According to Allanasons, the firm exports meat to Malaysia at a low price of RM14.63 per kg

By D KANYAKUMARI / Pic By ISMAIL CHE RUS

India-based meat exporter, Allanasons Pte Ltd, aims to expand its business presence in Malaysia, as the country currently constitutes 10% of the company’s US$2.2 billion (RM9.24 billion) net profit.

International business development processed food division president Afzal Aziz said the company has also secured 52% of the frozen meat market shares in Malaysia.

“We export about 49,000 to 50,000 tonnes of boneless fro- zen meat to Malaysia in a year at present and we would like to increase this, hopefully by next year,” he said.

Afzal said the company, which currently has a total of four factories in Malaysia, also plans to expand and introduce more products into Malaysia — including lamb which is imported from Ethiopia.

He said the company has already set up base and constructed the largest abattoir in Ethiopia and is now working towards exporting the pro- ducts to Malaysia.

“However, we are not experienced in exporting from Africa, so we cannot say any- thing for sure as we need the government’s approval for it.

“If it all works out, we are looking at exporting about 500 tonnes of lamb a month or 6,000 tonnes of lamb a year. We are planning to achieve this by next year,” he added.

Afzal said Allanasons exports meat to Malaysia at a low price of US$3.50 per kg, which is substantially cheaper than their exports to China.

He denied the claims that Allanasons has monopolised the meat market in Malaysia, adding that he had “not even heard about a meat cartel”.

Last month, Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman had said there was a severe lack of Bumiputera importers in the meat industry and cited the monopolisation of non- Bumiputera importers as the reason.

“In terms of value, we import meat worth almost RM2 billion a year, of which frozen meat alone is RM1.5 billion and most of it is imported from India.

“However, the Bumiputera participation in this industry does not even reach 10%. This means 90% of the RM2 billion is monopolised by non-Bumiputera importers. This should not be the case because most of the consumers are Malays,” Tajuddin said.

Tajuddin said he was looking to increase the participation of Bumiputera importers into the industry by at least 30%.

Afzal said he welcomed the participation of Bumiputera within the company and added that Allanasons’ current largest importer is Ramly Group, a Bumiputera company.

“We will abide by all policies set by the government and we encourage a lot more companies to come forward and work with us.”