Our Mission
Our Company is dedicated to identifying quality products and consumer needs, while building manufacturer, supplier, and consumer confidence in our abilities to serve in the development, marketing, representation and distribution of these products.
Our Philosphy
Our business philosophy has remained unchanged since Khong Guan Corporation opened its doors more than two decades ago: To provide quality products with strong marketing support at a reasonable price.
Our History
Khong Guan Biscuit Factory (S) Pte Ltd. (KGB) manufactures a wide range of biscuit, crackers, cookies and chocolate-related products enjoyed by families around the world. Established in 1947 in Singapore, KGB has grown over the years from a local household name to the major worldwide brand it is today.
In the process of establishing a worldwide presence, KGB began to recognize the full potential of the US market. That led to the incorporation of KHONG GUAN CORPORATION (KGC) in 1982 as a US-based company that would specialize in the product development and marketing of its namesake biscuits.
From humble beginnings in a small home office in Berkeley, California - mainly to facilitate the appointment of exclusive agency for our biscuits - KGC saw growing demand for proper market representation and just-in-time inventory control of our products.
It wasn't long before we needed our own warehouse to better serve our customers. So four years later in 1986, we rented a 2,500 sq.ft. warehouse on Tripaldi Way in Hayward, California and started to expand our network to reach the entire North American market.
Based on the success or our unique marketing-based and geographically exclusive distribution strategy, we signed our first third party agency agreement with Cerebos, maker of the popular BRAND'S Chicken Essence, in 1987. At the time, BRAND'S had less than 5% market share; since partnering with KGC, market share has grown to more than 80% in 1991 and to over 90% at present. As a result, KGC has been awarded Cerebos' Best Performance Distributor Award four times since recognition began six years ago.
Khong Guan Biscuit's own market share grew from a modest 4% in 1986, to become market leader in just three years and was the first Asian biscuit manufacturer to produce TV and newspaper ads in the U.S.
The year 1989 witnessed further expansion as we acquired the Northern California distributor of our biscuits, King Wai Trading Company. To grow both businesses, we purchased 1.5 acres of land near our original Hayward warehouse and built a 26,000 sq.ft. warehouse of our own.
In 1991, after observing that many Filipino manufacturers lacked the proper representation to serve the second largest Asian population in North America, KGC accepted requests by several well-known Filipino food manufacturers to represent them as North American Marketing Coordinator. Working on behalf of these clients we assist ed in trade marks registration, resolve d many US FDA regulation issues, and implemented cohesive plans to market their product s across North America. Wi th an initial transaction of one to two containers per month nationwide, we've grown our Filipino business to more than 10 containers per month for the Northern California market alone. We now represent major manufacturers from China, Korea, Taiwan, The Philippines, Indonesia , Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam .
Given our increasing variety of products and our commitment to maintaining inventory on each item, KGC was bound to see further expansion. In 1993 our vision for growth was once again turned into reality - this time almost tripling our existing storage capacity via the acquisition of a 3.5 acre lot in the heart of Union City, California, our present corporate headquarters.
To deliver the most value for our clients and customers, we incorporated many innovations to maximize efficiency in our new modern warehouse including eight fully-integrated container docking stations, an in-house full-size cold storage facility, an advance d first-in-first-out inventory flow control system, and in-building main office s for close coordination and monitoring.
In 1996, our distribution company, King Wai Trading, began distributing outside of California to Colorado and Utah . In 1998, King Wai expanded its reach to the Pacific Northwest. King Wai now distributes to virtually all Asian stores west of the Mississippi. And 2006 saw the opening of our third regional warehouse near Seattle, Washington, proving our commitment to organic, manageable geographic growth.
Over the years KGC has been equally committed to the mainstream market as well. Our namesake Khong Guan Biscuits have been carried by mass market chains like Safeway, Lucky's, and Costco since the late 1980s. We are also active members of The National Association For The Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). We regularly exhibit in The NASFT's Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco and have exhibited at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City. We use these and similar events as platforms to promote our Asian brands to mainstream market buyers, providing our clients the potential for brand development beyond ethnic markets in North America .