Malaysia’s Pierre Pang talks Mamee Monster birthday parties, brand building and avoiding the 3-generation trap

Once, when facing off against his young son who was determined to have a Pokemon birthday party, Pang insisted that he had a “Mamee Monster” themed celebration instead – one that is regularly thrown at the business empire’s Malaccan headquarters.

“He doesn’t get to choose!” Pang said with a laugh.

The elder Pang first introduced Malaysia to the curly savoury snack in 1974, after noticing rubber tappers eating the uncooked instant noodles that his company had been making up until that point.

His son Pang Tee Chew, Pierre’s father, continued the family legacy by adding more snacks to the group’s collection over the years including Mister Potato crisps, Double Decker prawn crackers and Corntoz corn snacks.

Pierre Pang, who was educated at Wharton business school and Harvard University in the US, became group chief executive officer in 2022, having joined the business in 2009.

To say he is energetic is an understatement. Speaking to This Week in Asia in a wide-ranging interview, Pang espoused a determination to steer the company successfully towards its 100-year anniversary. It is now 53 years old.

“There isn’t a mandate [for new generations], so to speak. It’s [just] the voice of the second [and first] generations saying “don’t mess this up”,” he said.

“Don’t fulfil the third-generation prophecy … [in which] the Chinese save for generations … the first generation builds a business, the second grows it and the third one crashes it … That’s what keeps us up at night.”

Pang plans to ramp up revenue and get rid of some product lines, including its Nutrigen yogurt, saying the company does not have to “do too many things” to do well.

He wants to transform the stereotyped view of Mamee as a “Chinaman company” that only wants to make