Solving 7-Eleven Fresh Food Dilemma

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4th February 2014

The 7-Eleven in Malaysia is a strange breed. It does not carry as much ready-to-eat meals as the 7-Elevens in other markets. Why have a quick-meal fix at a convenience store when you have an even tastier and affordable food that is available 24/7, seven days a week. What I mean is the ubiquitous never-sleep mamak stores where a simple, yet delicious roti canai costs only RM 1.20. At 7-Eleven, the supposedly ‘fresh’ nasi lemak would have been prepared and displayed so many hours until it becomes unpalatable once you buy it in the evening.

Image taken in May 2012. Looks fresh on the poster

7-Eleven has in many occasions worked really hard to improve its in-store ready-to-eat food. It even carried out an in-store consumer survey few years back on ways to improve its ready-to-eat offerings. Why would 7-Eleven want to focus on in-store food? The key reason is higher profit margin. It doesn’t cost much to buy such food from suppliers but when sold to consumers, the price can easily double or triple. In China, 7-Eleven’s foodservice delivers up to 60% in margin, according to Southern Metropolis Weekly.

The only way to win the foodservice battle is to change the product mix. Nasi lemak and mee goreng do not look fresh when sold through convenient store. Therefore, the key to success is hot food that looks fresh. Ready-to-eat meal is ideal because it is quick to prepare and is served hot. CP Malaysia is quick to grab hold of this opportunity and is bringing its ready-to-eat products to convenience stores and petrol stations nationwide. The plan is to have products in 1,700 convenience stores across the country in 2014.

CP’s Minute Meals On-The-Go compliments 7-Eleven existing ready-to-eat offerings such as sausages as well as coffee and instant noodles. The picture below is the newly renovated 7-Eleven outlet at Mont Kiara. On the left is a counter serving warm food and in the centre is CP’s chiller with a wide variety of ready-to-eat meals.

The price seems reasonable. It is RM 7.00 for Chicken Tom Yum with Rice, Spaghetti with Chicken Sauce, Spaghetti with Carbonara Sauce, Spaghetti with Mushroom Cream Sauce, RM 6.00 for Chicken Green Curry with Rice, Stir Fried Chicken and Chilli with Rice and Cooked Shrimp Wanton, RM 5.00 for American Fried Rice and Nasi Lemak with Chicken Rendang and RM 3.60 for Kampung Fried Rice and Fried Rice with Chicken Sausage.

The next issue is the seating arrangement. the 7-Eleven in Malaysia is changing its previous grab-and-go strategy with a new dine-in plan. In Indonesia, 7-Eleven has been very successful by positioning itself as a hang-out place for young consumers where Wi-Fi is free and there are plenty of seats for them to chat while eating ready-to-eat meals and drinking beverages bought in stores. In Malaysia, the latest 7-Eleven layout with seating area serves the same purpose and this will help spur the consumption of ready-to-eat meals.

Another thing that 7-Eleven can do is to sell pau or bun, a favourite food among all the races in Malaysia. 7-Elevens in China and the Philippines have done it so i think it is about time 7-Eleven starts selling pau here.

Lunar New Year Coffee Ritual

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Mini Me Insights

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28th January 2014

Starbucks announced in early January 2014 that it has introduced gift cards at select locations in China. According to the press release, the cards come in three unique designs – Happy Lunar New Year, Kind Regards and Thank You. Unfortunately, the cards are not available in the prosperous Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu markets where coffee consumption has become quite widespread.

Starbucks China president Belinda Wong is correct to say that “the Lunar New Year is a time when family and friends gather to meet, connect and share stories.” So it is good marketing by Starbucks to associate itself with the Lunar New Year, a period when consumers loosen their wallets.

Coffee drinking can be foreign to Chinese consumers but it is no longer a novel beverage. Coffee has been made accessible thanks to the spread of Starbucks and a host of Taiwanese and local pseudo, hybrid coffee chains in the country where steak and Chinese tea are served alongside your normal cup of espresso.

There is a potential to make coffee drinking part of the Lunar New Year consumption/gift-giving ritual as premium coffee goes well with the hamper.

Brands are working hard to themselves part of the Lunar New Year ritual. Below are two examples, one in China and one in Malaysia.

Minute Maid in China encourages consumers to shake the Minute Maid bottle in a traditional gesture so that you can easily achieve what you want in life including love and career.

In Malaysia, Nestle’s Maggi instant noodle wants Malaysians to celebrate Chinese New Year with its instant noodle through the local ritual of performing the Prosperity Toss or Lou Sang. In this example, Maggi instant noodle is used in place of shredded vegetables.

Ah Huat to the Silverscreen

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Mini Me Insights

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25th January 2014

Huat Ah movie — Huat Ah! Huat Ah! Huat! CNY movie

Power Root’s Ah Huat character has proven to be extremely versatile in product branding and marketing. Huat (发） means prosperity in the Hokkien dialect. Now Power Root, the maker behind the Ah Huat White Coffee range, is furthering the success of the Ah Huat character with a Chinese New Year film telling his life’s story. The movie depicts the character as a person “who strives for success with his motto of “being honest.” Ah Huat, according to the official description “reflects the typical Malaysian Chinese who treats everyone with kindness and sincerity.”

The Ah Huat character is the embodiment of the ideal Malaysian Chinese who is honest, hardworking and respectful of the elder, traditional virtues that the marketer hopes consumers will relate to in the Ah Huat White Coffee product. Upholding traditional values goes hand in hand with the steadfastness in adhering to the traditional white coffee production processes, one that tastes as good as when it was done in the past.

As a result, the elder Ah Huat is often portrayed as a wise fatherly character, a superior person (junzi) who has gone through the tribulations of life. He has all the traditional values and is seen imparting the younger generation with Chinese virtues such as filial piety and trustworthiness.

In order to strengthen the Ah Huat brand, Power Root needs to show another side of Ah Huat, a younger Ah Huat who is an underdog but ultimately prevails against all odds, rather similar to the Po character in Kung Fu Panda. What the movie will achieve in the long run is helping to popularise the Ah Huat character with the hope that this will translate into higher brand recall and product purchase, and keeping the Huat Ah! Huat Ah! Huat music fresh in the minds of consumers.

By showing the movie during Chinese New Year, It is an indication that Power Root is trying to make coffee as part of the Chinese New Year gift-giving or consumption ritual.

Happy Chinese New Year to all readers. Huat Ah !!

New 100% Halal Juice Jiamila Debuts

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Mini Me Insights

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21st January 2014

Beijing Xiangjuzhai Huiyuan Halal Beverage (北京祥聚斋汇源清真饮料有限公司) , a joint venture between China’s top juice maker Huiyuan and the nation’s biggest halal bakery Xiangjuzhai, has launched added another range of 100% halal fruit juice called Jiamila (佳米拉). Beijing Xiangjuzhai Huiyuan Halal Beverage was itself set up in June 2012 to tap the halal fruit juice market in China and internationally. All the juices made by the company are certified halal by the China Islamic Association, safe to be consumed by the 27 million Muslims in the country.

The key problem with halal certification in China is the lack of a standardisation halal regulation. At the moment, local products bear the halal logo issued by the province or region. The creation of the national standard is the first step to enhance the credibility of the halal certification to regain trust among both local and foreign consumers.

#6 or #5

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Mini Me Insights

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18th January 2014

It has come to my attention that Nestle is still using #6 plastic for its 135g yogurt sold in Malaysia.

According to thedailygreen.com, #6 is “better known as polystyrene or Styrofoam…. and are found in disposable plates and cups, meat trays, egg cartons, carry-out containers, aspirin bottles and compact disc cases. You should particularly watch out for insulated Styrofoam cups which, when heated, can release potentially toxic breakdown products like styrene into your coffee or tea. Number 6 plastics have also become notorious for being one of the most difficult plastics to recycle.” link


#6 polystyrene

Other yogurt brands have already shifted to #5 polypropylene (PP) thermoplastic polymer, known to exhibit high resistance to heat and acts as a barrier to moisture. #5 PP is ideal for yogurt and margarine tubs, plastic cups and baby bottles. Marigold is the latest to shift from the #6 packaging to the safer PP plastic format.

So why is Nestle known to be committed to caring for the environment still using #6, which is not easily recyclable because of its low scrap value and its light weight? Moreover styrene leached from #6 plastic has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a possible human carcinogen.

It is time for Nestle to shift to the #5 packaging now.

a high resistance to heat and acts as a barrier to moisture. – See more at: http://www.babygreenthumb.com/p-122-safe-plastic-numbers-guide.aspx#sthash.u3vkEtsO.dpuf

When Revive Meets Racial Politics

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Mini Me Insights

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16th January 2014

Revive, the isotonic drink of Permanis, is back again with its third edition of its RevUp My School campaign to boost sales during the Chinese New Year festive season. Similar to the last campaign, RM 0.30 will be donated to selected Chinese primary schools with every carton of Revive and Pepsi 24-can pack sold.

Chinese education is dear to the heart of the Chinese community in Malaysia. Due to the lack of access to government funding, Chinese educators face an uphill task in getting the resources to improve school infrastructure to meet rising demand from the both Chinese and Malay school goers. Some Malay parents send their children to Chinese primary school as Chinese schools are known to be strong in science and maths.

Revive has always been struggling to compete with F&N’s 100PLUS in the isotonic category let alone toppling 100PLUS as the preferred carbonated beverage choice during Chinese New Year. Isotonic drink is popularly consumed during Chinese New Year because its is perceived to be less harmful to health than Coke and Pepsi.

Carlsberg long-running Top Ten Charity Campaign

Carlsberg’s long-running “Top Ten Charity Campaign,” (Top Ten) which supports Chinese schools through charity show concerts, offers Revive an example of a successful marketing, a means to strike deep into the heart of the Chinese consumers by supporting what the Chinese consumers cared the most – education. At the end of 2011, Carlsberg Top Ten campaign raised an accumulated RM 369 million for about 588 Chinese schools and institutions over the past 25 years.

Unlike Carlsberg, Revive has its share of controversy as Permanis has been linked to its controversial politician-cum-businessman Datuk Johari Bin Abdul Ghani. He is the group managing director of C.I. Holdings who sold Permanis to the Japanese beverage giant Asahi Group in 2011. Johari is also the UMNO division chairman for Titiwangsa and is known to have made the remark in 2011 that he “did not need Chinese and Indians to win the Titiwangsa seat.”

The call to boycott Permanis products, erroneously linked to Johari, has been making rounds on the Internet. Therefore, it is not a surprise to see similar comments on Revive Facebook fan page calling for the boycott of Revive during the 2013 RevUp My School campaign.

In response, Permanis tried to straighten the facts by saying that it is owned by a Japanese firm and the company practices multiculturalism.

The RevUp My School campaign in 2013 managed to raise RM 130,000 for 10 Chinese schools, up from RM 90,000 in 2012, a remarkable growth of 44%, a testament to the success of the RevUp My School campaign despite the cries of boycott on the Internet.

Boycotts linked to race, religion and political allegiance is not uncommon in Malaysia, a country that still practices institutional racism.

The same thing happened to Gardenia bread in 2012 when some netizens called for the boycott of Gardenia bread. This follows claims that Gardenia has been directed by Bernas, owned by UMNO crony Syed Mokhtar Albukhary’s Tradewind group, to stop buying flour from Hong Kong-based Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok’s Malayan Flour Mills. Instead of buying Gardenia, the campaign encouraged consumers to purchase Robert Kuok’s Massimo bread that entered the market recently.

The latest case being calls by Muslim groups and pro-UMNO bloggers to boycott products made by the Chinese community, a retaliatory effort against the Chinese community for their overwhelming support for the opposition during the 2013 General Election. Among the products to be boycotted include Massimo bread, the OldTown White Coffee chain and Cap Sauh wheat flour. The government’s response was “Putrajaya did not approve of the boycott, but could not prevent those who wished to do so.”

To move forward, the government needs to have a change in policy and stop the legacy pro-Bumiputera affirmative policies for the betterment of the country, a wishful thinking under the current administration.

Tan Ngan Lo – A Resurrection

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Mini Me Insights

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15th January 2014

Tan Ngan Lo, loosely translated as One-Eye Man, has been a household name among the Chinese community in Malaysia for its ready-to-serve teabag medicated tea. The manufacturer of the tea is Wen Jiang Medical Industries Sdn Bhd, founded in 1963.

Despite being an early mover in the herbal tea market, the brand seems to have lost its chance to make a big splash in the ready-to-drink (RTD) herbal tea and herbal tea shop categories, losing respectively to Wong Lo Kat (now known as Jiaduobao) and Koong Woh Tong (恭和堂) . Now, Tan Ngan Lo is trying to recapture lost territories and is aggressively expanding in both the packaged drink and herbal tea shop markets.

Distribution has always been a problem for Tan Ngan Lo RTD herbal tea drink. Tan Ngan Lo is not widely available in leading retail stores but things are getting positive as product presence is improving. Tan Ngan Lo does have the price advantage as it is priced at a steep discount, accounting for just 62% of the price for a six-pack Jiaduobao canned herbal tea drink.

Aeon Supermarket, Mid Valley, January 2014 (Tan Ngan Lo is on the right and Jiaduobao is on the left)

The next battle ground for Tan Ngan Lo is herbal tea shop. For this segment, it is up against Koong Woh Tong, founded in Malaysia in 1990 with outlets in most shopping malls in the country. By the way, Malaysia’s Koong Woh Tong has absolutely no direct relationship with Hong Kong’s Kung Woh Tong. The latter claims to be the oldest Guilingao or Tortoise Jelly maker in Hong Kong. However, both share the same Chinese name, thus causing confusion to consumers.

Tan Ngan Lo opened its first flagship outlet at Sunway Ginza Mall in January 2013. Since then, it has set up several stores including in Ipoh, USJ, Sunway Pyramid and Cheras Leisure Mall. Tan Ngan Lo may do well in herbal tea but the brand is still not known for its tortoise jelly, which is where Koong Woh Tong has the upper hand. Tan Ngan Lo clearly has an uphill fight against Koong Woh Tong. I personally haven’t seen a Tan Ngan Lo herbal tea shop, not even in Cheras Leisure Mall. The latest Cheras Leisure Mall directory doesn’t show the existence of Tan Ngan Lo outlet, only Koong Woh Tong. A latest visit by a friend has proved the existence of the shop but there were only few customers.

Tan Ngan Lo Sunway Pyramid Outlet – Photo taken from Tan Ngan Lo Facebook site

Mini Drinks Gaining Traction

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Mini Me Insights

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13th January 2014

In a post befitting this blog, single-serve drinks (300ml) have become a rage in China. The Coca-Cola Co set the trend in China back in April 2011 with the launch of 300ml Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite in select markets in the country. Single-serve drinks in mini bottle are marketed as cool, convenient and affordable. The “mini” attribute is ideal for co-branding/co-marketing activities such as with Mini Cooper, online short films and anything that is short, mini, cute and cool.

During the early days of 300ml in 2011, The Coca-Cola Co marketed it with Meters/bonwe, the local casual apparel wear company, which counts Jay Chau and other cool artistes as its brand spokespersons.

Meters/bonwe – Coca-Cola marketing, 2011

The same affordable, youthful and convenient appeals were used in the 2012 London Olympic Marketing featuring the Chinese Olympic swimmer Sun Yang. Noticed the bottle fitting nicely into the pocket, this is the imagery used in most of the mini Coke posters to demonstrate the 300ml drink is the perfect beverage companion when you are out of home.

London Olympic marketing, 2012

The Coca-Cola Co is betting on on-the-go drinking occasion to spur greater consumption as the carbonated soft drinks market is seeing slower rate of volume growth compared with other categories due to health concerns.

The 300ml format has since become a permanent fixture for The Coca-Cola Co in China and the success of the single-serve packaging format is evident with the appearance of similar-sized products by its arch rivals PepsiCo and PepsiCo’s partner Tingyi probably in 2013. The key difference between The Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo is that PepsiCo’s comes with better value for money with the extra 30ml (330ml) volume, while sharing the same price as Coca-Cola at RMB 2 per bottle. It is no surprise since PepsiCo has always been pricing its products cheaper than The Coca-Cola Co in China due to it playing second fiddle to The Coca-Cola Co in the carbonate segment.

Tingyi (Master Kong), the bottling partner of PepsiCo’s beverages in China, has joined the fray with mini version (330ml) of its popular ready-to-drink (RTD) tea beverages, which are usually in the 500ml PET packaging. Single-serve 350ml PET RTD tea drink is relatively common in China. The appearance of the 330ml tea drink shows Tingyi, the market leader in the RTD tea category, is aware that it needs more packaging formats to target different drinking occasions such as afternoon tea for fashionable office ladies to stimulate sales.

Mini Tingyi Master Kong RTD Tea for Afternoon Tea

Single-serve drinks will continue to a key trend in China as they are extremely affordable (RMB 2) and ideal for consumers who want watch their diet and control their soft drink consumption. For marketers, opportunities for the single-serve format are immense. It can be used to meet the needs of the different consumption occasions whether it is for office snacking or for a leisurely stroll.

Greek Yogurt No More?

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Mini Me Insights

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12th January 2014

Nestle Greek Yogurt, launched in early 2013, seems to have left the Malaysian market. That was the initial impression I had when I couldn’t find it in the usual big hypermarket chain in the suburb, only Sunglo Greek Yogurt was available. During a visit to Mid Valley few days ago, I was surprised to find Nestle Greek Yogurt was still alive and well and was in Aeon Big, Cold Storage and Aeon, stores that are frequented by expats, tourists, office workers and shoppers.

The fact that Nestle Greek Yogurt is not available in most stores shows that Malaysian consumers are not willing to pay a premium for a product that tastes and look rather similar to ordinary yogurt. Moreover, many still do not know what Greek Yogurt is all about apart from the Greek icons on the packaging. Nestle removed the Greek Santorini image from the packaging design, while retaining the blue and white colour scheme in the latest packaging. What the company failed to demonstrate through the Greek Yogurt packaging is stronger presentation of the indulgence, smooth, creamy and low fat attributes of the product. Perhaps a better packaging design may help revive the interest in Greek yogurt.

By the way, Aeon Big at Mid Valley is having a promo for the Nestle Greek Yogurt. The promo price is RM 1.85.

Fat Free

Greek Yogurt old packaging

Greek Yogurt new packaging


Yogurt, January 2014

	Gram	RM	RM/KG
Fage Fruyo 0% Fat Strawberry Greek Yogurt	170	11.90	70.00
Tamar Valley Greek Style Yogurt	230	14.59	63.43
Emmi Swiss Premium Yogurt Grapefruit/Plain/Raspberry	100	2.99	29.90
Nestle Greek Yogurt	135	3.90	28.89
Farmers Union European Style Greek Yogurt	500	10.90	21.80
Sunglo Low Fat Greek Yogurt	135	3.10	22.15
Nestle Yogurt Fat Free Strawberry/Peach/Natural	135	1.79	14.74
Anlene Yogurt Natural/Strawberry	220*	3.30	13.59
Sunglo Fresh Yogurt	370	5.50	13.49
Farm Fresh “Skinny” Low Fat Natural Yogurt	400	5.39	13.48
Marigold Aloe Vera/Blueberry/Natural 0% Fat	135	1.65	11.78
Dutch Lady Low Fat Natural	500	5.85	11.78
Nutrigen Lite Yo Low Fat Yogurt Blueberry	135	1.45	10.74
Dutch Lady Mixed Berries/Blueberry/Natural Low Fat	140	1.65	10.14

Store check: Aeon Supermarket, Mid Valley, January 2014 * 2x110g

Strong Halal Opportunities in Restive Xinjiang

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Mini Me Insights

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3rd January 2014

Ace Xinjiang — ACE soft drinks being sold in an Uyghur-owned grocery store in Turpan

During a recent trip to Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in December 2013, I was amazed to find a number of Malaysian FMCG products in Xinjiang. Among the Malaysian products found in one Uyghur-owned grocery store in Turpan were ACE soft drinks, Alicafe RTD coffee drink and Drinho Asian drinks. Also popular in Xinjiang are Turkish products including from the leading brand Ülker.

Despite a growing number of halal-certified products from other regions in China, it seems Uyghur consumers have shown stronger confidence in the halal certification issued by Malaysian and Turkish authorities. The distrust shown on the certification issued by China’s state-run Islamic body by Muslim consumers has resulted in some mainland companies mislabeling their products as coming from countries like Malaysia, which has a strict halal certification regime, in a bid to improve their market access into Xinjiang, according to Radio Free Asia. Such practices will be detrimental to Malaysian and Turkish exporters in the long run unless steps are taken to eradicate such practices.

“One company contacted by RFA Uyghur Service, Tianren International Ltd., admitted it had been producing food products domestically and mislabeling them as certified halal goods from Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country” link

In addition to the stricter halal certification, Malaysia and Turkey are perceived as friendlier towards the Uyghur communities due to their shared Islamic heritage.With the ethnic tension and violence still on going in Xinjiang, the consumption of products imported from Muslim countries can be interpreted as an act of defiance among the Uyghur communities against ethnic Han rule. Such sentiment bodes well for exporters from Malaysia and Turkey to tap into the Xinjiang market with about 9.5mn Uyghur consumers.

Mini Me Insights

Solving 7-Eleven Fresh Food Dilemma

Lunar New Year Coffee Ritual

Ah Huat to the Silverscreen

New 100% Halal Juice Jiamila Debuts

#6 or #5

When Revive Meets Racial Politics

Tan Ngan Lo – A Resurrection

Mini Drinks Gaining Traction

Greek Yogurt No More?

Strong Halal Opportunities in Restive Xinjiang

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