Seeka invests in Southern Malaysia coolstore hub

Seeka invests in Southern Malaysia coolstore hub

Seeka Kiwifruit Industries will invest in a new coolstore facility in Southern Malaysia.

The 2,800 square metre coolstore is the only chilled facility in the economic free zone of the rapidly-expanding Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in the Johor Bahru region.

Seeka has partnered with Malaysian fruit marketers and distributers, Kelvin Leong of AQV, and the principles associated with Singapore-based marketers and distributors Metspan. The fourth partner is logistics and port services provider Terminal Access. Each partner will have an equal share. The staged coolstore construction is well underway with stage one to be completed in the next three months. Completion of the facility is scheduled within 12 months.

Seeka chief executive Michael Franks says there is significant demand for space in the facility which will initially start by storing produce and then go on to provide pre-packing and “ready-to-retail” services.

“The facility provides a great infrastructure resource to New Zealand horticultural and produce exporters. Not only can parties store their produce at the facility, if they wish they can also market their fruit in a ready-to-retail configuration through our partner distribution channels. PTP has a fantastic location servicing southern Malaysia, 30 minutes by road to Singapore and with regular services to Indonesia and Hong Kong.

“The facility will provide marketers and distributors with the opportunity to improve supply chain logistics and costs in a part of the world where temperatures and climate are challenging. Seeka can also provide export assistance through its fruit marketing operation SeekaFresh,” says Franks.

Seeka currently distributes New Zealand kiwifruit to Southern Malaysia in conjunction with Zespri through a collaborative marketing agreement approved by Kiwifruit New Zealand. This arrangement was taken over by Seeka when it purchased Te Awanui Huka Pak in 2010, and the PTP concept has been under consideration for a long time.

Franks says Seeka’s investment is consistent with its strategy to invest in business expansion aligned to core competency. Since the Huka Pak purchase, Seeka has developed its partner relationships to the point where the Malaysian coolstore investment can be undertaken by the company.

ENDS

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