Introduction a. The business nature of the organization The Secret recipe’s real corporation name is Secret Recipe Cakes &Cafe Sdn. Bhd. Dato’ Steven Sim is the founder of Secret Recipe and their first outlet in SS2, Petaling Jaya; in 1997. They are locally registered companies under Companies Commission of Malaysia. Secret Recipe is a lifestyle cafe chain has become a household name following its debut 1997. It is a Malaysia born franchise Business. The Company has registered an impressive double-digit growth for the past 5 years.

In a short period of ten years, Secret Recipe has experienced a rapid growth of over 150 cafes throughout the region. Secret Recipe has successfully established its brand name in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Philippines by virtue of its quality cakes, fusion food and distinctive service. Their nature of business is bakery and categorized in food and beverage industry. Their core product is cake. Although they also provide several other foods and drinks such as pastries, hot meals and gourmet coffee, they still never lose their brand awareness and popularity over their cakes.

As a leading and largest cafe chain in Malaysia, with Halal certification awarded by Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia( JAKIM),they are committed to continue adhere to the standards of preparation of all food in the restaurant in accordance to the regulatory guidelines. Customers can always enjoy in confidence from more than 20 types of fusion food, 40 cake creations and pastries, with a flavorful range of ice cream and beverages offered in all Secret Recipe outlets. Apart from selling cakes and foods, Secret Recipe also emphasis on the service they provide to their customers such as providing online ordering system, delivery system.

Target market of Secret Recipe is focus on the medium and upper class society because they have good financial backgrounds and afford to buy the food in Secret Recipe which is a bit expensive if compare to the other outside foods such as chicken rice and noodles. Besides that, cheese-cake lovers also is the main target market of Secret Recipe, and another group of target market that Secret Recipe aim is the organization which they can book the whole Secret Recipe cafe to have their meetings and party.

Secret Recipe has launched its market to several countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and China and all over Malaysia. It expects its market will launched internationally in the future. Secret Recipe has earned numerous accolades every year; some of the more prominent ones are * Best Cheesecake Award 1998 * Most Original Chocolate Award 1999 * Best Cheesecake Award 2000 * Best Lamb Stew Award 2001 * Enterprise 50 Award 2002 b. Vision To achieve 100 outlets by the year 2006. c. Mission

At Secret Recipe, we continuously strive to surpass our own commitments, and to be recognized as a leader in our country. The philosophy of practicing quality and high standards is the utmost important brand value at Secret Recipe. Our principle remains the same in giving the best satisfaction to our valued customers. d. Objectives e. Competitors Competition is relatively high in the food and beverage industry in Malaysia. Secret Recipe competition is relatively high in the market as the rivalry not only from confectionery cake shop but also come from cafe such as Starbucks, Coffee Bean, and Dome and so on.

Those well-established competitors are providing variety of standard and delicious foods to its customers, and their variety of best services to attain customer brand loyalty. Thus, it is important for Secret Recipe to develop good strategies in order to compete in the same industry. f. The industry in general The Malaysian bakery and confectionery industry is in a period of change and expanding its precincts with the shift in consumers’ preferences. In 2004 the bakery and confectionery products reached rm2billion, growing 3% in current value terms over previous year.

According to industry analysis, the growth can be attributed to the rising health awareness in Malaysia. Similar to other packaged foods, such as confectionery products, consumers are becoming more concerned with their health. Throughout 2005 the health trend is expected to continue to be the main driver of growth for bakery products, in particular within the bread segment. A recent product launch of more health-oriented products signifies the potential of value-added products in Malaysia.

The current development in the industry is also a consequence of the economic growth in Malaysia. The increasing purchasing power has created a more western inspired demand pattern among the Malaysian consumers, which has lead to the entry of a large number of international fast food chains and the emergence of an abundance of foreign products in the Malaysian retail sector. The Bakery and Confectionery industry is, however, still to a large extend dominated by local players offering a more traditional product assortment.