Ayam Brand (simply known as Ayam) is a multinational food company, specialising in prepared foods, including seafood, canned fish (sardines, mackerel, tuna) and canned vegetables, especially baked beans. Ayam's product offerings vary by country.[1] The sole owner of Ayam Brand is a company called Ayam S.A.R.L.

Ayam Brand
Company typePrivate Limited
IndustryFood processing
Founded1892; 132 years ago (1892)
FounderAlfred Clouet
HeadquartersSingapore
Area served
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, China, Australia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Netherlands, New Zealand, India, France, Sweden, Cambodia, Belgium, Portugal, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Vietnam
Key people
Ting Seng Hee, Fabien Alexandre Reyjal
ProductsSardines, mackerel, tuna, coconut, Asian sauces and pastes, fruits, vegetables, baked beans
OwnerAyam S.A.R.L.
Number of employees
1,000+
ParentDenis Frères Group of Companies
Websitewww.ayambrand.com

History

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Alfred Clouet, a French citizen, founded Ayam Brand in 1892 in Singapore, which at that time was a part of British Malaya. The business focused on supplying food for colonial staff. They also produced building materials. At that historic era, the food brand was created to be a seal of quality, as canned food was then regarded as a luxury, inaccessible to the general public. Clouet used a rooster as the logo of the brand; it was a symbol of his home country. The brand name was generated by local traders and consumers, as they started referring to the canned sardines or salmon as Ayam Brand (ayam being the Malay word for 'chicken' or 'rooster').[2][3][4]

In 1954, the company was taken over by the Denis Frères Group of Companies.[5][6] The name of the founder can still be found in some distribution company names: A.Clouet & Co. (KL) Sdn. Bhd. For Malaysia, Clouet Trading Pte. Ltd. for Singapore or A. Clouet (Australia) Pty. Ltd. for AustraliaNew Zealand.

Active in Malaya in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, the brand expanded out of its historical boundaries after the 1950s. Ayam Brand is a brand leader in specific Asian markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong for mass market products such as sardines, tuna, coconut or baked beans, while it is centred around Asian cuisine in Australia, New Zealand, France, and the United Kingdom.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Our Product Range (Singapore)". Ayum Brand. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b Dovert, Stéphane (2013). Malaisie-France (in French). Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia. ISBN 9789674302641. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  3. ^ Pilon, Maxime; Weiler, Danièle (2011). The French in Singapore (1819-today). Singapore: Edition Didier Millet Pte Ltd. p. 88. ISBN 978-981-4260-44-2.
  4. ^ "How a symbol of France ended up on the cans of Asia's Ayam Brand". South China Morning Post. 30 June 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  5. ^ Commerce et colonisation en Indochine (1860-1945): Les maisons de commerce françaises, un siècle d'aventure humaine Les Indes Savantes ISBN 2-84654-063-2
  6. ^ The French in Singapore (1819-today), Edition Didier Millet Pte Ltd (2011) ISBN 978-981-4260-44-2
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