RADIO frequency identification (RFID) solution specialist SMTrack Bhd is diversifying into the food and beverages (F&B) business amid its larger ambitions to be a key player in the Malaysian food supply chain.
If its plan goes well, this will pave the way to build one of Malaysia’s largest authentic Malay nasi kandar outlet chains with franchising opportunities.
Yesterday (Oct 25), SMTrack’s wholly owned subsidiary SMT Foods & Beverages Sdn Bhd inked a share sale agreement (SSA) with Abdul Halim Ahmad to acquire a 60% stake in AHA Food & Beverage Sdn Bhd. AHA F&B operates the “NASI AHMAD” restaurants at The Core Kota Damansara and Seksyen 6, Petaling Jaya.
“This investment is in line with the group’s interest to expand our business into the F&B industry which offers us an opportunity to tap into the food supply chain,” commented SMTrack’s deputy executive chairman Azmi Osman.
“Our intention is to be a major player in the F&B industry. Together with industry veteran Abdul Halim, we are confident to scale up AHA F&B by having the financial support of SMTrack and corporatisation of its business.”
SMTrack has a strategic plan to scale up NASI AHMAD business through physical and virtual store operations. The group is targetting to open between eight and 10 new branches over the next one year aside from expanding its business services to provide catering and event planning such as during a wedding ceremony.
To support the expansion plans, SMTrack is looking to set up its first cloud-kitchen which could leverage an authentic Malay-style nasi kandar for delivery and take-out customers in the near term.
Meanwhile, SMTrack’s executive director Datuk Zaidi Hashim stresses the need to ensure adequate food security for the country.
“Food security is one area requiring special attention during the pandemic given logistic bottlenecks have heightened shortages in the post-COVID era,” he observed.
“This is why as a group, we are looking to move upstream within a food supply chain to support food security. As an F&B outlet owner and with our capacity to scale up the business, we would be presented with numerous opportunities to secure food supplies from overseas.”
This may include mergers & acquisitions (M&A) of the vendors in which SMTrack will be holding the majority stake to control the supply of food products to Malaysia.
At 10.10am, SMTrack was unchanged at 4.5 sen with 14,500 shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM40 mil. – Oct 26, 2022
