dates back to the 1960s when the family of Gan Thiam Chai made and sold pastries such as “pau, spring roll and kuih.’’
All these were made manually then. It was only in the 1970s that he started a smallish outfit known as Kian Guan Trading Co and from there continued to expand the range of its products and supplied them to local grocers and supermarkets.
Kian Guan was subsequently renamed Kawan Food Bhd – now one of the major suppliers of frozen food.
Its products are also found in various supermarkets and grocery stores locally and in 36 countries globally. Its major export markets include the United States, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Kawan was listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2005.