Legendary Investor Takes You Inside The Factory That Manufactures Fish Balls

The Franklin Templeton asset manager has made his name scouring the world for investments in countries like Thailand, Egypt, Mongolia, and anywhere else where growth is hot.

His latest adventure? A fish ball factory in Thailand, which he details on LinkedIn.

He writes:

On a recent visit to Thailand, my investment team and I had the opportunity to visit one of the world’s largest producers of fish balls, which are typically served in a bowl of hot noodles or dipped in sauce. Fish balls are popular throughout Asia and sold in street stalls and restaurants, and a recent boom in instant noodle sales is, in turn, helping boost the fish ball business. Fish balls have a firm, jelly-like and rubbery texture when you bite into one and release a delicious, mild fish taste. As an investor (and a foodie), I was quite interested in learning both about the market for fish balls and how they’re made.

The Thai company our team visited produces over 6,000 tons of fish balls per year, and exports its products to markets around the world. In Hong Kong, a big market for fish balls, an enterprising entrepreneur had even created a fish ball vending machine. Customers were able to get a cup of fish balls by dropping a HK$5 coin or using their “Octopus card” (smart card payment system) at the vending machines.

I often wondered what fish balls were made of. At the Thai factory, I learned that the content is 90% fish with about 10% corn starch added to make a paste so the mixture can be easily formed into balls. Seasonings like salt, sugar and some vegetable grounds from carrot or seaweed are secondary ingredients.

In addition to being interesting from a manufacturing standpoint, Mobius is giving a very realistic look at what emerging market investing is all about: Going to places, seeing the factories, talking to management, etc.

He also tweeted two great images of the factory. The second one is really cool.