During a recent business trip to Kuala Lumpur I met with K M Cheng (Senior Business Development Manager) and Ryan Au who head up the Food Section of the Austrade office in Kuala Lumpur. We talked about the possible export opportunities for Australian food and beverage companies in Malaysia.

Malaysia’s population is over 26 million and largely comprises of Malaya (Muslims), Chinese and Indians cultures. The distinction between these cultures needs to be appreciated in order to understand the difference in eating preferences of each group. This is extremely important, as food consumed by Muslims has to be halal (permitted under the Islamic Law).
Many of the Executive Chefs from the 5 star hotels around Kuala Lumpur use Australian fresh fruit and vegetables from Perth and Brisbane. Also available at many western and Chinese restaurants is Australian live seafood including Western rock lobsters, baby barramundi and Queensland mud crabs.

Other key opportunities in Malaysia for Australian food companies include:

• flour based products such as pasta, biscuits, pre-mixes, frozen pastries and chocolate confectionery
• cereal-based products such as breakfast cereals, muesli and rolled oats 
• pure fruit juices, orange juice concentrates, frozen vegetables, edible nuts and canned fruit 
• condiments, seasoning and sauces 
• nutritional snacks such as fruit rolls and yoghurt bars 
• health foods and bars 
• halal-processed meat such as corned beef

If you are interested in exporting food products to Malaysia please contact Austrade Malaysia.