notes to the financial statements - Food Empire Holdings Limited

Food Empire Holdings Limited Annual Report 2012
The most significant event throughout
the year was the appointment of
Mr Sudeep Nair as the Group’s Chief
Executive Officer. Mr Nair will take over
the overall oversight of the Group’s day
to day operations, while I, as Executive
Chairman will continue to focus on
the long term strategic objectives such
as developing new markets, exploring
opportunities for acquisitions as well
as enhancing in-house production
capabilities.
Mr Sudeep Nair
Mr Nair has been a vital part of
our organisation and is the person
responsible for our enormous success
in Russia – our largest country market.
Together, Mr Nair and I have 50 years
of experience in the Group. Our passion
for growing and protecting our business
is as strong today as it was when we
first started.
The separation of the roles of Chief
Executive Officer and Executive
Chairman aligns with the new Code of
Corporate Governance of the Singapore
Exchange, and is also an important part
of our business continuity planning.
It allows us to groom the next generation
of leaders, so as to provide our Group
with a foundation of strong experienced
talent across all its operations.
We achieved strong sales and revenue
performance in 2012 because we stayed
focused on our key business strategies.
First among our strategies, is our
commitment to brand building. While
we manufacture premium products, it is
the intense loyalty our consumers have
for our brands – the emotional bond that
makes them put our products in their
shopping baskets – that underpins the
success of our business.
Throughout our key markets, we
continued our pattern of innovative and
effective marketing activities, from trade
shows to sponsorships as well as more
traditional direct consumer advertising.
Our strong brands give us a powerful
position in the market place. They allow
us to successfully defend our position
against attempts by competitors to erode
our market share.
Klassno sampling activity in Hong Kong 2012
We took great strides during 2012
towards our goal of vertically integrating
the upstream elements of our business.
We are building a non-dairy creamer
plant, a snack manufacturing facility
as well as a packing plant in Malaysia.
In addition, we are establishing a new
instant coffee facility in the state of
Andhra Pradesh in India due to come on
stream in 2014. When completed, all
these facilities will give us greater
certainty and control over the supply and
prices of our key ingredients.
Food Empire took part in SIAL Paris 2012
RADIO GAME
ON RUSSIAN RADIO
In line with the APEC 2012 summit held
in Vladivostok, Russia, the popular radio
station, Lemma Radio, launched a live
quiz in conjunction with this international
event. Sponsoring the prizes, the contest
raised brand awareness on MacCoffee.
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