the king of asia

China: Asia Foods strives for market leadership in Asia

A Chinese company in the food processing industry aims at increasing its market share. FMO provides financing.

Asia Foods (formerly Creative Food), active in the food processing industry, wants to become the market leader in China, Japan and other Asian markets. Its aim is to realize this ambition in phases, with the first priority to increase its market share in China. The company also intends to sharpen its business processes and build up its brand name through this first step. Via its three Chinese subsidiaries, Asia Foods has already developed into one of the leading local suppliers of pre-cut and washed vegetables. FMO provided capital that has enabled the company to further develop.

It is very difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises in China to obtain long-term capital. However, development banks such as FMO are willing to support these businesses. In 2001, FMO purchased shares in Asia Foods for USD 1 million as well as provided a loan for that same amount. This was followed by a second loan of approximately USD 70,000 in 2002. FMO has also attracted additional investors and assisted the company in sharpening its strategy.

Strategy
In its strategy, Asia Foods has devoted much attention to the monitoring of the entire food processing process, from start to finish. Given this, the company not only carries out (quality) inspections at the farms where the produce is grown, it also does so at its own production facilities, where the fresh produce is processed into the final product.

Alongside this, the company is focusing on several consumer markets so as not to be dependent on just one large buyer. These markets all fall under the food industry with buyers such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, supermarkets and shops.

New developments
In the short term, the management team of Asia Foods has been strengthened with the addition of a marketing manager. Next to this, two new independent board members with operational knowledge have been brought on. Both individuals were introduced by FMO. Further, more attention is to be paid to corporate governance. In this light, Asia Foods is supporting local farmers in the utilization of scientific agricultural methods based on Western environmental standards.

Asia Foods' earning grew from USD 2.4 million in 2001 to approximately USD 5.9 million in 2003, clearly indicating that the company has developed itself into a successful, and growing, enterprise in the Chinese market.

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The Japan Economic Foundation (JEF) was established in July 1981 to deepen mutual understanding between Japan and other countries through activities aimed at promoting economic and technological exchanges.

With this goal in mind, JEF engages in a broad range of activities; it provides information about Japan and arranges opportunities to exchange ideas among opinion leaders from many countries in such fields as industry, government administration, academia and politics in order to break down the barriers to mutual understanding.

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