Before touring the plant we watched an informational video about the business. It began in 1965 and was the first mill in Malaysia. The mill is older and is looking to improve, but was built with very reliable equipment and has withheld a high standard over time. A very vital part of MFM's infrastructure is its very own port. Unlike other mills in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, MFM can directly receive the raw products it process and send them back out again from one location. These raw products for milling originate from the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
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| Bethany M. and I pose for a picture at the top of the silos |
Our tour began at the top of the facility. From the roof we could see the silos and the port. In the 70 silos, 65,000 tons of grain can be stored. As we continued our tour, we worked our way down the different levels. This is because the raw products move through the facility this way in order to be processed. Along with seeing the path that the products travel through the mill, we went into the board room which electronically lets the workers see the functions of the mill. Many of these workers have engineering based backgrounds.
The final products of the mill include 23 brands of flour. The different types are used for a variety of final products from hot buns to noodles. Their customer base is made up of about 60% manufacturing and 40% retail. Although there are tests run on the flour for every order made, there are no bread origins regulations and therefore cannot demand bread standards from those who further process the flour. Before we headed to our second tour of the day we were given samples of bread that they were baking for testing, which were so good we were tempted to take a whole loaf!
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| pellet machine from the feed mill |
Our second tour of the day was the feed mill right next door. This feed mill is a part of MFM vertically integrated company and was born from the company to utilize by-products from the flour milling. Unlike feed mills back home, they had rations for bullfrogs, among other popular livestock, such as poultry. It was really neat to see their machinery and their lab for nutritional analysis, even if this is the likely culprit for my nasty eye infection. That story will continue at a later date.
The last agricultural visit of the day was to the Dindings Poultry Processing Plant, which began in 1990 as a subsidiary of the MFM. Like the egg processing plant in Vietnam, we got the opportunity to meet with the business leaders to learn about their company and then suit up in white, lab garb for a sanitary tour. Probably because we were dealing with raw meat, and the more advanced state of Malaysian agriculture the bio-security standards were a bit higher. We were able to see the beginning and end products of the processing facility, except for the actual slaughter of the chickens. The blood from the chickens is processed for blood meal back at the feed mill. The most popular product from this company are leg quarters, which come from the 50-60 thousand birds processed daily.
While making our way to Kuala Lumpar we got to have a couple of cultural visits. The first was a gas/rest station, which to me was more like the food court at a mall! We had the chance to grab some cheap and good coffee. Our final destination for the night before the hotel was the Batu Caves, just outside the city. It is home to the largest statue in the world of the Hindu deity Lord Murugan. Behind the statue are 272 steps which leads to the caves. We all trekked to the top, and some of us even got "blessed"...or something.
I know I haven't been very good about posting lately, but please keep following my trip through Malaysia!
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