Ginbis Auntie Be is a Malaysian company set up by Japanese biscuit maker Ginbis in association with its own Chinese subsidiary, Ginbis Four Seas Food, and the firm has big plans for the Malaysian biscuit market, estimated to be worth some RM235 million.
According to reports in the Business Times, Ginbis Auntie Be is hoping to garner a 10 per cent share of the market with its Ginbis' Party Animals and Ginza biscuits, currently imported into Malaysia from other Ginbis production sites in Asia.
If the brands do indeed prove successful, the hope is to begin local production of the biscuits, the company said.
At present, though, the company does not even handle its own distribution, having appointed Texchem Consumers Malaysia as its distributor for Malaysia and Brunei for the next three years.
In fact, Ginbis Auntie Be is now primarily involved in investing in the food industry, after beginning life as a distributor of rice noodles.
Ginbis has been eyeing the Malaysian market for some time - the company's president visited the country back in 2003 and declared at the time that it had potential, according to the paper - but it will still be another six months before the biscuit brands begin to filter through to supermarket shelves.
Nonetheless, the company is hopeful of recreating the success they have seen in Japan, where Ginbis biscuits are best sellers, helped by their good nutritional image.