Shah Alam: A supplier of Cake, Bread and Pastry is a target for its regional expansion and a public listing by 2030 this year.
Clement Lim, Managing Director of Pastry World, said the company already has branches in Hong Kong and Singapore, and to meet the growing demand, this year will be expanded to Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Macau.
“We aim to lead the freezing pastry and bakery industry in exports to other countries. During Kovid, we set branches in Hong Kong and Singapore. This year, we are expanding Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Macau. Our customers want to grow in those areas and need our help. Sunbiz in an interview.
Lim aims to take Pastry World Public in the local stock exchange in 2028-2030.
Now, he said, the company is looking for monitoring and assessment partners and banks to help with compliance and standards.
“We are looking for which advisors can best support our IPO (initial public offering) trip. First, it seemed impossible to list the company. But after knowing about the requirements – conditions, compliance and standards – now we believe that it is possible.”
Lim said that he is planning to determine the listing income for further expansion, automation and development of employees.
He said, “IPO income will support the expansion of the factory in the new markets. We will also use them to attract talent and improve the benefits of the employees. Another big focus is investing in automation and high-tech manufacturing lines,” he said they are currently operating very small features, and they need to consolidate.
“By 2027, we plan to transfer operations into a large, centralized, fully automated factory that will be A-and robot-operating.”
Lim said that the current market share (F&B) distribution space of Pastry World in Malaysia’s food and drinks is about 60%. “It leaves 40% space for expansion. I believe there are still many opportunities.”
He revealed that the company currently records RM50 million in the annual revenue and has seen an increase of 30%year-on-year.
“Our internal goal is to grow from RM50 million to RM100 million in three years. This is 30–50% annual growth. It is aggressive, but we believe that we can get it through close cooperation between our sales, marketing and research and development teams, all the customers aligned with the needs of the customer.”
The pastry world works perfectly on a business-to-business model with customers, including several high-profile names.
“We supply more than 800 different forms of frozen bakery products to cafes, restaurants, hotels and F&B chains in Malaysia. Many F&B outlets do not have enough manpower to produce these items, so they trust us.”
Lim said that now the challenge for the industry is talent as the younger generation is not entering the pastry profession.
“Less youth are entering the pastry and baking profession. They are looking for easy task with better work-life balance. So we face a shortage of skilled professionals. So we want to raise this industry and make it more attractive to the younger generation. We need to rebuild the talent pipeline for F&B.”
Lim, which comes from a humble family background in Jitra, Kedah, even went abroad and worked only to gain industry experiences to work illegally in his 20s.
“I have been in industry for almost three decades. Earlier in my career, I worked as a trainee.”
Lim started the pastry world in 2010 after the previous enterprise failed and finally closed in 2007.
“I lost everything. The pastry world was my restart. Now, it has been almost 15 years. When I started again, it was four of us. Today, we have about 100 employees.”
He said that this is not easy. During the Covid-19 epidemic, his second business enterprise almost stopped due to cash flow issues. “But our employees were very helpful. They voluntarily asked to deduct 50% pay.”
Lim said that everyone picked up – they helped with sales and did everything they could do.
“I was touched a lot. I realized that the business is not about a person. It’s about the whole team. That experience changed me.”
Since then, he said, he has made it his mission to do something big.
First of all, for their team, to create a better life for them.
He said, “Second, to support the customers of the pastry world. Because we grow when they grow. And third, to contribute to the society through corporate social responsibility, by training and giving more pastry talent and back,” he said.
