A Problem Shared

While a vital cog in a global organisation, KK Khoo ensures desmet ballestra in Malaysia practices good oldfashioned communication to sell the world of science.

- Wendy Kay

Kiak Kern Khoo, or KK as he prefers to be called, is a quietly confident man, a leader who doesn’t need to say a lot to get his point across. As the Managing Director of Desmet Ballestra Asia, a company he’s worked with for nearly three decades, he’s not interested in sales pitches and spin; his needs are simple. He just wants his customers to be happy.

“That’s the most important thing for me now,” he reflects. “It’s not about scoring points, it’s about working in partnerships. We have customers who have been with us longer than I’ve been with the company. In fact, 80 per cent are repeat customers and some of them have become very good friends; we get together as families.”

It’s a refreshing and personal insight into the Malaysian operations of a global company. Particularly when that company was founded more on science, technology and engineering than cultivating feelgood moments with people. And KK is an engineer, typically more interested in creating and building products and operations than developing relationships. Or at least he used to be.

Desmet Ballestra launched more than 70 years ago in Belgium as an equipment supplier for the edible oils industry. Today, it’s a world leader in developing, engineering and supplying technologies and equipment for three major industries: oils, fats and animal feed; oleochemical and biodiesel; and detergents, surfactants and related chemicals. Headquartered in Belgium, it has supplied more than 25,000 plants in more than 150 countries.