ilmiah

BAHAN ILMIAH :

[ 07-05-2008 ]

TABUNG HAJI EYES A SLICE OF HALAL FOOD MARKET

LEMBAGA Tabung Haji (TH) will soon be marketing a range of bakery and confectionery products produced by Silver Bird Group Bhd under a strategic alliance agreement. The products will be under a new brand, which will be revealed in two to three months. TH is currently the single largest shareholder of Silver Bird with some 29% stake. Besides the bread maker, the pilgrimage fund also owns 9.9% stake in QSR Brands Bhd. TH group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Ismee Ismail said there was much potential to be tapped, given that 70% of Muslims in the country were bread consumers and Silver Bird had a 30% share of the local bread and confectionery market. Last year, the market was estimated at some RM1.2bil and is expected to keep growing. From left: Datuk Ismee Ismail, Silver Bird independent non- executive director Datuk Seri Talaat Husain and Datuk Jackson Tan Han Kook with the new packaging of High 5 bread Ismee assured that the fund was serious in its latest venture. “ Once we’re in, we’ll be a big player. We’re looking at the whole value chain of the food industry, starting with the retail market,” he said after a signing ceremony yesterday. TH was also considering buying another food-related company, Ismee added. A TH statement released yesterday said it intended to spend about RM300mil initially over the next five years in the halal food business. Meanwhile, Silver Bird will leverage on TH’s five million account holders as well as the fund’s brand to expand further its Muslim base. “We’ve been exporting to Asean and the Middle East countries. TH will give us combined strength to export to more Muslim countries,” said group managing director Datuk Jackson Tan Han Kook. Silver Bird, like its peers, is facing fierce pressure from rising costs, especially flour prices. The company has been incurring losses in the past two fiscal years but believes it can turn around in the current period. Last month, Silver Bird raised the price of its wholemeal bread under the High 5 brand to RM3 per loaf from RM2.70 previously. In November last year, the price of the High 5 standard white bread loaf was increased to RM2.10 from RM1.90. Gardenia Bakeries (KL) Sdn Bhd, the other leading bread maker, has also increased its prices of bread and confectionery products. Gardenia is partly owned by national rice distributor Padiberas Nasional Bhd. Two other major shareholders of Silver Bird are Tan Sri Vincent Tan, with over 22%, and Australian venture capital firm CVC Ltd, some 12%. Publication: The Star Date: 07/05/2008 URL: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp? file=/2008/5/7/business/21170538&sec=business