State-owned Ghanim International Corporation will be collaborating with 12 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to produce 60 products for local and foreign markets under their bruneihalalfoods brand by the end of 2018.
Ghanim’s group general manager of sales and marketing Noormala Othman said the product launches were part of the company’s strategic shift from producing from their own factory in the UK to partnering with Brunei SMEs.
“Our direction is to help Bruneian made products gain access to local and international markets,” said Noormala during the official launch of bruneihalalfoods’ first line of frozen BBQ chicken at Utama Grand produced by BMC Food Industries last weekend.
Ghanim’s CEO Dr Nur Rahman has previously said that their international networks and ability to market products under a single brand would enable SMEs to penetrate overseas markets quicker.
“Through partnering with bruneihalalfoods, SMEs can focus on production and product development while we (Ghanim) focus on marketing and supplying their products,” he said.
Increased consumption of locally sourced and processed food brands would reduce reliance on imports and develop Brunei’s SMEs, readying them for exporting and ultimately increase their contribution towards the Sultanate’s Gross Domestic Product.
Othman shared that the blue shrimp crackers produced by local SME Marimin for bruneihalalfoods has seen some early success in export, as they now supply 800 to 1000 cartons – each containing 50 packets – to China monthly.
The new local products to be launched under bruneihalalfoods include frozen pizza, canned chicken, beef and fish as well as more types of frozen chicken.
Othman added that the main challenge in exporting F&B products from Brunei SMEs is the ability to consistently produce sizeable volume from industrial facilities that are certified to international standards, which include Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).
“We are working together with SMEs and government stakeholders to help address these issues,” said Othman. “We are also continuously looking for more SMEs to collaborate with for bruneihalafoods.”
