KUALA LUMPUR: Integrated poultry farmer Lay Hong Bhd is bullish on expanding halal products for both local and international markets once its Pulau Indah food processing plant is operational.
Lay Hong group executive director Yap Chor How said the demand for halal food is growing globally, particularly in Japan, as the government has been working on attracting more companies in the country to produce halal products.
“We will be producing halal products that target both the Muslim market as well as the Japanese market for the upcoming Olympic games.
He said the new plant will increase Lay Hong’s monthly production capacity from the current 2,000 tonnes to 4,000 tonnes monthly.
Lay Hong holds a 49 per cent stake in the joint-venture (JV) company with Japan’s NH Food Ltd — NHF Manufacturing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.
Lay Hong had acquired a 1.61ha parcel of land in Pulau Indah for RM30 million.
“It is located at the first one-stop halal hub in Malaysia that was launched in 2003. The halal hub has been earmarked for upstream and downstream manufacturing activities.
“It is also to cater to the increasing demand for halal products by both domestic and international markets,” he said, noting that the new factory was scheduled to begin operations next year.
The acquisition of the land is currently pending the signing of the sales and purchase agreement.
“After the completion of the acquisition, a new plant will be set up on the land. The JV company is now actively working on the plant set-up and product development,” he said.
Yap said the company was expecting to register a satisfactory performance for the financial year ending March next year, (FY18) amid the challenging business environment.
“One of the catalysts will be the contribution from our joint-venture business with NH Foods Ltd to produce frozen chicken products.
“The products are now available in major hypermarkets and supermarkets in Malaysia,” he said, adding that five products were launched in November last year and the response has been encouraging since.
He said Lay Hong is working towards exporting its products to Singapore, the Middle East, the European Union as well
as Japan.
“We are also constantly reviewing our strategies and will capitalise on the strength of NH Foods Ltd to take the company to greater heights,” he assured.
He said the collaboration with Japan’s NH Foods allowed the company to leverage the latter’s vast network to improve product reach.
Lay Hong’s revenue increased by 5.08 per cent to RM171.68 million in the third-quarter ended December 31 last year, compared with RM163.38 million recorded in the same period a year ago.