MSC Indonesia and Malaysia Gear Up to Support Food and Beverage Importers Ahead of Ramadan

With Ramadan approaching in March, many countries around the world are expected to see an increased consumption in a variety of food and beverages. In Asia, the month is also widely celebrated and observed by many, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia. Correspondingly, these two countries are amongst the largest importers in the region for Ramadan-related goods such as date fruit and frozen meat.

Ahead of Ramadan, MSC has geared up to maximise operational efficiencies for both exporters and importers, and to meet the increased food and beverage transportation needs of our customers. We speak with Jeremy Franc, Managing Director of MSC Indonesia, and Fabienne Lerda, Managing Director of MSC Malaysia, to learn more about why MSC is your partner of choice for importing these precious foods for Suhoor and Iftar.

Q1: Why is MSC in a good position to help importers of Indonesia and Malaysia bring in date fruit and frozen meat?
Jeremy: Transporting date fruit requires meticulous care to preserve their freshness, taste, texture and aroma. Frozen meat is also temperature sensitive. To transport them safely, they need special care, precise and consistent temperature, as well as speed to safeguard against microorganisms. Therefore, a reliable and effective cooling technology is key to ensuring these. At MSC, we follow highly standardised control procedures and leverage the latest temperature control technology to optimise the cooling process.

We are also one of the world’s leading carriers in refrigerated transportation and operates one of the world’s largest and most advanced refrigerated container fleets. Every year, MSC carries more than 1.9 million reefer containers.

Fabienne: Besides our world-class technology and equipment, we also have a team of highly qualified experts in fresh and frozen cargo handling. They are continuously trained to meet the growing cold chain requirements of the market and to ensure our customers’ cargo is in safe hands at every stage of its journey, including in the importing countries.

In other words, what MSC provides is a perfect combination of equipment, expertise, experience and service, putting us in an excellent position in supporting importers of our countries.

Q2: What are the trade services and value-added solutions that MSC provide to help customers import these goods in an efficient manner?
Jeremy: As the largest container shipping company, MSC ships all around the world. In Indonesia, frozen meat is mainly imported from Australia, New Zealand with our Capricorn and Kiwi services respectively.  We are mindful that speed is important in preserving the freshness of these precious foods, so our Capricorn and Kiwi services provide direct connection with competitive transit times.

We also import frozen meat from India and Pakistan with the Indusa service that connects with Indonesia via our Indus Express service or the South India Feeder.

Meanwhile date fruit is primarily imported from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. From Saudi Arabia, we have a Middle East feeder that provide seamless connection with our Tiger service to deliver into Indonesia. For Tunisia which is in North Africa, our Tunis line feeder connects with the Jade service.

Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia by surface area. To further open up business opportunities for our importers, we provide inland transportation logistics (trucking) to smoothen their cargo journey.

Fabienne: For Malaysia, we import date fruit from Tunisia and Algeria via Jade service and with a seamless connection on the Orchid service. In terms of frozen meat, they are mostly from Brazil on our Ipanema service as well as from New Zealand with the New Kiwi Express service. These two services provide direct connection between various ports in Brazil and New Zealand with Malaysia to ensure quality and freshness of the meat.

As we use our own MSC depot in Malaysia, we can offer customers better control and information on their imports. We also provide intermodal haulage imports services to our customers’ warehouses or factories within Peninsular Malaysia and even across the border to Singapore or Thailand. Not forgetting our warehousing solution for customers who require storage space.

Today, with our dedicated intermodal team and a large network of quality transport providers, we can offer a single point of contact, customised solutions and timely update on their container delivery. 

Q3: Tell us more about MSC Indonesia and MSC Malaysia, respectively.
Jeremy: MSC has been providing its service and expertise in Indonesia since 1996. Today, we have around 180 staff dedicated to servicing the needs of our customers. We also have six offices across Indonesia; in Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Belawan, Panjang, and Palembang. These offices are located close to the main ports of Indonesia, giving us another competitive advantage. To provide more extensive service to our customers, we are also represented by sub-agents in Padang, Batam, Solo, Bandung, Makassar, and Bali. 

Fabienne: In Malaysia as well, we have a strong track record of servicing the needs of our customers with our experience and expertise. MSC first established its presence here in 2001 and we now have three offices located in Selangor, Penang and Johor. We also have an operational office in the Port of Tanjung Pelepas. In fact to serve our customers even better and to facilitate our growth here in Malaysia, we relocated our largest local office in Selangor to a bigger and more accessible building recently in December 2021.

Your Chilled and Frozen Cargo Is in The Safe Hands of MSC
Thanks to our unrivalled customer care, expertise and state-of-the-art technology, MSC is your optimal partner for importing these precious foods into Indonesia and Malaysia for Ramadan.

Request for a quote today or speak with our local MSC representatives in Malaysia and Indonesia. You can also read here for more information on our intermodal services that can be tailor-made to your needs.