BELGIUM AIMS TO SHIP MORE FRIES TO MALAYSIA
World’s No. 1 potato exporter to collaborate with restaurateurs, operators of fast-food outlets
BELGIUM, the world’s biggest potato exporter, hopes to ship more frozen potato fries to Malaysia via its marketing campaign and collaboration with restaurateurs and fast-food chain operators in the country.
“We’re seeking to promote Belgian fries here as Malaysians are already consuming close to 10,000 tonnes per year,” said Belgian potato trade and processing industry association (Belgapom) secretary-general, Romain Cools.
Belgapom promotes the export of 4.4 million tonnes of potatoes a year.
“Malaysia is a fast-growing market for Belgian potato products,” he said at a media conference and cooking demo at the Food & Hotel Malaysia 2017, here, yesterday.
Belgapom’s participation in the Food & Hotel Malaysia 2017 event is part of a five-nation campaign in Southeast Asia, coordinated by Belgium’s Flanders’ Agricultural Marketing Board.
Among exhibitors at the Belgian Fries Pavilion are Agristo, Bart’s Potato Co, Clarebout Potatoes, Ecofrost and Mydibel. They represent the five biggest familyowned businesses in Belgium, offering a wide range of halal-certified frozen potato products.
“This is the coming-out year for Belgian fries in Southeast Asia and we see good opportunities to collaborate with restaurateurs here,” said Cools.
Also present were ambassador and head of the EU delegation to Malaysia Maria Castillo Fernandez, Belgium ambassador to Malaysia Daniel Dargent and Belgium trade commissioner Eric de Lame.
Cools said Malaysia ranked 11th among the biggest buyers of Belgian fries. Last year, Malaysia spent €64.5 million (RM306 million) on 65,718 tonnes of imported potato fries, of which 9,689 tonnes were from Belgium.
“With rapid urbanisation and rising middle class, Malaysian consumers are increasingly savvy and look for new food experiences like the Belgian fries. Malaysia is also a country visited by many tourists and a launchpad under the Asean Economic Community single market.”
“We seek to increase our market share here. Belgian fries is in third placing here as most of the potato fries served at fast-food restaurants are being imported from Northern America and the Netherlands,” he added.