Munchy's – Advancing Frontiers

Armed with a savvy workforce, a plethora of delectable merchandise, and a bit of guts and novelty, a Malaysian biscuit brand is grabbing a bigger bite out of the vast snack market across Asia.

Munchy’s has come a long way since its pioneers, SK and LK Tan toiled with a hand-me-down wafer-stick machine in 1991 to roll out its first-ever product that has successfully captured a large slice of the Malaysian
market.

In a span of nearly two decades--marked with a comprehensive streamlining of itsmanagement team composed of old and new employees, and adopting a catchy brand phrase “Bite Me,” Munchy’s has become the largest and one of the prime brands of homegrown biscuits in Malaysia.

A household name and now an emergent world-class biscuit-manufacturing giant, Munchy’s continues to bring its unique and first-rate taste to greater boundaries, ahead of its competitors.

“We continue to grow faster than our number one competitor every quarter and we credit this achievement first to our people,” says C.K. Tan, chief executive officer of the Munchy’s Group. Churning out a myriad of biscuit items with impeccable and distinctive taste, Munchy’s has over 1,300 trained workforce belonging to the cream of the crop, spread out from production, to marketing and sales departments.

The company, he says, highly gives weight on the importance of finding competent staff to comprise the team.

Tan, who took over as the CEO three years ago, has prompted a colossal leap in terms of Munchy’s worth and caliber from a mere US$20,000 to a hefty US$100 million and more at present. The “winning” recipe to a grand venture, he says, is a good mix of fun, unwavering passion, the right core values and the right people on the team, and the discipline learned from his US schooling.

“We never take no for an answer, we are never satisfied with our quality and the way we do things and we always learn from the best and continue to improve our system,” adds Tan, who graduated from the University of
New Haven in Connecticut with an associate degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in International Business.

But the secret to whipping up lip-smacking biscuits made from the finest ingredients are its top-notch and state-of-the-art machines and factory facilities located in Johor, Malaysia, says Tan.

“Since day one, [Munchy’s] believes in using the best machines to produce the best products,” he relates, noting that the first machine it utilized, though second hand, was an outstanding brand--Haas, the largest wafer machine producer in the world. Today, Munchy’s factory is equipped with the best brands of machines from across the globe.

“When we can afford, first thing we do is to continue upgrading the factory facilities... so over the year, we have built the most modern, dynamic factory in our country,” he adds.

From that simple wafer-stick product 19 years ago, the brand now boasts of over 70 delectable snack items that range from nutritious oat cookies, cream-filled wafer biscuits to chocolate, cheese and peanut butter-laced vegetable crackers.

Among its popular snack staples out on store shelves are Munchy’s, Muzic, Lexus, Krunch and Captain Munch, which the neighboring Singaporean market has been happily munching over the years.

While its delicious products have indulged appetites in over 60 countries through exports, Munchy’s is fixing a more stable imprint in the international market by opening its own offices in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and China, among others.

At present, Munchy’s is enjoying a substantial growth in China through its distribution partner in Shenzen, registering about US$2.99 million (or RMB 20 million) worth of sales. But, it has also found a fertile ground to boost further its expansion in an equally emerging financial capital, Shanghai.

Citing favorable market conditions in the Chinese global city, Munchy’s is setting up its own sales and marketing arm in Shanghai, to jumpstart its own distribution network and marketing to promote its finest products to the rest of China.

“China is a very tough market and probably the toughest in the world [but] if Munchy’s can be successful in China, it can be, one day, the largest biscuit company in the world,” he says.