When discussing Indian snacks, what comes to mind? The tender, fluffy naan bread often served with curry sauce or samosa that has a crispy and flaky outer layer and a spicy meat filling.
 
This traditional fare can be seen in the factory of Anko Food Machine Co. Ltd. located in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District. And they are all produced mechanically instead of by hand.
 
Along with India’s booming economic growth, an increasing number of women from the subcontinent have entered the workforce. As career women, they need to prepare dishes quickly so demand for frozen food has risen significantly. That development consequently creates a huge new market for frozen food processing equipment.
 
Anko has captured this trend. Although it only posts NT$500 million (US$16.7 million) in annual revenue and employs around 100 people, the manufacturer is now a major equipment supplier to India’s top-three frozen food companies. Even Sridharan Madhusudhanan, director-general of India-Taipei Association, is impressed with the firm.
 
Founded by Robert Ouyang in 1978, Anko was among the first batch of frozen food processing equipment-makers in Taiwan. At that time, the country was undergoing rapid industrialization, opening business opportunities for frozen food. Ouyang started his own business manufacturing automatic sprouters for families and restaurants, and then dumpling and meat bun machines. Almost all leading Taiwan frozen food companies, including Uni-President Enterprises Corp., have bought its products.
 
But Taiwan’s food market is too small and has reached a saturation point. To survive, Ouyang sought to expand into foreign markets and target ethnic Chinese customers, first by developing dim sum machines. He also started to pay attention to India.
 
The chairman said he discovered many similarities between Chinese and Indian foods made using flour, and it might be possible to produce them using similar equipment. At that time, the South Asian country still had a low per capita income, but its market would pick up someday given a population of over 1.3 billion people. He knew that a small company like his could not waste time as big business was starting to knock on the door of the Indian market.
 
In 1985, Ouyang developed the first samosa machine. Later, he jetted to India and visited numerous grocery stores and wet markets to conduct field research. He also participated in several trade missions organized by Taipei City-based Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) to gain a better understanding of the local market.
 
Ouyang readily confesses his nongourmet status. Yet, the truth is he possesses extensive knowledge of India’s dining culture. Citing the similarities between Chinese and Indian food, he said meat buns and dumplings in the former are almost identical to the ones in the latter, except for the fillings. By using the same machine and tinkering with the ingredients, it is possible to produce authentic Indian dishes.
 
After spending a lot of time studying Indian cuisine and looking for business partners on the subcontinent, Ouyang finally found an agent who had a successful track record of cooperating with a German company. The agent is solvent and boasts good business communication and negotiation skills. It comes as no surprise that Ouyang entrusts him to sell the company’s products.
 
Apart from finding the right business partner, Ouyang has spent many years studying web design and investigating internet marketing. He has since developed online sales strategies using keywords such as “dumpling” in different languages like English, Hindi and Russian to boost his website rankings and traffic.
 
On Anko’s official website, there are about 44,400 pages introducing its various products in great detail together with YouTube clips. The company has attracted many Indian customers through this platform. Still, it was not until 2010 after having entered the Indian market 20-plus years that Anko started to register a 5 to 10 percent growth in sales. As a result of its early market entry, the company is cooking up a storm with India’s leading frozen food companies.
 
But rising business opportunities bring market competition. The best way to stand out from the crowd is to improve product quality. Compared to the equipment provided by a rival vendor that can produce 1,000 items such as meat buns per hour, Anko’s high-efficiency machine can turn out up to 6,000 per hour. Ouyang has also set up a food testing center allowing its customers to taste the products on the spot. If they are not satisfied, the machine settings can be adjusted immediately.
 
Thanks to its early market deployment, there is no question Anko is well-positioned to continue growing its business on the back of India’s increasingly affluent consumers.