Deep roots in poultry farming set the course for CAB Cakaran to gain a strong foothold among the most discerning consumers. With a solid reputation for quality assurance, the company is well-positioned to capture a significant share in the global market for convenient cuisine. Starting in the poultry business when he was 14 years old, CAB Cakaran founder Chuah Ah Bee, the company's executive chairman, is well-entrenched among poultry farmers throughout Malaysia. This is the foundation of CAB Cakaran's ability to assure a quality supply to a global marketplace despite any epidemic or disaster. Scaling up step-by-step, Chuah started buying poultry farms around Penang before expanding to other states during the 1990s. He took the family business public in 2003 initially on the second board of Bursa Malaysia before qualifying for the main board a few years later. With constant innovation, CAB Cakaran transformed itself into a group with diverse interests within four decades. Its interests span integrated poultry farming and processing, restaurants and franchising, food processing and marine products. The company also operates a medium-sized food supermarket named Pasaraya Jaya Gading (Da Jia Ting) and has five branches in Malaysia. An established contract supplier in the United States, CAB Cakaran has developed a niche for Likes and Garing, its own brands of halal-certified processed chicken and seafood. Likes products - from chicken nuggets, drummets and wings, frankfurters and burger patties to seafood dim sum, fish fillets and squid rings - reach supermarket freezers from Malaysia to Southeast Asia and South Asia. With an expanded food-processing plant, CAB Cakaran aims to establish itself in high-end markets with cold cuts such as premium-quality hams and sausages. It is targeting Hong Kong, Europe and the Middle East as main expansion markets. It is also keen on taking its halal products to Northern Europe and the Middle East. Always on top of market opportunities, CAB Cakaran is eyeing the mainland for its cooked chicken feet and saltwater fish products. "We welcome partners who share our passion for creating value-added products," says CAB Cakaran group managing director Christopher Chuah. "We have long-term relationships with our agents because we take care of them. We look forward to broadening such partnerships." CAB Cakaran will strengthen its position in Malaysia with greater access to less polluted fishing grounds, and tapping into Thailand's robust seafood market. It will also scale up its supermarket chain with 30 more branches within five years.
