Food Empire

[LenaHuat]

I am a Russophile.

Some of U who knew me from another forum would recall that I selected SuperMix Coffee as the stock that would generate the highest return for 2008. It seems to be delivering on its promise given it's recent run-up due to a possible buy-over by a Russian company.

I am now evaluating Food Empire's potential.

Both of these corps derive the the bulk of their revenues from Russia and the ex-USSR satellite states and Eastern European states. I am familiar with SuperCoffee Mix's products but not Food Empire's - MacCoffee, MacTea, Tyson tea, Besame, Kracks. Neither have I met any of FE's mgmt team.

Would any1 like to comment??
If I make some $$, U will be rewarded with a food basket of FE's products

[helios]

dear Lena,

i met e mgmt in e Brand Finance Forum in march. Questions on how they tackle e legal issue over e name MacCoffee and MacD MacCafe were raised. Seemed that e mgmt is candid in answering; i suggest u do a research to find out more how e legal suit, IP laws, crisis management was resolved eventually.

they seemed to be quite confident abt e Russia market too.

have not read on FoodEmpire in depth, will read up soon.

[LenaHuat]

Hi San San
Welcome! It's great to see U here!.
Thank Q for your msg. It's very informative. Yes, I do have a concern abt their branding and will do some research. Will share it with U once I lay my hands on it.

[helios]

yes Lena,

u shld know that e independent director MP Ong Kian Min is also e independent director of BreadTalk...

[LenaHuat]

OK, the results of some research todate:-

(1) In 2006, our High Court rejected FE's appeal to register MacCoffee as a trademark cuz of McDonald's protest. This ruling is only for Singapore.

(2) Poland has ruled that : "Sunday, December 23rd, 2007
McDonald’s will not be allowed to “monopolize” the Mc-prefix. The Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw rejected McDonald’s Corporation complaint against the Polish Patent Office’s decision and ruled that a Singapore company was allowed to register MacCoffee mark for coffe products (Act sign. VI SA/Wa 1100/07).

This judgment should make all trade mark practitioners aware of differences between legal systems. Especially when this Polish case is compared to holding in the case Quality Inns Int’l v McDonald’s Corp., 695 F. Supp. 198 (D. Md. 1988). The Court ruled that Quality International’s use of the name “McSleep” infringed McDonald’s family of marks that are characterized by the use of the prefix “Mc” combined with a generic word.


Can read this here : http://rychlicki.net/en/category/trademark-law/page/2/

But makes me wonder what is FE's trademark status in Russia???

(3) There is a UncleBlog who has analyzed the 3 companies of FE, SuperMix Coffee and Tsit Wing. U can read more here :http://market-uncle.blogspot.com/search/label/Food%20Empire

(4) FE is sponsoring this year's World Figure Skating competition. Yes, I know the Russians, Poles, Ukrainian luv figure skating. Very clever marketing strategy.

(5) Wish I can read Russian now. MacCoffee has been awarded Russian super-brand status............this is reported in so many Russian sites but I can't read a word of Russian. Confirmed this fact with IE Singapore's website too.

Next, koon a little and see what I can fish out.

[helios]

dear Lena,

i love u ... u r v detailed!!

trademarks r v impt in food manufacturing & retail practice; practically, same as u buy gucci bags, their lock-design is e "motivation" to buy!

trademarks asset classes have many to file, let it be design-mark, word-mark, colour coordination blah blah ... the prefix "Mc" is a word-mark, but how do u add inside another pre-formed word?

i don't undstd FA v well, but in any food retailer or manufacturing, e first thing i will wack (to read) is their intangible assets. how they define it/ trademark globally is v impt to me.

i've been thro e some processes myself, ie. approaching lawyers to do transliteration for my restaurant, then calling up e IPOS office locally for further advice; upon submission, u need to wait typically 6 months if no objections ... those were e days lor.

[iam802]

On trademarks in Russia.

I have read before that registered trademarks needs to be in place before entry into market (and in the native language as well) . Without it, authorities may reject outdoor advertisements etc.

I can't confirm the above.

[LenaHuat]

Hi SanSan and iam802

Thanks a million for responding to this thread.
Both of U are holding very interesting jobs??? Me, only an otiose housewife. I am behind the curve abt branding and trademark issues. So I find both of your postings very educational. Please keep them up whenever U can at your comfortable pace.

There are lots of internet postings abt FE in Russian, Polish and Turkish. But I don't understand a word of them.

More to say abt FE :-
(1) The Indonesian conglomerate group, Salim, owns a 21.6% stake in FE. Bought it in 2006.
(2) Found something interesting from SGX's international roadshow slides when SGX launched the Catalist board. FE was listed on 7 Apr 2000. IPO price : US$0.076 Current : US$0.55. That's a CAGR of 27%!. PE is 10.61. Capitalization is US$242m (as at end Feb 2008).
(3) Juz broke into the Indian market via Chennai.
(4) Market-uncle's blog contain some interesting concerns abt FE's accounts receivables. He attended FE's recent AGM and solicited an unsatisfactory reply from the Chairman, who is a graduate of NUS School of Accountancy. Pretty strange for an accountant to muddle through an AR question?? It's pointless selling loads of stuff but unable to collect the cash.

OK, must try to lay my hands on some satchets of MacCoffee. Can't invest unless my palate confirms it's good coffee. Maybe visit its office in Geyland.

[helios]

dear Lena:

like to ask u what's your underlying thoughts to be vested in FE?

(had downloaded e latest annual report, will read thro it soon)

[LenaHuat]

Hi SanSan

It's the vast potential of the Russian, E European and the ***tan markets
3-in-1 coffee satchets are really a trophy Singaporean product. Some years ago, I accidentally met SuperC's boss in Almaty, Kazakstan. I was thoroughly impressed that he was promoting 3-in-1 coffee in such a frontier country. But I saw the great demand for such stuff.

Coffee is a fantastic biz in these markets. In our part of the world, we had taken coffee for granted for too long but not the consumers of these countries.