Less than a year after it released its blueshrimp crackers to both international and local markets, Bruneihalalfoods yesterday expanded the made-in-Brunei snack range with two new flavours.
“Since we began exporting the crackers last year, we’ve had a lot of interest both internationally and locally. As of now, we have already exported several containers to China, Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai. We’re looking to increase volume in the future,” the company’s CEO, Dr Nur Rahman, told The Scoop.
The crackers, which is among its most popular export products, has received numerous enquiries from potential international customers in Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.
To meet this growing demand, expansion plans are already in the pipeline, the CEO disclosed. He noted that the company only sources fresh organic blue shrimp (penaeus stylirostis) from local farmers, and are working closely with them to see how they can work together to ramp up production.
“We will be renovating our manufacturing plant and we are also looking into new automated machines,” he said, adding that this will happen over the next few months.
According to Dr Nur, the crackers are slightly pricier than competitor products due to its high shrimp content — at 31 per cent. The Mama’s Recipe Blueshrimp Crackers are also less oily, hence “slightly healthier”, making them premium quality.
“This launch will be the start of a new beginning for Bruneihalalfoods to introduce and explore the potential of our local SMEs to look beyond Brunei and be a major player among the global halal food producers.”
The food manufacturer will also be rolling out new products in the near future, ranging from ready-to-eat to frozen foods.
During the launch yesterday, Bruneihalalfoods rolled out the chili and Chinese celery blueshrimp cracker flavours, in time for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration. “We will make it available in more outlets around Brunei soon,” Dr Nur said.