Capacity building is key to achieving the family's growth plans. London Biscuits acquired several new factories to manufacture more products such as biscuit cup dips and its first long-shelf-life pie cake line. London Biscuits is among the pioneers that introduced cakes with a shelf life of eight to 12 months without refrigeration.

With even more factory acquisitions, London Biscuits continued its aggressive product expansion into cake confectionery with the first Swiss roll line. From Swiss rolls, the company developed its signature product, the London Roll.

The London Roll is a cake with different fillings such as chocolate, vanilla, milk, strawberry and coconut. The London Roll has become quite a popular product that London Biscuits bulked up its capacity to produce 36.39 tonnes of the rolls per day.

"The cakes we manufacture are similar to the ones available in cake shops, freshly made and moist. They are conveniently packaged, allowing consumers to eat them whenever and wherever they want," Liew says.

Consistently adhering to stringent quality and safety standards, London Biscuits employs the latest food manufacturing technologies to meet international regulations. Its numerous certifications attest to the company's product quality and safety.

Aside from an ISO 9002 quality assurance certification, London Biscuits' cake production facilities have been awarded Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points certifications. All London Biscuits products are also certified halal.

"When people see our logo, we want people to know that this is a brand they can trust," Liew says. "When they see a London Biscuits product, it is something that is safe to eat. Good quality is the best way to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty."

London Biscuits Group

London Biscuits continued to expand the scope of its operations. Fulfilling its vision to offer a one-stop shop for snacks, London Biscuits acquired other notable confectionery makers such as Kinos Food Industries and Khee San.

"We acquired companies with complementary businesses. We gained richer knowledge about different types of snacks since we combined all of our expertise," Liew says.

Like London Biscuits, Kinos is renowned in Malaysia as a manufacturer of delicious snacks that include cakes, jellies, puddings and chocolate toy boxes. The Kinos acquisition allowed London Biscuits to unveil a new line of pie cakes.

Sweets and confectionery firm Khee San opened the door for London Biscuits to tap into other business streams, including candies and wafer snacks. Khee San manufactures chewing gum, tablet, chewy and hard candies.

London Biscuits, Kinos and Khee San make up the London Biscuits Group. Together, the three companies offer one of the largest snack selections in Malaysia. With its product lines, London Biscuits has something to offer every consumer, whether young or old.

Expanding outside Malaysia

Achieving success in its home market, London Biscuits expanded its scope and established a global export network. Exporting 50 per cent of its products, London Biscuits' distribution markets include France, India, Russia and South Africa, among others. The majority of its international sales come from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific.

Given the competitive landscape internationally, London Biscuits established its international brand presence through exhibitions, including Foodex in Japan, FHA in Singapore and THAIFEX in Thailand. The company goes as far as Europe to attend the International Sweets and Biscuits Fair in Germany and Prodexpo in Russia.

Anticipating the demand from its export markets, London Biscuits embarked on another capacity expansion to commission the single biggest roll-cake production line in the region.

For London Biscuits, Hong Kong and Singapore are two markets in the region with the highest potential of becoming major sales hubs.

When the company established its presence in Hong Kong in 1995, Liew paid particular attention to overseeing developments. He himself trained the management staff who are dedicated to serving the dynamic Hong Kong market.

To date, Hong Kong is the largest export destination for the company, as reflected in its turnover of more than HK$697.8 million. The company's products are available in major supermarkets in Hong Kong, such as Wellcome.

Replicating its Hong Kong strategy, London Biscuits is strengthening its profile in Singapore through marketing campaigns and sponsorships. The company sponsored Singapore-based Mediacorp's Star Awards, which honours domestic artists in locally-produced shows. It also participated in Celebrate TV50, which commemorated 50 years of broadcast television in Singapore.

London Biscuits aims to use Hong Kong as a platform to enter the mainland market. To serve as the launching pad of London Biscuits' business on the mainland, the company seeks partnerships with distributors in Hong Kong, particularly companies with many distribution points - ideally composed of 2,000 to 3,000 outlets.

Given the spread of the population in China, London Biscuits adopts several other approaches to cover the vast market. Working with partners has provided London Biscuits the capability to reach a wider scope of consumers, expand distribution networks, and target areas where the population is concentrated. The company markets its products wholesale in order to serve a widely spread populace.

"We use different models for different countries because not all countries have the same infrastructure," Liew says.

Having established its brand presence in the southern coastal markets through distribution partnerships, the company looks to move up to the northern part of the mainland.

London Biscuits participates in food exhibitions on the mainland to try to find the perfect partner that can help it set up a footprint in the north. The company has found potential partners to carry its product range, but it is still open to win-win partnership opportunities.

Hong Kong and the mainland make up 10 per cent of the company's turnover. London Biscuits is bullish that it can maintain, even grow, this figure going forward with new market opportunities. London Biscuits also sees China as a potential market for contract manufacturing.

"We see that in China, they're looking for contract manufacturers. Distributors are starting to change their business models. They would rather work on something for their own brands rather than focus on other manufacturers. This is the trend we see in China," Liew says.

The extensive capacity building that the company invested in over the years has prepared it for contract manufacturing opportunities.

"We are using our brand as a base for other companies' products. They can expect the same high level of quality in the products we manufacture for them," Liew says.

Continuing its evolution

London Biscuits is constantly improving its existing product lines by developing different flavours. For its candy lines, the company is moving beyond fruit-based to creamy flavours such as chocolate and milk.

As a trailblazer in the snack industry, London Biscuits does not sit on its laurels. It continuously challenges the status quo in the snack industry and raises expectations of consumers. This is what London Biscuits aims to achieve with the introduction of its premium products. Under this line, the company aims to produce healthier and more nutritious cake snacks to target an increasingly growing health-conscious population.

London Biscuits is also launching a health supplement line in chewy candy form to provide a more fun and exciting way to take daily vitamins.

The launch of the newest products is planned to help London Biscuits achieve its goal of doubling its revenues in the next three years.

"We are not just concerned about growing profits, but we place a premium on taking care of our shareholders. We want to give them an even better return on their investment," Liew says.