Posted by albertlaw > 2014-04-29 18:02 | Report Abuse

5 Things You Should Know About Auric Pacific
By Alison Hunt - March 13, 2014 | See also: A23F99LJ3Y92

auricicpacificIf you&rsquo ve ever slurped laksa (spicy noodle soup) at a Food Junction food court, munched a croissant or baguette at a Delifrance café or simply marvelled at the array of fabulous South East Asian dishes to sample at TV favourite, Chef Wan&rsquo s restaurant &lsquo 1 Market&rsquo you&rsquo ve been a customer of Auric Pacific Group Limited (APGL) (SGX: A23).

This Singapore-based investment holding company is primarily concerned with food &ndash manufacturing, distributing and retailing food products across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and China.

APGL is 49% owned by Indonesian tycoon Stephen Riady and forms part of the sprawling conglomerate the Lippo Group that was founded in 1950, by Stephen&rsquo s father Mochtar Riady.

Stephen Riady was born in Indonesia, but moved to Singapore for schooling when he was 10. He went on to study at the University of Southern California before returning to Indonesia to become Executive Director of his family&rsquo s company Lippo Limited and was appointed Director of Auric Pacific in 1997.

Sunshine Bakeries

However, the story of one of Auric&rsquo s most famous brands begins way back in 1930s Singapore.

The Sunshine Bakery began as a small business operating from a shop house in Geylang, Singapore. Singapore Cold Storage (SCS) bought the company and Singapore&rsquo s first commercial bakery saw its fresh loaves delivered across the island, as well as neighbouring Malaysia.

Sunshine continued to attract loyal customers and in 1948, began fortifying its bread with vitamins. By 1950, the popular bakery was producing 14 different bread types, in addition to confectionery and flour products.

By 1992, the company had built a brand new production plant &ndash the largest in Asia that could turn out a whopping 6,000 loaves per hour and in 2004, was awarded world-renowned Superbrands status.

Reducing wastage

When Auric took over Sunshine however, wastage was relatively high. For every 100 loaves distributed 23 were being sent back the next day. What&rsquo s more, for every 8-10 loaves delivered to some small &ldquo Mom and Pop&rdquo shops, three would be sent back.

Auric decided to stop delivering to the lowest performing stores and instead invited those shopkeepers to collect their own bread if they still wanted it, but with no returns &ndash and reduced their wastage from 23% to just 15%.

Cookies from returned bread

However, Riady was still not satisfied that so much bread was being left for the birds and investigated ways that it could be used.

Sunshine now makes cookies from its unused bread &ndash and with a nice profit margin plus nine-month shelf life Auric is laughing (although their feathered friends around Senoko are pretty disappointed).

Free hotdog buns

Sunshine was also giving a free packet of hotdog buns worth $1 with every $1.20 loaf of bread &ndash as rival bakery Gardenia was offering the same deal.

Riady reasoned that consumers used to their bread are unlikely to switch and stopped the offer. Three month&rsquo s passed and Riady was relieved to see his gamble had paid off &ndash sales had not changed (Gardenia followed suit shortly after).

Food courts and Restaurants

Auric Pacific also owns the popular Food Junction foodcourts, serving affordable local and international dishes in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as French bakery chain Delifrance, serving European styled dishes as well as the eponymous baguettes and croissants.

But did you know&hellip

Dr Stephen Riady was awarded the accolade &ldquo Strategic Investment Entrepreneur of the Year&rdquo in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Singapore, 2007.
Stephen is also the Executive Chairman of Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) (SGX: LJ3).
Mochtar Riady and family currently occupy position #687 on Forbe&rsquo s list of the World&rsquo s Billionaires, with an eye-popping net worth of $2.5bn.
Sunshine was the first bakery in Asia to be awarded the three PSB awards: ISO 9001 for quality, ISO 14001 for environmental friendliness, HACCP for food hygiene and safety.
Stephen Riady made headline news in 2013, when he launched a $13.1b cash offer for the shares of the 130-year-old Singaporean beverage manufacturer Fraser & Neave (F& N) (SGX: F99) &ndash a company five times bigger than his own. He lost out to Chang Beer producer Thai Beverage (SGX: Y92) &ndash but established himself as a high-stake player.
Today, Auric Pacific has a Property Investment segment, leasing residential and commercial property as well as one concerned with securities investment.

However, the company&rsquo s main priority is still food, distributing both food and non-food items as well as manufacturing well known brands including

Posted by albertlaw > 2014-04-29 18:03 | Report Abuse

Worth holding for the long haul