Food Industry
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Food Industry
Malaysia's food industry is as diverse as the multi-cultures of Malaysia, with a wide range of processed food with Asian tastes. In 2008, the food processing industry contributed about 10% of Malaysia's manufacturing output and companies in this industry are predominantly Malaysian-owned. It is estimated that the present global retail sales in food products are worth around US$3.5 trillion, and are expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.8 per cent to US$6.4 trillion by 2020.
Malaysia remains a net importer of food. In 2008, Malaysia's food exports amounted to RM17.9 billion, while imports totalled RM28 billion. Malaysia exported food products to more than 200 countries and the main products exported were cocoa (RM3 billion), fisheries products (RM 2.5 billion), margarine and shortening (RM 2.4 billion) and animal feed (RM1.2 billion).
Major food imports in 2008 were cereal and cereal preparations, cocoa, vegetables and fruits, dairy products and animal feed. Raw materials such as cereals and dairy products will continue to be imported for further processing for human consumption as well as for the production of animal feed.
In Malaysia, the food industry is dominated by small and medium scale companies. The major sub-sectors are fish and fish products, livestock and livestock products, fruits, vegetables and cocoa.
The fisheries product's sub-sector includes processed seafood products such as frozen and canned fish, crustaceans and molluscs, surimi and surimi products. This sub-sector remained the main contributor to the exports of processed food.
In the livestock sub-sector, Malaysia is the third largest producer of poultry meat in the Asia Pacific region. Malaysia is self sufficient in poultry, pork and eggs, but imports about 80% of its beef requirements. Among the dairy products produced are milk powder, sweetened condensed milk, pasteurized or sterilized liquid milk, ice...