KUALA LUMPUR: Third-generation food distributor Fandbee will invest RM100 million in its nationwide expansion plan and Southeast Asia by the end of the year.
The company announced its expansion plans to assist Malaysian businesses and customers cope with the escalating food costs.
Locally, the locations include Bukit Mertajam, Alor Setar, and Kuala Terengganu among others.
According to Fandbee managing director Gareth Tan, the brand, previously synonymous with supplying affordably priced chef-quality ingredients to food operators, now has a new mission: to strive toward food equality by offering high-quality products at the most affordable prices.
"We are currently among the fastest growing and most innovative distributors in Southeast Asia with our operations centres in Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam.
"We are also looking to expand to two other countries very soon.
"To bring about food equality – offering high-quality products at the most affordable prices – as a business organisation, we must first have a better cost advantage.
"This means that our order quantity will have to be massive enough to be able to negotiate for the most competitive cost price with exporters globally," said Tan in a statement.
According to Tan, the business has grown by leaps and bounds since its establishment as Lee's Frozen in Kampung Attap by his maternal grandmother Lee Wing Kang in 1962.
Since the commissioning of its growth plan in 2002, the business has achieved a 5,000 per cent growth in sales.
Tan added that Fandbee expanded its operations to 14 additional neighbourhoods across Klang Valley amidst nationwide lockdown in 2020 to be close to its customers and provide job opportunities for 300 people.
When the lockdowns were extended, the business went online with the promise to deliver groceries right to its customers' doorsteps within 24 hours.
To date, Fandbee is present in 17 neighbourhoods across Klang Valley, one neighbourhood in Bukit Mertajam Penang and two others in Terengganu and Kedah.
"Not only do we offer competitive prices for frozen meat and seafood such as beef, chicken and fish, but we have expanded our range to cover fast-moving grocery items such as cooking oils, eggs, seasonings and baking ingredients, among others," he said.
Tan said that the business-to-business model is still a huge part of its operations.
With its aggressive store and online expansion plans, he also sees at least double-digit growth in the business-to-customer segment by 2025.