If you walk into any convenience store or especially 7-Eleven, chances are you will find sparkling fruity beverage Hausboom nicely bottled with trendy graphics on the shelves among other bigger and international brands. Did you know that Hausboom is a Malaysian brand? Read the story behind the founder, Azri Zahir.
1. Proudly made in Malaysia
Azri Zahir, the founder of Hausboom got the idea to create his own fizzy drink when he was on his trip to Saudi Arabia. Sitting in a cafe, he realised how people love to drink fizzy drinks – but sadly, they were not local beverages. It made him think that Malaysia is the world’s halal hub and none of the drinks come from here. On returning home, he got the idea to create the first halal fizzy drinks made in Malaysia.
2. Bottled in Besut, Terengganu
Azri started Hausboom with very little capital. He would mix the drinks himself by hand before he was able to purchase bottling machinery from China. When Hausboom started, he employed the help of friends and celebrities to level up the marketing strategy so that people would know the brand.
3. The story behind the name, Hausboom
No doubt, the brand name is a clever idea from Azri. The name Hausboom comes from the Bahasa word ‘
4. From Quantity Surveying to beverages maker
The 31-year-old guy was raised in Kampung Gajah and studied quantity surveying at the University of Malaya (UM). Since then had worked in a number of different jobs, though none of them had been in the beverage industry. He also had been chosen to receive an award from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) but decided not to continue working as a Quantity Surveyor.
5. All are made from real and concentrated juices
6. Available in 7-Eleven outlets
Azri shared that he had to slash Hausboom’s RM8 retail price by half soon after its launch, in order to gain market share. He took a financial loss in the first two quarters but the strategy has worked so far. Now, they are in over 10,000 outlets nationwide, available at key distributors like 7-Eleven, myNews, and Petronas Mesra stores, as well as cafes and restaurants.
7. Making 2.5 million bottles per month
Now, five years later, with a plant at Besut, Terengganu with a capacity of 2.5 million bottles a month, Azri exports the drinks to countries in Asia and Europe, with further 22 markets pending registration. The brand is available in Europe – Berlin and Birmingham as a result of Azri’s participation in a Malaysian trade mission to these two cities in 2017.
Besides, fizzy drinks also are now available in six overseas markets including Brunei, Maldives, South Korea and Sri Lanka.
8. Hasuboom welcome any investors to join in
For Azri, the big move for Hausboom in 2019 may come in the form of an outside company investing in. He realise the need to find more capital to scale up production and may soon entertain some of the overtures made by other beverage firms.
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