The Malaysian company Golden Aroma, specialised in the production and export of melons and watermelons, was founded in 1990 as a joint venture for a number of growers and currently cultivates 10,000 acres of crops per year. “Nowadays, we sell our produce through a system that ensures value, with grading and ripeness selection following the customers’ requirements,” explains Marketing Director AC Koh.
Mr Koh assures that farming land has become a big issue, not just in Malaysia, but also in other countries, partly due to the conversion of lands for the production of bio-fuels, but also to weather issues. “We have discovered that the Monsoon season is changing, and this can lead to excess water problems beyond our control. Consumers demand consistence in quality, and the changing conditions can entail challenges to achieve this.”
Currently, Golden Aroma’s production amounts to about 100 thousand tonnes of watermelons and 10 to 15 thousand tonnes of melons per year. Mr Koh affirms that “there are two season peaks: the first one from February to April and the second one during Ramadan, when demand is usually greater.”
The fruit is exported mostly to Asian destinations, like Singapore and Hong Kong, and starting next month it will also arrive to Dubai. Mr Koh states that in Singapore and Hong Kong, like in other world markets, the increasingly smaller size of families entails challenges. “It means greater demand for small and medium watermelons and the need to look for alternatives for the bigger sizes, like fresh-cut markets. Furthermore, the Dubai market is becoming very price-sensitive.”
Despite these difficulties, Golden Aroma is strongly focused on aspects such as traceability and food safety, with a commitment to supplying the best quality. In this sense, the firm’s future investments include “the launch of suitable packaging for the retail market, which could be introduced around May or June, as well as the implementation of sheltered farming for the Monsoon season,” concludes Mr Koh.
For more information:Golden Aroma
tel 00606-529-2757