Kelantan Businesswoman Breaks Into International Market With Chocolate Snacks

KOTA BHARU, Oct 26 (Bernama) -- With just RM300 in starting capital, 35-year-old Tengku Norhanim Tengku Othman has grown her chocolate and cereal-based snack business into an international brand, now sold in more than 20 countries.

The founder of NIMS Adeliciousz Sdn Bhd said she started in 2014 by making the chocolate cereal snack at her home in Wakaf Bharu, Tumpat, encouraged by her husband, Faiz Hussamuddin, 37.

“I started by making the snacks at home and selling them online. Soon, they began gaining strong demand from customers in neighbouring Thailand.

“However, when a massive flood hit Kelantan at the end of 2014, my stock was submerged and I suffered losses of between RM20,000 and RM30,000,” she told Bernama recently.

Tengku Norhanim said she bounced back the following year and continued to grow the business. Her hard work paid off when her product sales soared to RM500,000 per month in 2018, and she has since introduced new chocolate and cereal-based innovations to keep pace with evolving consumer tastes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, her products received overwhelming demand, enabling her to establish a network of more than 30,000 agents nationwide.

Tengku Norhanim, who now owns a production plant in Meru, Klang, said her chocolate and cereal-based products are known for their crunchy texture and cater to today’s evolving snack innovation trends. Among her latest offerings are milk chocolate and pistachio-flavoured chocolate spreads.

“The year 2022 was a turning point for my business when my products began entering major retail outlets in Malaysia, such as Giant, AEON, and Lotus’s. They are also exported to more than 20 countries, including the United States, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.

“My key to success is to never stop trying. If you fall, get back up, because my goal is to produce halal snacks of international standards and proudly carry Malaysia’s name onto the global stage,” she added.

-- BERNAMA