SHAH ALAM: Sunzen Biotech Bhd, whose earnings contribution is mainly from palm oil trading, sale of traditional chinese medicine and bird’s nest exports is expanding its animal health business.
In a recent interview with the New Straits Times, Sunzen Biotech managing director Datuk Hong Choon Hau said the group will be launching new products suitable for animal nutrition and farm hygiene.
He assured Sunzen Biotech animal health products adheres to Feed Safety System, as evidenced with certifications in good manufacturing practices (GMP), ISO22000 and Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP).
“Hopefully, as the sales of new products build up, we can expand this division. And soon, we can become profitable again,” Hong said.
Recently, Sunzen Biotech posted RM4.10 million in losses for the third quarter ended September 2019 on the back of RM62.05 million in revenue.
Also present at the interview was Sunzen Biotech general manager Lin Hong Kong, who has more than three decades of experience in animal life science.
Since Lin joined Sunzen Biotech in April 2019, he has been expanding the team to regularly engage with farmers to supply feed additives, nutritional feed supplements, veterinary pharmaceuticals for livestock such as poultry, swine, goats and cattle.
“We have been carrying out trial runs on Tomofat nutrition with various livestock from poultry, dairy cows to pigs and even shrimps. We’re pioneering red palm oil nutrition in animal feed,” he said.
Lin said sows that are fed Tomofat-packed meals produce more milk for their suckling piglets. "All natural organic food for human consumption starts from a holistic approach to livestock nutrition and good intestinal health.
"It is better for farmers to avoid injecting anti-biotics into animals, if they can help it. Prevention is better than cure. We can provide healthy feed for the animals and take good care of them when they fall sick.
For example, he said, a healthy sow nursing its piglets would eventually lead to disease-resistant pigs that are not dependent on anti-biotics.
“Many duck farmers, in Perak, feed red palm oil-based Tomofat meals to their birds. As a result, their salted duck egg yolks are of a more vibrant reddish hue. This is what their customers want,” Lin noted.
“Following encouraging results from trial runs in the past few months, we’re ready to produce on a commercial scale. We want to test the export market as well,” Lin said.
Sunzen Biotech also supplies disinfectant and sanitation solutions as part of biosecurity measures to prevent and control any disease outbreak at farms. “We’re the sole distributor of Evans Vanodine’s disinfectant and sanitation products.
“We work closely with Malaysia’s Department of Veterinary Services to raise hygiene awareness among farms in the interests of food safety,” said Lin.
His team offers courses on personal hygiene for farm workers. This is important for farm owners because if their workers are not disciplined in keeping clean, they can cause pathogenic bacteria to multiply and contaminate the farm’s fresh meat, milk and eggs.
When asked on Sunzen Biotech’s main business of palm oil trading, Hong replied that the group’s processing facilities are undergoing the government-driven Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification.
“We support the government’s initiative for MSPO certification to uplift the image and pricing of the palm oil industry,” Hong said.
Sunzen Biotech’s swiftlet farming to produce and export premium edible bird’s nest is carried out via its subsidiary Ecolite Biotech Manufacturing Sdn Bhd.
Any animal product that is highly-prized is usually tightly regulated. The gelatinous texture of the edible bird’s nest is derived from the swiftlet’s saliva. The governments of Malaysia and other consuming countries tightly regulate the supply chain of this industry to ensure food safety.
Known as the 'Caviar of the East' among the Chinese diaspora all over the world, the bird’s nest soup is a luxurious delicacy. From generation to generation, the bird’s nest soup brewed with rock sugar for hours on end, is prized for its antioxidant benefits.
Hong highlighted Ecolite is one of 33 companies in Malaysia licensed by Chinese authorities to bring in raw, clean and edible bird’s nest into China.