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Daily Fresh Research Farm to Raise Productivity

Posted on: Thursday, 12 January 2006, 21:00 CST

By CHUAH BEE KIM

DAILY Fresh Foods Sdn Bhd, the biggest sweet corn exporter in the country, is setting up a research farm in Johor to increase productivity.

The Johor-based company is injecting RM1 million into the farm in Simpang Renggam, which will start operations in March.

Its managing director, Chay Hong Choong, said the research and development (R&D) team will focus on seed selection, testing up to 100 sweet corn species annually to find the best seeds for cultivation and processing.

The company currently has the largest corn plantation in the country with more than 810 ha throughout Simpang Renggam and Pontian in Johor, which is ideal for the cultivation of corn due to its abundant peat soil.

"There are virtually thousands of sweet corn species and the R&D team meticulously selects the best seeds for processing.

"We hope to increase productivity by upgrading our technology to develop a less labour-intensive way of producing corn," he said.

Chay said the company is looking at technology from China and Australia.

The R&D team is also moving toward organic farming with suitable fertiliser and natural pest control.

The company has invested RM8 million in its processing plant in Simpang Renggam since its inception in 2001.

With a workforce of 100, the plant churns out 275 tonnes of kernel corn monthly. Of these, 80 per cent is for export while the remaining is for the local market.

Daily Fresh ventured into the international market in 1999 and to date has over 1,200 outlets in 20 countries which include the United Arab Emirates, Brunei, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Yemen, South Africa, Spain and India.

The company had in 2002 established a second processing plant in Jakarta.

Starting out as a family business in 1987, Daily Fresh is today the market leader in the cup corn industry, with a 60 per cent market share.

"We had a breakthrough in corn processing where whole kernel corns were processed non-cut in 1997. In the same year, our marketing team introduced the concept of cup corn," he added.

The company obtained the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point on September 13 last year.

With this, it is keen to tap the Eastern Europe market, beginning with Turkey next month.

Chay said the company is trying to come up with a new distinct flavour for Turkey as different markets prefer different taste.

Citing an example, he said lemon pepper flavour cup corn is popular in West Asia while masala flavour is much in demand in India.

On the home front, the company has 350 outlets nationwide.

"We will focus on franchising of our food chain business as part of our expansion plans," he said, adding that the company wants to bring the brand to more markets.

Source: Business Times; Kuala Lumpur

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