Malaysian Exhibitors Make Strong Pitch at America’s Prestigious Food Show

By Manik Mehta NEW YORK, June 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysian exhibitors made a strong pitch for their products at the just-concluded three-day New York Fancy Food Show 2019 (NYFFS), which is rated as not only America’s most prestigious food fair but also serves as a strategic entry point for those wanting to break into the US market, the world’s biggest food importing market in value terms. Though their numbers pale in comparison to other Asian exhibitors, the turnout of six Malaysian food exhibitors, who were participating on their own, was higher than their participation last year when there were only two Malaysian exhibitors at the NYFFS. This time, the exhibitors included three suppliers of coconut water and coconut-based products while the others were suppliers of biscuits/cookie, baked products, etc. Silas Ling, business development manager at Linaco, which belongs to the Linaco group of companies said, in addition to supplying coconut water and coconut-based products, the company had diversified into spices, soya sauce, pastes and others. “We are here for the second time … we are looking for distributors … this show offers us a platform to locate distributors not only in the US but also in other regions. The US Is a huge market … we supply our coconut water to others who market it under their name. “Besides selling in Malaysia, we export to China, Australia, UK, France, etc. and we also participate in other food shows such as ANUGA (Cologne), SIAL (Paris) and others. Being health products, our products cater to the rising demand for such foods thanks to the growing health awareness of American consumers,” said Ling. Meanwhile, director (sales/marketing) of S+P Industries Sdn Bhd Jamie Loh said that her company supplied to many private labels though it also exported under its own brand “Santan”. “We export to the Middle East, ASEAN countries, Hong Kong, Central America, etc. Our coconut products are also used for industrial purposes such as ice-cream and others. We discern interest among the visitors to our booth. We are very keen to find distributors who would sell our products in the US. We participated last year at the New York show and are encouraged by the response here in New York,” Loh said. S+P Industries Sdn. Bhd which has an office in Petaling Jaya, produced coconut cream powder, coconut-based products, etc K.T. Chin, the managing director of Erapoly Global Sdn. Bhd which markets its coconut water, milk, coconut-based products under its brand “Emma”, highlighted the nutritional value of coconut for health-conscious consumers, calling the coconut tree the “tree of life”. “The nutritional merits of coconut oil is not widely known in the US, but that awareness is growing now thanks to medical research. We export to 30 odd countries but, mainly, to China, Australia, Japan, South America, Middle East and are also starting with India,” Chin said. Even while being interviewed, Chin received US and Central American buyers. He said that he had observed that consumers in the US, particularly the younger generation, were increasingly switching from animal-based to plant-based foods. Koon Brother Sdn. Bhd. of Johor, which manufactures biscuits, exported its products to some 40 countries, the major markets being China, Indonesia, Europe and also recently to the USA. “Some 60 per cent of our production is exported while 40% is destined for the domestic market. We also exhibit at the ANUGA (Cologne) and SIAL (Paris) shows where we also get a good response,” Thian Hock Bu, the company’s marketing development manager told Bernama at the show. He noted that visitors at the NYFFS were focused on their requirements and did not waste their time. “We have received good business enquiries and are confident these will lead to concrete business.” Asked if the US-China trade conflict was impacting his company’s business, Bu said that the conflict could, in fact, have “slight benefit” for Malaysian companies because of their different products. “This also offers us opportunities because of the growing Southeast Asian population in the US. We are trying to enter into the organic business and health-related products to keep with the rapidly changing trends in the US market,” he said, adding that his company also had operations in Indonesia and China. -- BERNAMA