Expanding beyond Malaysia’s borders
Waltree industries leverages CGC’S programmes and initiatives for business development and expansion
SURVIVING the ‘valley of death’ – 60% of all new micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMES) fail within five years of establishment – is tough. However, Waltree Industries (M) Sdn Bhd has emerged triumphant, as its business has thrived since it started in 2016.
Founded by Cheng Haw Kee, its chief executive officer, Waltree Industries plays a specialised role in providing quality halal food products not only for the domestic market, but also markets across the region.
Waltree Industries’ humble beginnings started with the distribution of a single house brand halal coconut paste called Waltree Kerisik.
The company has since become an integrated grocery provider in Malaysia that has over 150 stock-keeping units (SKUS).
The success of the coconut paste product benchmarked the company’s name as a quality brand among consumers.
This led to Waltree Industries enhancing its product portfolio and increasing its market share, as well as expanding its operations to offer original equipment manufacturing (OEM) to optimise capacity. Its OEM services include customised packing at different sizes and label designs from its house brand to Singaporean food distributors.
Today, Waltree Industries supplies its SKUS to over 7,000 sundry shops across Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Its range of quality halal food products include kerisik kelapa, cili giling, bawang goreng, asam jawa, kerepek ubi sambal, rempah mee rebus, rempah mee bandung, rempah sup soto, rempah ratus, keropok ikan, gula Melaka and belacan.
Certified halal by the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim), Waltree Industries is also qualified under the Ministry of Health’s food assurance programme, Makanan Selamat Tanggungjawab Industri (MESTI) and is certified for Good Manufacturing Practice.
Driven with a passion for growth, Kee said, “The company is vigorously optimistic to see continuous growth to reach more markets in our expansion plan.
“Under the supervision of an experienced development team that focuses on maintaining product quality and halal compliance, the company has utmost confidence that it will grow steadily, in line with its mission and achieve its vision in due course.”
Accessing new markets
Waltree Industries is optimistic about its room for growth, with its success made possible by strong support from Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC).
For smaller businesses, especially MSMES, financing can be challenging in their early years as they do not have a track record or sufficient documentation to meet the requirements to obtain financing from most financial institutions.
In 2018, Kee walked into CGC’S Batu Pahat branch to find out more about its financing offerings.
This was instrumental in assisting him to establish a firm foundation for Waltree Industries.
He successfully obtained the Bizmula-i financing, which is specifically offered to eligible registered businesses that have been in operation for less than four years.
Bizmula-i offers a financing amount of RM50,000 up to a maximum of RM300,000 for a tenure of up to five years. This is to be leveraged for working capital and/or asset acquisition, including for the purchase of machinery and equipment as well as business premises renovation.
CGC’S assistance to Waltree Industries progressed beyond the provision of business financing. Kee was also introduced to the CGC Developmental Programme.
The CGC Developmental Programme provides comprehensive services for both financial and market access advisory, assisting MSMES in need of assistance or advisory workshops – especially those with no collateral. CGC extends access to financing and finds potential markets for MSME products and services.
This helped boost Kee’s capabilities as an entrepreneur via skills training and development, enabling business growth and access to new markets.
“The programme gave me many opportunities to enhance my business knowledge, especially the exposure to access a new market,” said Kee.
Under the CGC Developmental Programme, Kee attended advisory workshops for e-commerce, digital marketing and branding that enabled him to bring Waltree Industries to the next level.
The biggest impact on the business from the programme, Kee mentioned, was the opportunity to access and gain exposure in a new market via the Hao Mart in Singapore in 2020.
Kee also highlighted that the CGC Developmental Programme can be further improved with more workshops related to business skills, as well as to provide more opportunities to access new markets.
Plans for growth
Moving forward, Kee said that Waltree Industries aims to expand its business to other states in Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak, as well as overseas in Indonesia and Thailand.
“It is important for Waltree Industries to also focus on our key business strategies while executing our expansion plan. These strategies include ensuring good product quality, offering clients the best services, as well as maintaining a good working relationship with other business partners,” said Kee.
“Short- and long-term plans always help to improve and make the business sustainable. Look out for every opportunity to improve the business and strategies. Listen to your consumers and client feedback, improvise and be better,” he advised other entrepreneurs.
The CGC Developmental Programme has been successful in promoting the exponential growth and development of Malaysian MSMES, both locally and internationally. Since its inception, it has assisted close to 49,600 MSMES, as of December 31, 2021.
Apply for CGC Financing today and step up your business momentum with CGC Developmental Programme. Find out more information through https://imsme.com.my/ portal/ cg cd eve lop mental-programme /. Alternatively, call 03-7880 0088 (CGC Client Service Centre) or email csc@cgc.com.my.