DBE to set up more kiosks, food trucks, restaurants

KOTA KINABALU: DBE Gurney Resources Bhd plans to set up more kiosks, food trucks and restaurants under its halalcertified local fried chicken brand, ‘HARUMi’, in Sabah following its strategic alliance with Koperasi Penggiat Seni Sabah Bhd (COSENI).

Its Group managing director, Datuk Alex Ding Seng Huat, said the company plans to add 19 kiosks, two restaurants and two food trucks in Sabah by the second quarter of this year through strategic alliances with local partners such as COSENI.

“This is one of our strategies to strengthen our presence nationwide. By forming strategic alliance with COSENI, it would expedite the promotion of HARUMi as well as create business opportunities for entrepreneurs in Sabah,” he said.

Ding told reporters this after the signing of a memorandum of understanding ( MOU) between D.B.E.’s unit, D.B.E. Poultry Sdn Bhd, and COSENI here yesterday.

D. B. E., an integrated poultry country, and its Taiwanese fastfood expert counterpart, had set up over 200 kiosks, three food trucks and three restaurants to- date and aimed to set up 3,000 kiosks, 300 food trucks and 30 restaurants nationwide by 2018.

Ding said COSENI would initially invest RM1 million for a period of 12 months to finance facilities and financial assistance for its members to buy HARUMi Business Packages.

Under the MOU, COSENI would select several members to participate in the HARUMi Business Programme while D. B. E. would train them to manage and operate HARUMi establishments.

Ding expected a better financial performance for financial year ending Dec 31, 2017, with 30 per cent contributions from HARUMi and the rest from its previously secured contracts.

“We believe demand for fried chicken will never stop growing. With that, we are confident our HARUMi business will continue to grow,” he said.

On future prospects, Ding said, D.B.E. hoped to expand the business model and success of HARUMi to other neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar.

He said D.B.E. also planned to set up a subsidiary in Taiwan in the second quarter of this year, which would enable the company to expand its HARUMi products to new markets such as China and Vietnam.

“There are business opportunities waiting to be unlocked in these countries and we are indeed taking another step forward to establish HARUMi as a favoured fried chicken brand,” he said. —