PETALING JAYA: The global Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the movement control order (MCO) locally, has caught most businesses off guard. The combined effects of both events have caused unprecedented shock to the supply chain and, unfortunately, Jobbie Nut Butter has not been spared the impact.
The artisanal peanut butter manufacturer told SunBiz that the extension of the MCO does mean things will be become tougher for the company.
CEO Victor Chin said ensuring a stable supply chain and a sufficient workforce will be the biggest challenge for Jobbie.
“Even if the suppliers obtain their permits to operate, they are still working at reduced capacity, and since we represent only a small portion of most suppliers’ businesses, they may just decide that it’s not worth it to operate at this moment and to wait out the MCO.
“A single disruption to one item may mean the entire production cycle will need to be suspended resulting in no product being manufactured,” he explained.
Although the food sector is exempted from the MCO, Jobbie’s production has been affected as it has to rely on other suppliers for its jars, peanuts, stickers and labelled jar caps.
Jobbie’s plight recently went viral on social media when the company posted a 45-day pre-order appeal on Facebook to its customers to keep its operations going.
Chin said the implementation of the MCO resulted in a spike in demand for its products, with about two months of its inventory being sold within just three weeks.
“We have received support from hundreds of new and existing customers, family members, friends and even companies. All they wanted to do was show that they supported Malaysian businesses and brands like ours,” he said.
Chin disclosed that prior to the MCO, the company did take measures to ensure sufficient reserves, both financially and otherwise, but had underestimated the actual impact.
As for the small and medium enterprises stimulus package offered by the government, Chin said while the soft loans and funds made available are a step in the right direction, most of the facilities provided are not applicable to Jobbie.
“As for those that we do qualify for, such as the special relief facility (SRF) and the automation & digitalisation facility (ADF), there has been so much uncertainty and most of the implementations are left to the bank itself with no uniform requirements mandated by the government, that it delays access to these funds,” said Chin.
He pointed out that establishments such as his, like most other SMEs, need access to capital fast and that there might be others that are already highly leveraged with financial commitments, and in worse shape.
In this regard, Chin suggested that the government mandate the implementation on fund disbursements across all banks and ease the application requirements so that the disbursement of the loans can be fast tracked.
“Time and quick access to capital is of essence to all SMEs right now,” he stated.
Moving forward, Chin said Jobbie will continue to reinvest in itself.
“For our future strategy, we will invest more in the diversification of our supply chain and strengthening our reserves to account for twice the projected worst-case scenario. We want to continue fulfilling the promise of delivering the best peanut butter in Malaysia to all Malaysians,” he said.
