there are some fluctuations mainly due to the rise in chicken feed prices and oil prices.
"If we manage to get our HACCP (certification), then it will be possible to start planning to export our product to the Middle East and around Southeast Asia," he says.
The Brunei Times
Business Besides Oil
