Musalmah Sauce: Opt for the Best

Abstract

This case illustrates how a processed food firm can strategize its business to increase its product sales in a competitive domestic market. Musalmah Food Industries Sdn Bhd (MFI), the manufacturer of Musalmah, a premium quality ready-to-eat sauce, had been facing fierce competition from other manufacturers of domestic and imported products in Malaysia. The intense competition led to a lower domestic sales growth. Musalmah had been retailed mostly at the supermarkets, hypermarkets and big grocery shops with the target to serve mainly the ethnic Malay consumers who traveled overseas and the outdoor types for camping or fishing activities. The sales performance for the past five years (2003 to 2008) showed a continuous increase but on a diminishing growth. Datuk Ibrahim Mohammad, the company's CEO directed his management team to prepare a business proposal to understand how they could increase their domestic sales based on the year 2008 performance. He wanted the business proposal to be ready by 30 April as he had to present it to the company's shareholders during the Musalmah Holding Berhad annual general meeting which had been scheduled for 25 May 2009.