Highlight of the Study Tour

The highlight of the tour has been our last stop. David and Jason took us to the Employee Housing Project. It is difficult to put in words the gratitude felt by the employees involved in this program and the impact it has on the community, I will instead post some photos and video clips of the event we attended in an attempt to portray the day. The crew were enormously humbled and the work of those that have made this whole program happen are to be applauded and if this can be an outcome of a group such as EPFM investing in its employees, community then in is well worthwhile.

Bigger is Better - Eastern Pearl Flour Mill (EPFM)

Jason Craig, CEO of the EPFM and David Capper Operations Manager of EPFM gave the crew an incredibly detailed overview of the operating environment and as they are both formally of the CBH Group were able to give a fantastic insight as to the part WA Growers play and how they can make more of the WA crop into the Asian market. 



David takes the stairs (9 flights)

 The Eastern Pearl Flour Mill (EPFM) is actually two mills separated by a road (but connected via a conveyor) and the group were treated with a tour of each Mill, The Oldest Mill is the Seaside Mill and the other is called the City Mill (obvious reasons, ie the port is located at the Seaside Mill highlight for was both the view from the top of the Sea Side Mill and the 38year old Rollers, that still operating as well as the day they were commissioned.

The crew were split into two groups, Dave and Joseph took both tours.

Dave took the crew on a tour of Seaside and Joseph took the other group on a tour of City Mill. Roger has confirmed himself as the fittest of the group having climed to the top of each mill we visited, well done Roger.

Once again the message was clear, Quality and Consistency is a key as is the growing requirement for Quality assured processes in every step of the grain to flour value chain.

The crew would like to thank Jason, David and their team. All parts of the IFHL Group have had one thing in common…. A Great Team… the Management at each location has been first class and is a mix of local and international staff and the relationship with the group management is first class, I think the CBH Group and WA Growers are looking forward improving this already valuable relationship.

The highlight of the tour has been our last stop. David and Jason took us to the Employee Housing Project. I will provide details and photos of this tomorrow, but it was a humbling experience for the crew and David and Jason and the EPFM should be enormously proud.

Quick post from my iphone

Hi folks, this just a quick post from my iPhone. We are on our way to the eastern pearl flour mills. The mills are the largest in the IFHL group and have 6 times the capacity of anything we have seen to date and about 90% of the flour produced is exported.

The crew would like to congratulate Caroline House on her award as House Captain ;)

I will post photos later in the day.

No Internet

At The Munchy Factory

Apologies for the delayed post, however after being spoilt for Internet coverage in Vietnam and Singapore we were unable to get online in Malaysia. It has been a big few days

On Monday we left Singapore for the Munchy Biscuit Factory.

An first class, modern facility that takes about 1000tonnes of flour a month from IFHL. We were unable to take photos of the facility due to the specialised nature of some of the processes, however we were given a extremely detailed view of the manufacturing line and we were all left suitably impressed (with sample bags in tow).

Once again the clear message from Munchy was one of quality control and consistency of product.

Much of the day was taken up with travel, we were on a bus for about 6 hours.

Presentation on the Mills

On Tuesday we had the pleasure of touring the Prestasi Flour mill and associated Panatura Plant.

Dr Nas started the day with a fantastic and passionate overview of the work he and his team conduct and it is clear they are on a winner with their specialised and patented dough starter. There are numerous products and IFHL Intellectual Property involved, however Dr Nas was very excited to show us through the process of creation of the Panatura products.

After this we were whisked away for a tour of the Prestasi Flour Mill which is in the process of being upgraded to double capacity. This gave the group a great opportunity to see the machinery up close as they were in shutdown for the morning, of great interest was the specialised video/Infrared grain sorter. The IFHL group really do understand how gain competitive advantage over their competitors through the building of IP and the clever use of technology.

Wednesday, we are travelling for most of the day and with an once of luck we should be in Makassar Indonesia by 5pm before travelling to the hotel by bus and arriving at 7:30pm. I am hopeful I can begin the daily updates once in Indonesia.

Nice Watch Bob

No Internet

Apologies for the delayed post, however after being spoilt for Internet coverage in Vietnam and Singapore we were unable to get online in Malaysia. It has been a big few days

On Monday we left Singapore for the Munchy Biscuit Factory.

An first class, modern facility that takes about 1000tonnes of flour a month from IFHL. We were unable to take photos of the facility due to the specialised nature of some of the processes, however we were given a extremely detailed view of the manufacturing line and we were all left suitably impressed (with sample bags in tow).

Once again the clear message from Munchy was one of quality control and consistency of product.

Much of the day was taken up with travel, we were on a bus for about 6 hours.

On Tuesday we had the pleasure of touring the Prestasi Flour mill and associated Panatura Plant.

Dr Nas started the day with a fantastic and passionate overview of the work he and his team conduct and it is clear they are on a winner with their specialised and patented dough starter. There are numerous products and IFHL Intellectual Property involved, however Dr Nas was very excited to show us through the process of creation of the Panatura products.

After this we were whisked away for a tour of the Prestasi Flour Mill which is in the process of being upgraded to double capacity. This gave the group a great opportunity to see the machinery up close as they were in shutdown for the morning, of great interest was the specialised video/Infrared grain sorter. The IFHL group really do understand how gain competitive advantage over their competitors through the building of IP and the clever use of technology.

Wednesday, we are travelling for most of the day and with an once of luck we should be in Makassar Indonesia by 5pm before travelling to the hotel by bus and arriving at 7:30pm. I am hopeful I can begin the daily updates once in Indonesia.

A day of Travel

Today is really a day of travel. I am writing this while we are waiting at the gate of the International Airport at Ho Chi Minh. Everywhere we have gone there has been free wifi internet, Australia has a long way to go in this respect.

We will leave Vietnam after a very educational tour of the IFV Mills and the associated distribution channels and make our way to Singapore. A few of us will go and watch Sergey play his game of Soccer.

Tomorrow we will go to see the Munchy Biscuit Factory in Kuala Lumpur.

Munchy’s Biscuit Factory is located at Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia and is one of

Malaysia’s leading business of its product

Vietnam Tourist

Ladies and Gentleman,

After our tour of the flour distribution channel, several members of the party took the opportunity to go and see some Vietnamese tunnels and see for ourselves the conditions and ingenuity of the Vietnamese people. I must admit to being fairly naïve when it comes to the history of the Vietnam war, so feel free to follow a few of these links to find out more

Legend Hotel Ho Chi Minh

Vietnam War Wiki Page

Chi Tunnels - Wiki Link

A working 'Man Trap'



our guide is about to show us how they
entered the tunnel



This is where the 'weapons' are made

A few members of the crew and our IFHL representative

We took the opportunity to see another local industry
the rubber industry

they scar the tree and let the rubber collect in small bowls
very labour intensive