[INTRO]duction to Food Branding: What is food branding?

Food branding is a term for food whereby it is a marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that helps identify and differentiate a product from the others. It is derived from the perception, style and what the food is.

[Re]search Objective:

To research the identification of food brands in different areas and how the surrounding can affect the food brand itself and the behaviour of the people.

[I]CC

Integrated Commercial Complex (ICC) in Pudu is known as Imbi market in the olden days. Until on the March of 16th 2016, where the KL’s favourite breakfast place are asked by the city hall (DBKL) to relocated into the new premises by April the 1st. This is due to the Tun Razak Exchange development by the 1Malaysia Development BErhad (1MDB).

Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea

One of the most popular stalls in Imbi market which draws the crowds with is aromatic Hainan tea, kaya toast and half – boiled eggs; a perfect way to start a breakfast. Its Hainan tea is only brewed specially by Mr. Tan Yu Wai, the second-generation owner of the stall and his wife.

Environment:

The store is located nearby the entrance of the ICC. It has a huge open space where Mr.Tan could place their own tables and chairs. As it is such a huge place, he shares it with the other stalls as it is a waste to leave the space empty. This is also due to the fact that he and the other stall owners are close friends.

Surrounding space:

As the space is huge and wide, the surrounding is clean. It is quite humid at times, especially in the afternoon as some complained, this can cause a slight degrade in the mood of preparing their meals as they would get agitated and irritated easily. In fact, as the preparation of food degrades, this can also cause a chain reaction to the crowd as well as the taste will not be as nice as their usuals.

[O]utdoor Food Stalls

Stalls that are presumed to not wanting to relocate inside the ICC or unlicensed ones.

Environment:

Located just outside of various premises, it is quite crowded and packed as the stalls are placed next to each other with tight fittings. The air is polluted with the moving vehicles nearby. With limited amount of space, the chairs and tables are placed near to each other which leads to lack of walking space.

Surrounding space:

As the space is tight and packed, it can cause humidity in the air. The mood of the owner as well as the crowd could easily change. Affected by also the vehicle pollutant air, the hygiene of the food is fairly degraded. Thus, this leads to poor preparation of food and poor taste of food.