Ayam Brand
is rooted in Malaysia from colonial times, with products that have been a
well-loved household staple for five generations or more. Most Malaysians have
fond memories of the brand, summing it up as “I grew up with it”.
Mouse mommy
and family will prepare high calcium breakfast with Ayam Brand sardines in
tomato sauce, bread, lettuce, cheese and tartar sauce to kick start our morning
during weekend. Sometimes, MR and MH will helping mouse mommy to prepare the mixture
of the sardines with tartar sauce. Yummy! Adults and kids like it too!
Ayam Brand was founded in Malaya in
1892 as a trading business for luxury products imported from France. The now
iconic logo featured a rooster and the name of the founder, Alfred Clouet. Locals
simply called it ‘Ayam Brand’ or ‘Cap Ayam’ from the image of the rooster. The
local nickname stuck and a few decades later the Alfred Clouet brand was officially
renamed Ayam Brand, that has grown into a global brand with a pronounced
Malaysian character.
At
the time of Malaysian independence, the name of the company, “Clouet Malaya”
ceased to exist. A new company called A.Clouet and Co.(KL) Sdn Bhd was
established in 1957 in Jalan Ipoh in Kuala Lumpur. A member of the Negeri
Sembilan royal family, the late Tunku Tan Sri Mohamed Tunku Besar Burhanuddin
was originally one of the main shareholders. Today, his son Dato
Mu'tamir Bin Tunku Tan Sri Mohamed is still one of the the main shareholders of
the company, very much in keeping with Ayam Brand’s values of heritage and
continuity.
While the Ayam rooster has barely
changed over the years, the story behind the iconic red and yellow colours of
Ayam Brand sardines and mackerel in tomato sauce are known to very few. These colours were introduced in 1960 to
highlight the products’ superior quality, as Ayam Brand began to source premium
sardines from Japan. The packaging became a symbol of the region with consumers
identifying Ayam Brand Sardines by the brand’s colours of red and yellow.
When I am in sick, my mom will cooks
porridge that served together with Ayam Brand sardines in tomato sauce for me.
That's my family memories that keep in my mind. As for now, mouse mommy also
practice it for my kids. Thank You Mom.
Beginning in 1975, Ayam Brand began
implementing more stringent controls on
the product quality of its sardines, investing in a factory in Taiping, Perak. Today,
with 1,200 Malaysian employees it is the biggest sardine cannery in South East
Asia. All Ayam Brand sardines that are available in more than 30 countries
internationally are proudly canned in Taiping.
Ayam Brand factories hold the highest
certification with respect to quality, cleanliness and hygiene. The brand is
among a select few to be authorized to export to the United States of America
and Europe. One of the most important in Malaysia is JAKIM certification, which
covers not only religious requirements but also certifies the quality and
hygiene of production. Ayam Brand features on JAKIM’s ‘white list’ of the most reliable food companies.
Ayam Brand is renowned for its quality. The production processes are
still very manual as special care is required. Besides stringent fish
selection, more than 1,000 qualified Malaysian workers cut, gut and wash the
sardines by hand. The sardines are also gently placed in cans by hand so that
the fish remains in perfect condition. Quality is the basis for all Ayam Brand
products, with 120 staff employedin the quality department to ensure that the
highest standards are not only maintained but constantly improved.
Besides that, mouse mommy also loves
to prepare spaghetti with Ayam Brand sweet corns and sardines for family. As
in, MR and MH loves to drink sweet corn soup too.
Ayam Brand sardines originate from
cold seas. They differ from local sardines in that they are fattier, juicer and
therefore tastier.
Despite being a staple, Ayam Brand
sardines are perceived to be higher priced compared to fresh fish. The truth is
that after fresh fish is prepared (gut head and tail removed), it loses close
to half its weight, which will then be further reduced by an additional 10 to
20% while cooking.
Compare this to quality canned sardines where the full
weight of the fish can be consumed, quickly and conveniently with no mess in
the kitchen, and no clean up after. This explains why canned sardines remain an
affordable source of fish meat.
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