The new managing director at Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd is doing a fine balancing act as she navigates an environment of high raw material prices and the dairy company’s mission to nourish Malaysians with affordable products.
Ramjeet Kaur Virik, a Malaysian who replaced Indian national Tarang Gupta as Dutch Lady’s new chief since July 2 and is the dairy company’s second female MD to date, is actively ‘balancing the triangle’.
“On one hand, we have a business to run and a responsibility to our shareholders to deliver profitability. The second is our purpose, which is to nourish Malaysians with affordable dairy nutrition, and the third is the prices of our products. The core mission of our organisation is to achieve that balance (between the three aspects), so increasing prices is not something that we do lightly,” she tells The Edge, a Malaysian business weekly.
“It goes back to our company culture. We are owned by FrieslandCampina, which in turn is owned by dairy farmers, and these farmers do not talk about what is their profit for the next quarter, but how they can sustain the business for the next generation. FrieslandCampina has been around for 150 years, and some of the farmers who are owners of the company come from six generations of farmers. The beauty about that is they do things with the long term in mind.”
The report noted that skim milk powder prices have gone up 19% year-on-year while price of whole milk powder has increased 25% in the same period.
With its long-term focus, Dutch Lady has committed to investing RM400 million to construct a new manufacturing facility in Bandar Enstek, Negeri Sembilan, which is expected to be completed in the next two years. Part of the construction will be funded by the proceeds from the disposal of its Petaling Jaya factory to UEM Land Bhd for RM200 million, which was completed on Oct 1.
Ramjeet says the new Bandar Enstek facility is set to be a game changer for Dutch Lady, the report added.
RELATED STORY:
Dutch Lady names marketing dynamo Ramjeet Kaur Virik as MD for Malaysia (Asia Samachar, 16 June 2021)
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond.Facebook | WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 | Email: editor@asiasamachar.com | Twitter | Instagram | Obituary announcements, click here
Vadhyian
Bless all
WaheGuru
Comments are closed.