F&N Beverages Marketing Sdn Bhd (FNBM) is one of the largest soft drinks manufacturer and distributor in Malaysia. The company operates four manufacturing plants nationwide, including its state-of-the-art facility at its headquarters in Shah Alam, Selangor. The main beverage products in FNBM including 100PLUS, F&N Fun Flavours, F&N Originals, SEASONS, Ice Mountain and Fruit Tree. F&N is formed in 1883 and it is one of the Singapore’s oldest companies and a well-known brand. Its traditional business was the production and distribution of beverages from its F&N range and licensed international brands.
The company has come a long way since 1883 when John Fraser and David Chalmers Neave formed The Singapore Straits Aerated Water Company. Years later, F&N was consolidated and the company’s love affair with the food and beverage industry began. The company corporate milestones include, among others, the pioneering and launching of the sweetened condensed filled milk in 1973, launching of a complete range of ice–cream products in 1974, the launch of 100 Plus isotonic drinks in 1983 , and the acquisition of Nestle’s canned milk business in Thailand and Malaysia in 2007.
Currently, the company together with its manufacturing arm, F&N Beverages Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, has a total workforce of about 1,400 employees in 23 offices throughout the country. F&N Beverages & Marketing Sdn. Bhd. (FNBM) is now Malaysia’s largest soft drinks manufacturer and distributor who operates 3 production plants and 10 warehouse centres. The multimillion dollar facility occupies over 31 hectares of land and has 11 production lines. The plant has a manufacturing capacity of 65 million cases of soft drinks a year.
In Malaysia, FNBM’s soft drinks portfolio consists of 100 PLUS, F&N Fun Flavours, SEASONS, Fruit Tree and the newly-launched Zesta and Clearly Citrus. But the most successful product that had been launched by FNBM is 100 PLUS. 100 PLUS is a great success story where it has commanding over 90 per cent share of the isotonic drinks market, while also the No. 1 ready-to-drink (RTD) brand in Malaysia. 100 PLUS is a thirst quenching caffeine-free isotonic drink. It is specially formulated to help to restore back energy where the body has lost during physical exertion and rehydrate your body to its optimal hydration balance.
Product Life Cycle of 100PLUS Introduction Stage: This is the stage for a company launching a new product to market. So, it is a slow sales growth compare to other stages. The goal of new product introduction is to gain consumer’s acceptance at the lowest possible cost in order to get high return of profit. 100 PLUS was firstly launched in Malaysia in 1983. Firstly, the size of the market for 100PLUS is still small, which means the sales of 100PLUS will be very low at beginning since it just been launched and recognized by people Ahead of its time with its Sports & Active Lifestyle positioning then, success do not come easily for 100PLUS.
However, the management of the F&N Company believes in the potential of the product and persevered. The company worked tirelessly and continued to invest resources, time and effort to build the brand and to promote 100PLUS to the sporting community who were then unfamiliar with the merits of isotonic beverages. Hence, this stage of the cycle will be expense a lot and very expensive. Growth Stage: In this stage, 100PLUS’s sales and profits start to increase rapidly. The 100PLUS product becomes well recognized at this stage and.
When people talks about 100PLUS, we will recognise it as scientifically-tested isotonic formulation which provide effective hydration, thus enhancing a person’s capability to perform at his or her peak. The people nowadays are more concern about health and have more workouts. Therefore, the sales are increasing and profits rise significantly and rapidly during this stage. The market distribution coverage is also been increased from time to time. In this stage, company invest more in promotion, improvement and distribution to convince customers and to maximize the potential of future sales.
Maturity Stage: During the maturity stage, 100PLUS is entering a stage of peak, where the rate of sale growth is become slower. Now, F&N Company has a main purpose is to maintain the market share they have built up. This is because the competitor for 100PLUS has been launched to fight against the market of isotonic drinks. For example, the potential competitors for 100 PLUS are REVIVE, H2O and more. So, the company need to consider any product modifications or improvements to the production process which might give them a competitive advantage.
For 100PLUS, F&N company try to differentiating their products from the similar products offered by the competitors. Therefore, F&N Company have introduce a brand new flavour of 100PLUS such as tangerine flavour and more for consumers. Decline Stage: In this stage, demand for 100PLUS will eventually drop as newer technologies and potential competitor are introduced. So, the sales of 100PLUS will significantly decrease over time. This shrinkage of 100PLUS market could be due to product differentiation.
This is because the consumers are switching to a different type of product beside than 100PLUS. Hence, companies need to reduce price or increase the product quality to survive in the completion. A company that maintains the product may continue increasing sales by finding new uses for the product. For example, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) through soft drinks unit F&N Beverages Marketing Sdn Bhd has signed a strategic beverage distribution agreement with AirAsia Bhd in its bids to grow the 100PLUS brand further. Conclusion
The enabling and empowering relevance of the brand across a wide cross-section of Malaysia’s public has propelled 100PLUS to be the country’s number one isotonic drink as well as the top-selling brand within the ready-to-drink beverage mark. The F&N Company has build 100PLUS with the aim that calling on more Malaysians have a healthy lifestyle while regain and dehydrate with 100PLUS after a fine workout. 100PLUS need to concern about consumer tastes, technology changes and competitor to stay dominate the market. Besides that, 100PLUS still need more R&D to target all the level of population include the youngster now.
