History
We are proud of our past and strive to a successful future...
Our history
It all started more than 60 years ago at a modest family-run business that made and sold home-made traditional pastries to local groceries and supermarkets. Our founders took a great pride in work, baking and packing our food with love and care. While the food was sold fresh on the same day it was made, business was nevertheless limited to geographical locations that were not too far away; any further and it would have had been difficult to ensure the food stayed fresh throughout the journey! By mid-1980s, however, as the business was gaining a steady lead in the local market, there was the inevitable need to expand beyond Malaysia shores.
One problem: how to ensure exports stayed fresh on the journey abroad? Our founders had already ruled out using preservatives and artificial ingredients that did not spoil easily, as we believed in providing everyone with only authentic and safe food of the highest quality. In our quest to find a way to lengthen their food’s shelf life and retain its Asian heritage and home-made goodness, our founders found a solution: we would freeze our products. This decision changed the course of their business and resulted in the brand known today as Kawan Food.
1960s
Kawan's humble beginnings
A family started making traditional food products such as pau, spring roll pastry & kuih manually. The making of such traditional food can be a tedious, involves many processes. Predicting that this may become a dying trade, the son, Mr T.C. GAN, began to automate the process. He then went a step further to preserve the freshness through freezing to extend the reach of traditional food to more people
1970s
Kian Guan Trading was founded
In the late 1970s, Gan Thiam Chai founded Kian Guan Trading as a sole proprietorship. It started by supplying traditional and homemade pastry products such as “Kuih Bakul” – Chinese New Year Gold Cake and “kulit Popiah” – Spring Roll Pastry to local groceries and supermarkets
1984
2000
2002
Awards & recognition
KFM awarded the Enterprise 50 Award for 2002 by SMIDEC and Accenture
KFM awarded the International Award For Best Performance by Council of International Awards, U.K.
The automation process of Roti Paratha accredited with HACCP. We are proud to be the first company in the world to manufacture frozen roti parathas and chapattis through automation.
2003
More awards & recognitions
KFM awarded the Enterprise 50 Award for 2003 by SMIDEC and Accenture
Roti Paratha named as a Highly Commended Product by Malaysia Institute of Food Technology (MIFT)
KFM awarded a Golden Bull Award 2003 by Nanyang Siang Pau Berhad
KFM was awarded the 2nd Asia Pacific International/ Malaysian Honesty Enterprise Keris Award by the Enterpreneur Development Association of Malaysia together with several other joint organisers
2004
2005
2006
2008
2011