Thanks for your questions posted over the past week. I am happy to answer your questions online. I will repost the questions in blue italics followed by my comments in black.
Kok Cheng
Dear John Teo, you wrote:
The growing middle class in Asia are raising pets instead of children, what plans do you have to grow your pet food, medications and accessories business?
Hi John,
Pets keeping is growing globally and offers great opportunities. We have 15 in-house brands with more than 2,000 products developed. We will increase our marketing efforts to start selling these pets products into new markets in Asia. On top of the physical chain stores in Malaysia, we are running online stores in Malaysia, Thailand, China and Singapore. We will be expanding to other Asian markets where we have little exposure.
Best Regards,
Kok Cheng
Dear Derrick Ng, you wrote:
Singapore supermarket started charging for plastic bag, how is the impact so far for your plastic business?
Hi Derrick,
The impact is minimal as we are not supplying plastic bags to supermarkets, however we are still supplying plastic bags to minimarts. We have been expanding our plastic business in the pharmaceutical and food industries.
Best Regards,
Kok Cheng
Dear Shaun Tan, you wrote:
Why are you raising shrimps in Singapore where the operating cost is so high? Have you considered lower cost countries like Vietnam And Indonesia?
Hi Shuan,
We are running a pilot research and development project for shrimp farming in Singapore. We believe that a successful shrimp farming system is one that is intensive, sustainable and cost effective. These are paramount factors for us to move into shrimp farming. Qian Hu is supportive of Singapore Food Agency's '30 by 30' vision and will explore opportunities when the Lim Chu Kang masterplan is released.
Farming cost in our neighbouring countries is cheaper, but their local selling price is also lower. However, with better farming solutions, exporting farming and importing the produce is viable. We are farming Marbled Goby in China and shipping them to the Singapore and Malaysia market.
Best Regards,
Kok Cheng
Dear Kelvin Lee, you wrote:
You seem to be growing the aquaculture organically. Why don't you speed things up by raising funds from the market to acquire farms?
Hi Kelvin,
We are developing a intensive shrimp farming system, adopting the Internet of Things from Bosch's AquaEasy. It is critical for us to develop sustainable solutions for long term development in aquaculture. Many of the traditional farms have infrastructure that does not suit our needs, we might end up spending more to convert these farms. Some of the high-tech farms are struggling with production issues. We will acquire farms as and when we find the right fit.
Best Regards,
Kok Cheng
Thanks again to all the investors who have posted their questions here. I hope I have answered them to your satisfaction. The next chance for us to correspond again will be the time when we announce our Full Year 2023 results. In the meantime, do feel free to visit our corporate website: http://www.qianhu.com/ and our IR website: http://qianhu.listedcompany.com/ for more information.
Take care and I looks forward to our next online Q&A.
Kok Cheng