Ajinomoto’s Vision 2020

Kaneko: ‘We can compete with our competitors in terms of prices, but branding and communications are more important to us, not just offering lower prices.’

Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd, long known as a stalwart among defensive stocks in Malaysia, does not intend to rest on its laurels.

Having already outperformed other stocks in Malaysia over the past ten years, the company says it is optimistic about doubling its sales and tripling its operating profit from present figures, by financial year 2020 (FY2020) ending March 31.

Ajinomoto aims to achieve its FY2020 vision by establishing an adequate business model to provide the right value to each cultural segment in Malaysia, developing the Middle East market, as well as providing value to the Asean region by leveraging the new technology from Ajinomoto Co Inc.

In an interview with StarBizWeek, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd managing director and CEO Keiji Kaneko said that the company is looking to expand its product line up within this year.

“Besides the product line expansion, we are also looking to venture into a new business area.

“I cannot say much yet, but it will be within the food industry,” says Kaneko.

Ajinomoto is a food and seasoning manufacturer which is well-known for its Ajinomoto Umami Seasoning, a world-renowned brand of monosodium glutamate (MSG).

Umami is described as savoury, and is the fifth basic taste apart from sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

Other brands under its belt are seasoning products Tumix, Seri-Aji, Aji-Shio, Aji-Mix, and sweetener PalSweet.

The group also produces seasoning variants for industrial use.

The consumer staples company’s shares have long been a favourite holding among institutions.

Its share price has tripled over the past five years, outperforming the FBM KLCI by a large margin.

Recently, US-based Fidelity Investments had begun accumulating shares in Ajinomoto, underscoring the renowned value investor’s optimism over the company’s long term prospects.

The affable Kaneko, who was appointed managing director last June, says that Ajinomoto’s business has grown tremendously in size as the company celebrates its 55th anniversary this year.

“We are proud to have been in Malaysia since 1961, it is a huge impact to us and we very much appreciate the society and people in Malaysia.

“Without population growth and the people here, we would not have been able to achieve this growth,” says Kaneko.

Ajinomoto shareholders have certainly benefited from this.

Apart from the high capital appreciation of the shares, the company dishes out dividends consistently every year.

Its net dividend per share grew from 17.25 sen in FY2011 to 20 sen in FY2015.

Ajinomoto’s current market share in Malaysia is more than 80%.

Its competitors are mainly house brands.

House brands are products repackaged under a supermarket’s brand name and tend to have much lower prices as compared to the other brands.

“We understand that customers are very particular about prices of the goods that they purchase.

“However, they have to understand that brand names that have been in the market for a long time guarantees quality and trust of the product.

“We can compete with our competitors in terms of prices, but branding and communications are more important to us, not just offering lower prices,” says Kaneko.

Domestic sales make up 65% of the group’s revenue.

What many may not know is that Ajinomoto employs a large sales team to deal directly with buyers, aside from the distributorship model.

Its direct sales employees deliver products directly to shop owners and the transactions are carried out in cash terms.

The company has eight sales branches in Peninsular Malaysia and two more in Sabah and Sarawak.

Kaneko says the group intends to increase its sales team to more than 10 this year in line with its domestic growth aspirations.

While the double digit growth is expected to be derived locally, Ajinomoto has seen encouraging signs from its export sales.

Equipped with the halal certification from Jakim, Ajinomoto has ventured into the Middle East market by introducing its Ajinomoto umami seasoning product.

Since this year, Ajinomoto sales in the Middle East has increased by 7%.

Furthermore, the group is targeting to introduce more products to the Middle East region this year.

In line with its motto “Eat Well, Live Well”, Ajinomoto takes pride in its Ajinomoto Shared Value, which is a culmination of economical and social value creation.

On top of pursuing profit and increasing profitability and competitiveness, Kaneko says Ajinomoto proactively helps to resolve global social issues through social contribution activities and corporate social responsibility.

For example, Ajinomoto promotes glutamate application in preparing appetising, balanced and low sodium diets for healthy living through its dietary education programme.

“These programmes are targeted towards Ministry of Health officers, nutritionists, culinary experts and general public.

“We need to focus on correcting common misconceptions, such as Ajinomoto causing thirst or hair fall, and delivering the right information to consumers.

“Our collaboration with the Nutrition Society of Malaysia to publish a health book on Umami Seasoning is one of our activities which creates social value,” says Kaneko.

thestaronline | 16 Apr 2016

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擴大東盟中東市場 ‧ 味之素放眼雙位數成長

金子圭司：味之素將把馬來西亞廠區打造成區域研發中心。
 

味之素（AJI,2658,主板消費品組）展望未來數年營收和獲利維持雙位數增長，並將把馬來西亞廠區打造成區域研發中心，進一步擴大東盟和中東市場。

銷售規模和營運盈利
欲增2倍和3倍

公司董事經理兼首席執行員金子圭司接受媒體聯訪時表示，公司設下在2020年銷售規模和營運盈利為2012年的2倍和3倍目標。《星洲財經》是唯一受邀的中文報章。

同時，大馬味之素也是該集團進軍中東／阿拉伯市場的主要團隊領導。公司將利用大馬與中東國家在生意往來、宗教以及國家之間密切關係進軍該區域。

在母公司提供技術下，大馬味之素也為東盟各國提供各類技術上的支援與增值。過去幾年，大馬味之素所開發的產品銷往東盟5個國家。

他表示，母公司味之素株式會社的海外營運貢獻佔了集團總營運獲利的60%，銷售總額的54%。

海外市場對味之素的重要性不言而喻，在日本人口持續萎縮的情況下，他相信未來的海外獲利貢獻還會再提高。

金子圭司補充，今年是公司上一個3年計劃結束，2017至2019年會是新的3年計劃。因此公司將推出新產品，並增加生產線或者擴廠。但是具體的計劃尚未確定，需到年底才有定案，但根據公司過往的投資金額大約為2千萬令吉。

該公司目前在大馬設有1間廠房，在西馬擁有8間分銷中心，東馬則有2間。為了進軍中東市場，在沙地阿拉伯也設有1個銷售辦事處。

根據最新財報，目前該公司手上握有現金1億4千348萬令吉，詢及是否有任何回饋股東的打算，金子圭司回應道，公司有意回饋股東，但未來有擴張的打算，因此保留一些現金也較為安全。

詢及該公司的第二大股東富達基金（Fidelity Investment）是否有意繼續增持股權，他表示，至今仍未和富達基金接觸，至於任何人在公開市場購買公司股票實屬平常，重要的是大股東味之素株式會社仍持續握有公司的股權。目前味之素株式會社持有大馬味之素50.08%股權。

至於公司股價在短短幾個月內飆漲，他認為這是一件值得高興的事。

詢及其管理理念，金子圭司表示，他喜歡親身前往第一線，因為在前線上可以看見許多問題。

“我通常會親身視察公司各個部份，如生產線，分銷場所等。我傾向與聆聽來自前線的消息，如：銷售人員向他反映一些關於市場的回饋，競爭對手的消息等等。這些消息讓我思考如何將公司管理得更好。”

目前味之素在大馬的市佔率約為80%，金子圭司認為，市佔率還有上升空間，但是並不會進行削價戰。

“你很難討好一些只專注在價格的消費族群。市場上有一些食品商是以價格來吸引消費者，但味之素並不是這樣的公司，我們更在意的是提供安全及健康的食品予消費者。”

馬幣反彈影響不大

詢及近期的馬幣反彈對於公司的獲利是否有造成任何影響，他表示公司大約有35%的產品是出口，馬幣反彈的確會減少公司出口收益。但另一方面，公司也有進口許多原料，在此消彼長的情況下，外匯變動對公司影響不大。

直接面對分銷商

該公司有一套獨特的分銷手法，名叫“基本銷售活動”。該公司會組織本身的員工，在早會上員工們各自運載著貨物，直接面對分銷商，並且收取貨款，然後在下班前回來公司結賬。此銷售手法，除了可以收取現金外，同時也能及時取得市場回饋，改善公司營運流程。

金子圭司對於大馬整體經濟發展仍十分有信心。他表示，專家們對於大馬的經濟成長預測仍有4至4.5%，而通膨只有2%，這樣的經濟成長水平依然健康。作為一家投資了大馬55年的公司，味之素深信公司仍會持續為大馬的經濟發展帶來貢獻。

金子圭司簡介

●金田圭司畢業於美國威斯康辛大學工商管理研究所。

●去年7月被委任為大馬味之素董事經理。

●曾駐印尼、尼日利亞、美國等多個國家，也曾經在味之素總公司擔任海外食品以及季節食品部門擔任助理總經理一職。

●味之素職業生涯長達27年之久。

星洲日報 | 16 Apr 2016