Afternoon Highlight (02/04/13/74/772) Pesona Aroma set to spice up Klang Valley market

Pesona Aroma set to spice up Klang Valley market


KUALA LUMPUR: Homegrown powdered spice mix and condiments manufacturer Pesona Aroma Enterprise is all geared up to strengthen its foothold in the domestic market.

Its managing director Siti Rohana Ramli said the company currently caters only to the Pahang market but is expanding into the more competitive Klang Valley market.

Pesona Aroma, which markets its products under the brand name Mak Andam, plans to increase production capacity, install fully automatic machines, step up research and development (R&D), appoint more distributors and work with hypermarkets.

"We feel that it is time we explored the market in the Klang Valley as we believe that our products have the potential to do well here," Rohana told Business Times on the sidelines of the recent 10th Malaysia International Halal Showcase (Mihas).

"It is also because we have been receiving positive feedbacks from consumers in Pahang. This has encouraged us to push further," she added.

Established in 2006, Pesona Aroma started its humble journey under the Felda Entrepreneurs Incentive Scheme. Its main products were soup spices, ketchup, chili sauce and vinegar. Back then, the products were only marketed in the district of Jengka, Pahang.

Within a few years, the company had expanded into most grocery stores and supermarkets in every corner of Pahang, with new products being introduced along the way, including food colourings and cordials.

"We believe that there is always a market for food products.

"It's only a question of how we position our brand in the mass market, coupled with good quality products," she added.

Rohana said every Pesona Aroma product underwent nutrition and quality checks and has SIRIM Bhd's stamp of approval, besides halal certification from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia.

"We will continue to focus on R&D to improve our products as we are committed to providing quality products to our consumers," she said.

The company currently has a production capacity of some 1,000 cartons per month and plans to increase this by 30 per cent by year-end.

"In line with our expansion plan, we are slowly phasing out our semi-automatic machines and re-placing them with fully-automatic units," she said.

Through the expansion plan, Rohana said, the company is optimistic of raising its revenue by more than twofolds to RM500,000 this year, compared with last year's RM200,000.

She said this will be supported by the appointment of more distribution agents and collaboration with local hypermarkets as well as aggressive promotional activities through the mainstream media.

"We recently concluded an agreement with Mydin hypermarket, which had agreed to sell our products at all its outlets in Pahang," Rohana said.

"We're still in talks with Mydin to market our products at its hypermarkets in the Klang Valley," she added.

Rohana said this is the first time Pesona Aroma took part in Mihas, describing it as a good marketing platform for the company.

She said that through Mihas, the company also signed a two-year original equipment manufacturer (OEM) contract with a local enterprise, besides acquiring new distribution agents.



Source : New Straits Times

Date : 29 April 2013

Afternoon Highlight (02/04/13/74/772)