Kanika chief executive officer Vinnie Ang Seyok Hoon (left) and executive chairman Philip Goey Soon Loong co-founded Kanika.
AT the end of a busy and hectic workday, all you might want to do is come home to a hot meal. While ordering in take-out could be one way to feed yourself and your family, sometimes the home-cooked route just hits the spot.
Instead of toiling away in the kitchen making a meal from scratch, or even spending hours of your time on weekend meal planning, the fuss-free way could just be at the frozen food section at the supermarket.
And beyond convenience, you would want to purchase your food from a brand you trust.
For over two decades since 1996, Kanika has aimed to prioritise supplying premium quality frozen food at a reasonable price, while ensuring it lives up to its core value of excellence and credibility.
With a wide selection of premium quality frozen food, Kanika has many offerings, which includes frozen seafood, Japanese food, Western food, surimi steamboat products, beverages and premium desserts.
The quality of products is maintained by specifically sourcing, producing and packaging frozen foods following Kanika’s strict requirements from all over the world, with some 20 countries under its belt such as France, Belgium, Norway, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam and Thailand among others.
Well-known on a regional level within Malaysia and South-East Asia, Kanika uses its warehouse capacity of some 6,000 metric tons to store its goods.
Meanwhile, the brand is able to distribute its frozen foods using its own cold logistics fleet of 21 frozen trucks and has a widespread number of resellers with over 1000 premium retail outlets to boot.
But just as with most businesses, the brand was faced with challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic brought on. The company saw an opportunity to make a switch online and took it.
It quickly transitioned from its traditional method of commerce to the e-commerce platform and developed two websites to overcome movement restrictions like physical visits to offline stores: Kanika official website for end-users and Kanika B2B (business-to-business) for businesses.
Kanika aims to provide the fastest and convenient mode of getting its customers frozen food via online purchase and managed to kick start its online wholesale over the duration of just five months.
Currently, Kanika’s official website averages 5,000 website traffic per month and some 20,000 followers on social media.
Meanwhile its B2B online platform comes equipped with a mobile app, Kanika Biz, which aims to provide greater convenience to existing business customers.
The brand is quick on its feet and able to adapt to the use of technology swiftly, which has been a great asset that the company can leverage, while simultaneously adding a competitive edge over its competitor.
This is made possible with its creative use of technology and showcasing its products to a wider audience, all while managing to retain existing customers.
For instance, Kanika took to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to build awareness of its frozen foods, as well as participating in marketplace platforms such as Grab, Lazada and Shopee.
It has also engaged with well-known influencers like Cik B and Chef Nik Michael to gain exposure through a 30-day live cooking show known as ‘Dapur Kaw Kaw Selebriti’.
Kanika plans to sustainably maintain its competitiveness through the digitalisation of the company within the next five years, starting with the use of e-commerce and social media platforms as a tool for sales and marketing.
Furthermore, with its recent success in digitalisation, Kanika aims to expand the process to other areas within the business such as operations and financial tools by considering the use of enterprise resource planning and warehouse management systems.
Armed with stellar quality products and business acumen, Kanika has also received accolades over the years such as the 2009 Golden Bull Awards, 2010 and 2011 Thailand Thai Best Friend (TBF) Awards and 2014 Sin Chew Business Excellence Awards among others, as well as nominated for the 2021 Super Golden Bull Awards.
For more information, visit its official website www.kanika.com.my or if you are a business owner, visit kanikab2b.com.my.
