ASIA'S FOOD LEADERS VIDEO SERIES

Video: ‘We’re investing where the market grows…and that’s Asia’

31-Jan-2017 - Last updated on 28-Sep-2021 at 10:00 GMT

Distributor Jebsen & Jessen has been splashing the cash in Asia, having recently opened in its first ingredients site in the region – a $17m joint venture malt processing factory in Thailand alongside supplier Muntons – as well as spending a further $1m on a series of innovation labs.

Therefore, and in the first of our exclusive Asia’s Food Leaders video series, we put the firm’s Asia CEO for ingredients Marc Deschamps under the spotlight to find out what impact the spending was having on its business.

Watch the video to find out why he believes now is right time to invest in Asia, and why he thinks Thailand is the Asian equivalent of Germany when it comes to manufacturing potential.

We also ask him about the shaky economic state of some Asian markets and ask him to pinpoint which emerging markets he sees as offering the greatest growth opportunities for the food industry as a whole.

In terms of Jebsen and Jessen, he also drills down into the sectors that he believes will be most the profitable for the firm in the year ahead, while also casting a critical eye over his predictions for the wider industry across Asia Pacific.

The new 3,000sqm manufacturing facility at the IEAT Free Zone Area at Hemaraj Chonburi Industrial Estate in Thailand was officially opened last year, under the joint venture JJ-Muntons.

For Muntons, the UK-based firm which has been supplying ingredients across South East Asia and Thailand for many years, the joint venture facility was branded “the realisation of a dream that started some years ago.”

Speaking at the time, Deschamps, said: “This is a very important investment ‘in Asean for Asean’. The site will provide great customer flexibility in the supply of fresh malted products with shorter lead times and closer technical service and product development. The new plant will also have the capability of producing customised formulations in small batch sizes for customers.”

Nine months on, watch the video to find out how the investment is shaping the firm’s strategy in Asia.

In the next of our Asia's Food Leaders series, we will be speaking to Andrew Kwan, CEO of Commonwealth Capital, the food manufacturing and foodservice holding company which has just opened a $70m state-of-the-art food manufacturing site in Singapore.