https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyBZz_pFtsM
”People are not standing without trust, the company does not have faith without reaching." It represents a kind of conduct and responsibility that can win a good reputation for the company.
Eddie has served in the tourism industry for more than 10 years, he has gradually accumulated a wealth of management experience, capabilities and resources. His inspiration for the creation of the Sunshine Kingdom business in 2014 stems from his favourite durian.
His grandfather once owned a durian garden. In his childhood, Eddie not only learned to eat durian, but also had a deeper understanding of durian. He believes that the “typical bad smell” durian is a seasonal fruit, so he hoped that local and foreign tourists can enjoy delicious and unique durian at any time, which gave him a glimpse of business opportunities.
”If you want to succeed, you must learn to fall in love with your own business. If you start your career, you must have passion so the results will be more effective. Tourism is a pillar of the country’s economy and souvenirs are the best medium for promoting tourism.
In order to promote the concept of Durian culture in Malaysia, in 2013, Aesos and like-minded friend Eddie Wong (founder) created the first Durian Cafe store in the central art area of Kuala Lumpur. The store sells all kinds of ready-to-eat and packaged foods of durian and recommends visitors to enjoy the good taste of durian combined with various foods such as coffee, chocolate, and pancakes. Due to the successful concept of Durian Store, the second Durian Cafe branch opened in Kuala Lumpur.
The Company was formed in 2014 based on an idea envisaged by Aesos Lai who was in the T-Shirt design business. The idea of a “Durian Kafe” (a durian down-stream retail outlet), was mooted from a concept derived from one of his T-shirt designs which was popular as a souvenir amongst tourists. Aesos was encouraged by a close friend who told him that the “Durian Kafe” concept will appeal to people who like something unique, durian-related food items, and another friend told him that the next “BIG” thing is Durian which is getting popular amongst Chinese tourists from mainland China.
With this conviction, Aesos (who is strong in Branding and Marketing) invited Eddie Wong (who is a specialist in Retail and Operations and has more than ten years experience in managing retail outlets) to set-up Durian Kafe along with two other friends (Sashtri the designer, and Kaycee the Sales and PR person). In March 2014, Durian Kafe was set up in Central Market with products sourced from suppliers.
Subsequently in May 2014 Aesos suggested to Eddie that instead of buying from suppliers, they should create their own product brand to be sold in Durian Kafe – and this led to the set up of a new company called “Sunshine Kingdom” (Eddie coined the name as he sees Durian as the “upcoming” Sunshine Business, and a Kingdom can be built based on selling Durian Products). A year down the road, they realised that Chinese Tourists (who were their main buyers) could not read nor remember the “Sunshine Kingdom” brand name in English. In order to build a lasting impression on Chinese tourists, a catchy product brand name is necessary – and the “Xiao Yang” brand was created (which means ‘tourist delicacies business will bring great fortune everyday’) – the name was created by Eddie on his holiday trip to Taiwan.
The “Xiao Yang” brand started with Wafers, Cookies and Candy as there were not many competitors in this category, and the main sales areas were at the Airports, particularly KLIA and KLIA2.
As a start-up with limited funds, in the first two years’ of operations, Sunshine Kingdom experienced moderate growth in terms of sales and product range. Subsequently, with strong commitment to expand product range, business began to increase tremendously in 2017-2018, with sales growth of 70% over these two years. Today, Sunshine Kingdom is the Brand Leader in Durian down-stream products.
Company Vision
Promote the “Durian culture” in Malaysia, so that people around the world can recognize the durian in Malaysia and also enjoy the durian. Malaysia can also enjoy the name of “Nation of Durian”.
Company Vision
Sunshine Kingdom’s Vision is to create and promote a reputable Food Souvenir Business, with special focus on nice-packaging, great-tasting and good-quality edible gifts for tourists – a “MUST-BUY Brand” when they visit Malaysia.
Future Development
We have more than 70 kinds of durian products – downstream processing products at the moment, and then we will go to fresh fruit, frozen products, baked products, and strive to create a combination of upstream and downstream production chain. We will open our own brand of durian experience shop, so that people around the world always able to enjoy the taste of durian.
Corporate Culture
“People do not stand without trust, company do not have faith without reaching”. It represents a kind of conduct and responsibility, in order to win a good reputation for the company. “Integrity wins the world” is the core culture of our company, and Eddie has also established eight honourable and shameful regulations.
BRAND IDENTITY & RECOGNITION APPROACH
Sunshine Kingdom intends to promote Durian as a “Happy Fruit”. In general, people who like/love durian feel happy when eating the fruit. Hence, Durian is seen as a fruit that gives “Happiness” and “Full Satisfaction” to consumers in this region. Additionally, people tend to come together for a “durian session” and this shows that Durian is the only fruit in the world that can unite people, – Sunshine Kingdom calls it “DurianUnited”.
In terms of brand identity, Sunshine Kingdom differentiates itself in most retail outlets via the display of a “Giant Durian” (a six-foot cardboard Durian or a six and a half foot 2D Fiberglass Durian), which has become the Company’s trademark.
Additionally, the most unique selling proposition of Sunshine Kingdom is the adoption a “filial piety” approach in its coffee design packaging that features the founders’ parents and parents-in-law – this concept was the brainchild of Aesos who firmly believes that filial piety is an expressed deference of “Gratitude & Respect”, and such conception can help the company build a strong foundation in business management ethics and values moving forward.
BRAND AWARENESS & SALES PROMOTION
In order to establish a sustainable brand awareness and enhance product sales, Sunshine Kingdom has opened a variety of promotional channels:
Print Media Ads:
AirAsia’s Flight Magazine: Duty Free Magazine, Santan Magazine and GoAsiaPlus
Social Media Platform:
Develop product and corporate videos and publish them on social media platforms
Airport Duty Free Shops and Malls:
“Buy four get one free” promotion, sales increased by 30% to 50%
Mall Festival Promotions:
More promotions at major sales outlets on major Malaysian festivals
MARKET
Sunshine Kingdom is a major FOOD SOUVENIR player in Malaysia. It aims at offering tourists and business travellers from all over the world a “Truly Malaysian Durian Experience” – whereby everyone who visits Malaysia will want to take home a piece of the local flavour in the form of the very unique Durian Products as “Souvenirs”. Sunshine Kingdom products, are specially designed and packed as “Premium Food Souvenirs” ranging from Fresh Durians, Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, Freeze Dried, Candy, Biscuits & Confectionery, Hot and Cold Products, and are targeted mainly at Asian tourists and business travellers, particularly from China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Macau and South East Asia, etc.
This “tourist-focused” strategy has resulted in a durian-related product market share of about 20% presently, of which 95% of its customers are tourists.
Given that the “Food Souvenir” (Gifting) trend has been growing steadily over the past few years, and that the Durian Trend is envisaged to grow even further in the next five years, Sunshine Kingdom hopes to capture a 40% market share within the next five years.
THE SK (SUNSHINE KINGDOM) BRAND JOURNEY
2014 :
Introduced new products and created attractive packaging designs
2015 :
Grew product range aggressively
2016 :
Provided “Positive Experiences” for customers – focused on building the ‘SK Brand’ (since products can be copied but brands can’t be copied)
2017 :
Brand gained reputation and received positive perceptions plus growing acceptance through reinforcement of customer awareness (e.g. advertising in AirAsia’s In-Flight magazine)
2018 :
Through positive advertising, the brand enhances customers’ perception and the sales and reputation are greatly improved
2019 :
Enhance brand image through promotion activities and consolidate the status of Malaysia’s first durian brand
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
In May 2018, Sunshine Kingdom “Durian Empire” flagship store opened in the Central Art Gallery of Kuala Lumpur. This is a complete one-stop durian experience store. There are a variety of durian foods and souvenirs in the store, from complete fresh durians to frozen durians and hot-boiled durian snacks such as tarts, bread, fried dumplings, Nasi Lemak, hot coffee, etc. It can be said that everything is available.
In the near future, Sunshine Kingdom will not only focus on tourists, but will also strive to open up the local durian food market. In order to achieve the goal of diversified development and listing, Sunshine Kingdom will eventually enter the franchise business.
Developed more than
85
of products
Won more than
20
Awards
Distribution up to
250
in the market
INTERESTING FACTS
· Sunshine Kingdom is the first company to use Malaysian landmarks and cultural features as a product packaging background.
· Sunshine Kingdom is the first company in Malaysia to promote filial piety in coffee packaging design, using portraits of founder’s parents.
· Sunshine Kingdom is the first manufacturer to create a truly authentic durian coffee with Durian and coffee in its products (Musang King, D24, Durian Kampong).
· Sunshine Kingdom is the first company to launch Musang King Kopi Luwak in the world.
· Sunshine Kingdom had only six products in early 2014 and developed more than 85 products in just five years.
· Eddie was a customer of Aesos, and Aesos was a dealer of tourism commemorative products at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
ACHIEVEMENTS & ACCOLADES
From just six products in 2014, today Sunshine Kingdom has a total of 85 products. For a relatively young brand, Sunshine Kingdom has received an astonishing number of accolades:-
· Sunshine Kingdom is the first company to be given recognition by the Malaysia Book of Records for the Most Number of Durian Related Products in 2018.
· Superbrands Award (2018) – First Durian Company in Malaysia to be awarded Superbrands Status.
· The BrandLaureate Award (2017/2018) – SMEs Best Brands Award @ Retail (Snacks and Confectionery).
· Asia’s Top Leaders’ Award – Top Awards 2018
· Asia’s Top 100 Honesty Brand Award (2017)
· Sin Chew Business Award (2017) – Business Excellence Award
· Asean Outstanding Business Award (2017) – Asean Most Recognised Brand in Durian Made Native Products.
· International Prestige Brand Award (2017) – Best Brand in Packed Durian Products
· World Top Gourmet Awards (2017) – Top Brand Excellence Award
· Malaysia-China Silk Road Award (2016) – International Entrepreneur Excellence Award
Recommended for Visitor, Friends and Family
27-G, 27-1, 25-G, Jalan Bandar Lapan Belas, Pusat Bandar Puchong, 47160 Puchong, Selangor.
03-8082 4828 | 03-8082 2863
hello@sunshine-kingdom.com