Fruitful venture for Jia Fu

Fruitful venture for Jia Fu
Focus on SME's : By Rachael Kam
Monday May 7, 2007

Fertiliser producer Jia Fu Enterprise has diversified into the fruit plantation business, which is expected to overtake fertilisers eventually as the main revenue contributor.

OUTSIDE the bustling concrete jungles of Malaysia, small-scale entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector beaver away to grow their businesses.

With the country's population expanding, Jia Fu Enterprise founder and managing director Jason Ong foresees growth in his chosen business.

“The population growth would definitely lead to higher demand for food produced by the industry,” he said.

Ong, a graduate in Accounting and Finance from Australia, founded the company in 2003 mainly to manufacture organic fertilisers for local farmers in the fruit, vegetable and flower plantations.


The Jia Fu plant in Broga, Negri Sembilan, produces 28 tonnes of powder fertilisers and 6,000 litres of liquid fertilisers a month. Its products are currently distributed to local agents and farmers in Perak, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Cameron Highlands and Pahang.

He said agriculture was the main sector in Johor, Perak, Penang and Kedah.

“We expect to have four more agents this year to expand our distribution network,” Ong said.

The 30-year-old inherited the skills and knowledge to produce organic fertilisers from his father, who has been in this business for over a decade. Ong sources chicken feathers from chicken processing factories to process the raw materials into organic fertilisers.

The company used its own fertiliser products at its orchard and small vegetable farm in Broga, he added.

“When our business starts growing steadily, we will appoint more workers and invest about RM30,000 to purchase new manufacturing equipment,” he said in an interview.

The company now has four employees.

Apart from fertilisers, the diligent young entrepreneur has also diversified into fruit plantation on his family-owned land.

The factory and Happy Fruitland fruit orchard on 13 acres are located in Jalan Broga, near Semenyih. It is about 5km away from the renowned Nottingham University campus and near a famous hilltop Chinese temple.

Ong said that within the area, four acres were allocated for dragon fruits and three acres for other fruits like durians, Thai coconuts, pineapples, papayas and rambutans. The remaining area is taken up by its factory and partly for the vegetable farm.

He said the fruits were sold at the farm and sometimes he would sell to the wet market and fruit stalls when there was a surplus.

On future plans, he said: “We plan to lease a 23-acre land at an oil palm estate in Broga, which is 3km away from Happy Fruitland, within two or three years.” This, however, would depend on the financial results and cash flow position, he added.

“The new piece of land is not only for dragon fruits. We also want to cultivate orchids,” Ong said, adding that by then, its agricultural business would contribute more to the company's revenue than fertilisers.

The company is now focusing on its fertiliser business, which contributes about 90% to total sales. Last year, the company recorded a turnover of about RM160,000 compared with RM110,000 in 2005.

“With the increase in the number of agents and customers, we expect revenue to rise 10% to 15% this year,” he said.

He said farmers were gradually changing to organic fertilisers because they found that chemical fertilisers used for the last 10 years had caused the soil to turn hard and this affected the growing of the plants. “Thus, we foresee a strong potential for our products,” he said.

Currently his parents, Ong Kim Tian, 73, and Fong Choi Ping, 53, are helping to run the business whereas Ong focuses more on marketing.

On promotional activities, he said the company had been working with some travel agents who arranged day-trip tours to the orchard. Most of the visitors are from Desa Petaling, Puchong, Sungai Long and Kajang.

There are also kindergartens that bring children there on tours and learning trips. Therefore, the company has made a little fishpond next to the vegetable farm and raised some ducks and chickens in Happy Fruitland. -- The Star Biz.