In Malaysia, McDonald’s has introduced the latest McSavers deal. As a price champion, the McSavers deal makes the fast food chain the place to go for cash-strapped diners at a time when the prices of everything seems to be going up. McSavers is available from 11am – 4am daily except breakfast, subject to 6% government tax.
McDonald’s has always been ahead of other players in the market in making its meals really affordable, first with the McValue Lunch and then with the McValue Dinner. Now, it is ahead of KFC Value Treats. I would expect KFC to take away the Pepsi drink to lower the price.
At the height of the global financial crisis in 2008, McDonald’s introduced a similar McSavers deal in Malaysia, offering ala carte products at roughly the same price. RM 4 for a Fillet-O-Fish and Spicy Chicken Wrap and RM 3 for a Beefburger and Chicken Porridge.
It begs to question is the timing of the launch of McSaver a useful barometer of the state of the country’s economic health?
Nestle Fried Ice Cream has just been launched in Malaysia. The ice cream is deep fried for eight seconds at a temperature of 180 degrees Celsius. After that it is ready to be served. The promotional price is RM 9.90 for a pack with six pieces. There are two flavours – chocolate and vanilla.
According to Wikipedia, deep ice cream “is a dessert made from a breaded scoop of ice cream that is quickly deep-fried creating a warm, crispy shell around the still-cold ice cream.” The dessert has been around since the late 1800s. In Malaysia, such treat has been making round in the country for a number of years either made at home using available ingredients or served at catering establishments.
However, there has never been a packaged option in retail stores that comes together with the outer bread layer. It can be a hassle making the outer layer from bread and crumbs but this does give one a say on the ice cream that goes inside – Wall’s, Nestle, Magnolia or even Häagen-Dazs. With the conveniently-prepared Nestle Fried Ice Cream, lazy bumps like me will only have one choice for the ice cream, that is Nestle.
The downside of this product is one has to literally practice to make the perfect fried ice cream. According to a netizen known as finch!
“Its nice. But its quite hard to goreng [fry] for 8 secs and make the crust crispy. goreng longer and the ice cream inside will melt. so uhm.. have to practice more.”
Fellow blogger Diarymama has a similar problem keeping the ice cream from melting despite frying it for just eight second as told in the instruction. Obviously, Nestle still has lots of work to do to ensure the ice cream doesn’t melt so soon.
Face with growing competition, retailers are turning to the fast food chain’s tried and tested trick of toy giveaways. Tesco Stores (Malaysia) came out with the Heroes and Friends promotion in October 2013, a truly novel marketing by a hypermarket chain in the country. As part of the promotion, eight iconic Disney Pixar’s classic figures and Marvel’s super heroes were up for grab. Yours truly managed to collect three out of the eight figurines including Mike, Sulley and Hulk.
Malaysian shoppers, young and old alike, can be crazy about collectibles. If Tesco were to include minions from the Despicable Me franchise, it is highly likely that the minions will fly off the shelves in no time. The store may be ransacked too. There was a mad rush for McDonald’s Despicable Me minions mainly by adults in Malaysia in July 2013, leaving kids with no minions to pay with. Rather similar scenes were repeated in Singapore in June 2013 with long queues at McDonald’s for Hello Kitty toys.
Mad rush in Penang
Long queue in Singapore
The Tesco promotion ran from 29 October 2013 to 26 January 2014 but all the collectibles were gone before the promotion ended, an indication of the success of the Heroes and Friends promotion.
The Indonesian minimart chain Alfamart is hoping to reap the same success with a similar program in Indonesia. The only difference is the addition of two more characters in the Alfamart Super Heroes and Friends campaign.
Alfamart Super Heroes and Friends
In Australia, Woolworths has seen huge success with its children-focused Aussie Animals collectable cards and albums in 2013 (two waves after the first one ran out of stock). Analysts even credited the Aussie Animals trading card promotion for helping to raise Wooldworths’ group sales for the second quarter ending 5 January 2014, reaching AUD 16.16 billion, up 5.9% year-on-year, higher than the 4.9% growth achieved in the same period a year ago.
For Woolworths, “this is the first time we’ve run a collectables program and we are overwhelmed by its success. Our customers have responded so positively to the program and it’s been great to see so many kids learning about our precious Australian wildlife in a fun and engaging way.”
The potential of the collectables program has just been awaken in the Asia Pacific region. Unlike grocery points, collectables are limited in nature and are able to generate huge excitement within a short span of time. Pretty soon, more of such programs will make their rounds across the region. The real challenge is to find collectables that can appeal to local shoppers.
PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk, the operator of Alfamart minimart in Indonesia, has announced in early 2014 of a plan to expand into the Philippines. The first outlet could open as early as in the first quarter of 2014, said Alfaria vice president director Pudjianto. Sumber Alfaria Trijaya is a minority shareholder with a 35% stake in the new unit Alfamart Trading Philipines.
The minimart has been the most successful store format in Indonesia with growth outpacing other modern retail formats such as supermarket and hypemarket. With an average selling area of 90 square metres and about 4,000 SKUs, a typical Alfamart store is an oasis for shoppers to escape the oppressive heat and rain. Each Alfamart store has air conditioning, carries all the most essential food and non-food items with prices half way between a hypermarket and a convenience store (see the chart below). The store can be found everywhere, thanks to the wide network of stores, reaching 8,096 outlets at the end of September 2013.
Prices of Beverage Products By Format in Jakarta, Indonesia, Oct 2013
Red line: Tebs Tea Soda 330ml (can); Blue line: Pocari Sweat 350ml (can); Currency: Rupiah; Store Check by Mini Me Insights in Jakarta in October 2013. Alfamart and Indomaret are minimart operators.
Indonesia and the Philippines are quite alike in many ways. They are island nations and traditional stores still dominate the market with warung stores in Indonesia and sari sari outlets in the Philippines. However, these traditional stores are losing market share to modern outlets like minimarts, supermarkets and convenience stores.
Proximity shopping is the preferred way to shop for consumers in both countries, thanks to the worsening traffic congestion. The strategic geographical location of minimart in the neighborhood means it is the place to go for destination or top-up spending for everyday packaged products. The traditional wet market remains the most popular destination for fresh produce.
Images taken from the web
Images taken from the web
In the Philippines, convenience store is king in the small modern store format with 7-Eleven dominating with over 1,000 outlets in the country at the end of 2013. However, convenience store products tend to sell at a higher price point than minimart due to the high operating costs of running 24 hour a day. The only strong minimart chains in the Philippines that I am aware of are Mercury Drug and Save More, which are rather pharmacy + minimart hybrid. So, there is a gap for minimart to serve the middle market and Alfamart is in a good position to fill in that role in the Philippines.
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.
RM 7.00
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
#5 polypropylene
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
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.”
Does not need Chinese and Indian votes
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.
Thailand's Yanhee Vitamin Water now has a new honey lemon flavoured beverage containing krachai also known as fingerroot. This sugar-free and calorie-free drink contains...
.jpg)
