Not every merchants in Malaysia accept China UnionPay, thus missing out on the opportunities to tap the strong spending power of Chinese tourists. According to the China UnionPay website, “in Malaysia, UnionPay cards are accepted at shops and franchise stores most frequented by tourists and over 90% of ATMs.” The keyword is shops most frequented by tourists meaning the high-end fashion and jewellery outlets.
What about ordinary stores? The author once saw a group of mainland tourists at a Giant supermarket, which is located across the road from PJ Hilton, wanting to make some purchases. They were down to their last pennies and had to exchange for some ringgit with the author as the supermarket did not accept China UnionPay at that time.
Giant accepts China UnionPay
Now, everything has changed. the GCH Retail (Malaysia)-operated Giant Supermarket is now accepting China UnionPay cards.
Tourist arrival from China up 26.3%
In the first eight months of 2016, 1.41 million China tourist visited Malaysia, up 26.3% year-on-year. The government has extended the visa exemption to tourists from China until 31 December 2017. The goal is to have 4 million tourists from China by 2020.
Getting more merchants to accept China UnionPay will ensure Malaysian retailers especially supermarket chains are able to make it easier for tourists buy their favorite Malaysian instant coffee without having to worry about not having enough ringgit.
Product innovation featuring durian is aplenty in Malaysia. These innovations show the versatility in which durian can be applied in food and drinks and sometimes the new durian-based products are beyond the wildest imagination.
Durian butter spread
Regalien Durian Butter Spread is a perfect example of how durian is applied in the butter spread category. According to the packaging, the butter spread is ‘made with real Malaysia durian meat.’ The other ingredients are palm oil, permitted emulsifier (E471) and natural beta carotene (E160a). The product description can be misleading because it is actually a margarine (palm oil) and does not contain milk (butter).
The product has to be chilled at a temperature of 0-10 degrees Celsius. The packaging describes the product is best to enjoy with biscuit and bread.
The manufacturer is Kim Chuan Oils & Fats Sdn Bhd.
Thai Glico Co., Ltd. and seaweed snack company Taokaenoi Food & Marketing have announced a collaboration in early November 2016. The alliance combines the strength of both companies with Thai Glico contributing its famous Pocky stick and Taokaenoi with its namesake brand Tao Kae Noi seaweed snack.
Thai Glico will distribute the new Pretz Tao Kae Noi Pretz Nori Seaweed in the modern trade channel, while Taokaenoi will handle the distribution in the traditional channel. It is also the first collaboration by Thai Glico with a local snack company in 40 years.
Market share
According to the Bangkok Post article dated 9 November 2016, Glico controls a 20% share of the Thai biscuit market worth THB 11 billion, while Taokaenoi has a 61% commanding lead in the THB 3 billion seaweed snack market.
Slow growth
The new product is to stimulate consumer spending amidst cautionary consumer expenditure due to the economic slowdown. In the first nine months of 2016, sales of seaweed snack increased by 2-3%, while biscuit rose by 3.8%.
Company revenues
Thai Glico’s revenue is higher than Taokaenoi. The dip in sales in 2012 was due to the massive flooding that hit the country. In the first nine months of 2016, Thai Glico’s biscuit sales reached over THB 2 billion, up 12% year-on-year. Taokaeonoi’s revenue is driven mainly by exports.
Zero sugar chocolate
In another development, Glico Thailand has introduced a chocolate flavoured confectionery with zero sugar in November 2016. This sugar-free chocolate is sweetened with maltitol, an artificially produced sweetener often used in sugar-free chocolate. Actress Natapohn Tameeruks is the product’s endorser. Each pack, which comes with the resealable option, is priced at THB 30. It is aimed at people who want to consume chocolate minus the guilt.
Photo: Marketing General Manager of 7-Eleven Malaysia, Mr. Ronan Lee (in green, 3rd from right foreground), Board member of Taman Seri Puteri Cheras, Pn. Vimmiyasmin Abd Razak (2nd from right foreground), Mr. Chun Wah Hoo, Director of NGOHub (2nd from right background) and volunteers from 7-Eleven Malaysia and NGO Hub.
7-Eleven Malaysia, the No.1 standalone convenience store chain operator in the country, recently carried out another CSR activity in collaboration with its start-up, NGO Hub Asia by carrying out a makeover of a shelter home. The beneficiary of 7-Eleven and NGO Hub efforts in this were Taman Seri Puteri in Cheras.
Taman Seri Puteri Cheras is a shelter home managed by the Welfare Department of Malaysia for the care and rehabilitation of at-risk girls who are exposed to moral harm or any forms of abuse and has been a beacon of light for its residents. The home functions not only as a shelter by providing for their physical needs but also seeks to uplift their emotional, mental and spiritual life by helping its residents to begin a new chapter in their lives by having regular counselling and guidance sessions, religious classes, technical and vocational trainings such as farming as well as recreational projects.
As part of the project, the team from 7-Eleven and NGO Hub worked hard prepping the external walls of the home ready for a new coat of paint as well as bringing professional expertise to create a “flower power-themed” mural on one section of the home’s structure to liven up the environment further.
Pn. Vimmisyasmin Abd. Razak, Board Member of Taman Seri Puteri added, “Community outreach initiatives such as this project by 7-Eleven Malaysia and NGO Hub helps to bring awareness to our cause as well as brings hope to the home residents in the sense that there are parties out there that care about them and we’re grateful for these support as we need all the assistance we can get in our efforts to make a difference to the lives of those that need us.”
“We believe in active volunteerism for our CSR initiatives whereby one contributes one’s time and energy, thus one is better able to appreciate and understand how their efforts can make a difference as community work is just not about contributing financial aid, but touching the lives of people one may encounter, no matter how briefly” said Ronan Lee, 7-Eleven Malaysia’s General Manager of Marketing.
He concluded by saying, “We’re pleased to be able to make a difference, no matter how small to those that are less fortunate or marginalized by society as at 7-Eleven Malaysia, we always believe in giving back to the society that we operate in as well as striving to Always Be There For You.”
For more information, please log on to www.7eleven.com.my or follow 7ElevenMalaysia on Facebook.
About 7-Eleven Malaysia
7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Berhad through its subsidiary 7-Eleven Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. is the owner and operator of 7-Eleven stores in Malaysia. Incorporated on 4 June 1984, 7-Eleven Malaysia has made its mark in the retailing scene and have been a prominent icon for over 28 years. 7-Eleven Malaysia is the pioneer and largest 24-hours standalone convenience store operator in Malaysia with over 2,000 outlets nationwide and serves more than 900,000 customers daily. 7-Eleven stores can be found across bustling commercial districts to serene suburban residential compounds throughout Malaysia, from petrol stations and LRT stations to shopping malls and medical institutions. 7-Eleven is Always There For You.
Kalbe Farma, which owns Fitbar, the market leader in the snack bar category in Indonesia, has recently launched Multigrain Cereal Bar. The Zee brand, debuted in January 2010, is a powdered milk range for children aged three to 19 years old.
Zee moves into the cereal bar segment
The new Zee bar also marks the extension of the Zee brand into the grab-and-go cereal bar category. In addition, the cereal bar complements the existing Zee Up & Go flavoured milk for children aged three years and above.
Kalbe completes cereal bar range
Fitbar is targeted at adults with the focus on “snacking with no worry.” The Zee bar, on the other hand, is aimed at children aged three and above. The bar comes with the same 90 calories as Fitbar and is available in two flavours – Swizz Chocolate and Vanilla Twist. The net weight of the bar is 20g.
With choline and inulin
The key difference between Fitbar and Zee is the latter contains choline (20mg/20g serving size) and 1g of inulin, both ingredients help with children’s development.
Multigrain
The main ingredients in the Zee cereal bar are rice crispy 41.1% (made from rice flour, corn, wheat flour), chocolate rice crispy 10.7%, dark chocolate compound coating, glucose syrup, fructose syrup, soy puff, vegetable oil, sucrose, isomalt natural sweetener, glycerine humectant, inulin, maltitol natural sweetener, artificial chocolate flavour, soy lecithin, emulsifier, choline, calcium carbonate and natural identical vanilla flavour.
Kalbe’s extension of the Zee brand into children’s cereal bar opens up opportunities for the company to target children’s on-the-go snacking moments.
Burger King, operated by Cosmo Restaurants Sdn Bhd, has recently opened a new outlet at Serdang Raya in Selangor. The new branch is actually occupying half of the premise of 99 Speedmart. Now the space has been divided into half with the space on the right taken up by Burger King and the left by 99 Speedmart.
99 Speedmart founder owns Burger King franchise
The Burger King franchise is actually owned by Lee Thiam Wah, the founder of 99 Speedmart Sdn Bhd and Datuk Chua Tia Guan through Newscape Capital Sdn Bhd. Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) disposed the Burger King franchise to Newscape in August 2015 for RM 74.6 million. The Burger King franchise covers Malaysia and Singapore with 32 outlets in Malaysia and 41 in Singapore at the point of the acquisitions.
The Serdang Raya example shows how the 99 Speedmart business integrates with Burger King. 99 Speedmart opened its 870th outlet on 19 November 2016. The key advantages of 99 Speedmart are logistics, strategic location and retail know-hows.
A lot of the 99 Speedmart senior executives are now working at Cosmo Restaurants. The key challenge now is turning the fast food business into a profitable venture for 99 Speedmart.
GCH Retail (M) runs Uncle Jack
99 Speedmart is not the only grocery retail chain to dip its toe into quick service restaurant (QSR). In fact. GCH Retail (M), the operator of Giant, Cold Storage and Guardian, has converted its ready-to-eat (RTE) section in its outlets into Uncle Jack (image above), which serves no-frills fried chicken with affordable price.
Food Magazine Myanmar is a good source to understand the FMCG scene in Myanmar, a country that has become the next hotspot for FMCG. The magazine is available on Magzter, which is the world’s largest digital magazine newsstand with over 8200+ magazines in its catalogue.
Lactel Fruity
As the magazine is written in Burmese, the only way to understand what’s new is to look at the print advertisement. In the December 2016 issue magazine Arctic Sun announces the availability of Lactel Fruity long-life dairy dessert.
How to make ice lemon tea?
Unilever Food Solutions is offering a simple yet effective way of making ice lemon tea the Lipton way. Just get a spoonful of Knorr Lime Seasoning Powder and put it into a cup of Lipton tea to create Ice Lemon Lipton.
Lee Kum Kee Mahsuri
Lee Kum Kee range of sauces, distributed by Morning Sky Co., Ltd., includes Mahsuri, which was launched in Malaysia in 2014. In Malaysia, the Mahsuri brand is a range of soy sauce for the Malay audience. Mahsuri is certified halal by the Malaysian Islamic Development Council (JAKIM).
The Beryl’s chocolate from Malaysia is exclusively distributed by Premium Distribution.
Brands distribution by Premium Distribution include Achor, Cadbury, Ceres, Tyson, Paul’s and UFC.
India’s Britannia biscuit
DKSH, the market expansion services provider, is in charge of distributing India’s Britannia biscuit range in Myanmar. Perfetti Van Melle and Haribo are also using the service of DKSH to enter the Myanmar market.
The new CP Sliced Chicken Premium Cuts were featured in the October 2016 issue.
The Tulic shelf stable meat from Denmark is distributed by Arctic Sun. The August 2016 issue features how food can be prepared using Tulip meat.
Kidlac is a powdered probiotic in a sachet for children by KTZ Company Limited. This product is quite popular judging by the number of people who like it on the official Facebook account of Kidlac at 105,981 people. Kidlac contains prebiotic and probiotic and is enriched with DHA, zinc, multi-vitamin and colostrum.
As brands are still not making full use of social media, the food magazine helps to fill the information gap about the Myanmar food and drink scene.
Carabao Group Plc, the maker of Carabao Dang energy drink, signed an agreement on 18 November 2016 to sponsor the Football League Cup in England from 2017-19. Before that, at the end of 2015, the Thai energy drink company announced a three-year sponsorship of Chelsea. As part of the agreement, Carabao will feature on all the training wear worn by the Chelsea squad as well as acting as the principal commercial sponsor of the club. Besides Chelsea, Carabao is also the principal partner of Reading FC until 2019.
Aims to raise export share to 50%
The company is planning to increase the share of export from the current 30% to 50% by 2017. At the moment, 60% of all exports goes to Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, said Kamoldist Smuthkochorn, deputy managing director at Carabao Group. (images above and below come from Carabao 9M 2016 presentation)
Launched in the UK
The Thai energy drink was launched in the UK in 2016 with the ‘Free Your Inner Carabao’ marketing campaign commencing September 2016.
How the Carabao-Chelsea sponsorship is represented on the ground in Malaysia
Malaysia is a very small market for Carabao. Red Bull currently dominates the market. Sun Nation Sdn Bhd is the official local distributor of Carabao. The author spotted the energy drink in a number of provision goods stores, while driving in Sungai Buloh, in the state of Selangor. So far, the Thai energy drink has not entered the modern trade in Malaysia and is most likely to be concentrating on the traditional channel at the moment.
The Carabao-Chelsea sponsorship fliers adorning the shop show how the Chelsea sponsorship is actually represented on the ground. The Carabao can is also the latest featuring the faces of the Chelsea football stars. According to the shopkeeper, Carabao is among the best seller besides Red Bull.
Vital statistics about EPL fans in Malaysia
In Malaysia, the top EPL club with the largest number of fans is Manchester United FC as represented by the number of people who liked their local Facebook account – 260,955 as of 26 November 2016. This is followed by Liverpool FC with 149,074, Chelsea FC with 43,225, Manchester City FC with 25,529 and Arsenal FC with 24,588. Obviously, Carabao cannot just rely on Chelsea fans to support the drink. The key is expanding the distribution channel and making it available in more touch points.
As of 6 December 2016, Carabao energy drink is available at myNEWS.com convenience stores. The selling price is RM 5.30.
Carabao is also being sold at Mydin at a promotion price of RM 1.99 per can. (image below)
Mayora Indah said it will put into production two more Le Minerale bottled water factories one each in Palembang (South Sumatra) and Cianjur (West Java) in December 2016. The three existing factories are in Pasuruan (East Java), Sukabumi (West Java) and Makassar (South Sulawesi). The investment per factory costs between IDR 500 billion to IDR 700 billion.
Image above shows the distribution of Le Minerale factories in Indonesia
Capacity to increase by 5x
With the coming on stream of the two factories, the current production capacity of 1 million cartons per month will increase by five times to 5 million cartons per month, said Andre Sukendra Atmadja, president director of PT Mayora Indah Tbk.
Mayora Indah first entered the bottled water market in the first quarter of 2015 through its unit PT Tirta Frisindo Jaya, which also produces Teh Pucuk Harum RTD tea.
Bottled water sales projected to grow 10%
The Indonesian Association of Bottled Drinking Water Companies (Aspadin) has forecast a 10% growth in bottled water sales for 2016. Growth in 2015 was below 10%, while growth in 2014 was 11.3%.
Perfect Food (Julie’s) and Munchy Food Industries (Munchy’s) are the two leading Malaysian biscuit companies working aggressively to expand their market in neighbouring Indonesia.
Perfect Food meets the media, appoints brand ambassador
Perfect Food currently does not have a factory in Indonesia. Its products are distributed by PT Dima Indonesia, a business partner since 2009.
During the meet the press and blogger event in September 2015, also known as “A Day with Julie’s”, the company introduced its flagship Julie’s Peanut Butter Sandwich and Julie’s Hershey biscuits, a collaboration with The Hershey’s Company. The company also unveiled its local brand ambassador Rianti Cartwright, an actress, model, presenter and VJ (image below).
Perfect Food betting on Julie’s Hershey
Judging by the company’s booth at SIAL Interfood 2016 in Jakarta in early November 2016, it is obvious the company is counting on the Julie’s Hershey’s range, which is popular in Malaysia, to achieve similar success in Indonesia where consumers tend to have a sweet tooth.
Image above was captured by the author at SIAL Interfood 2016, Jakarta
Munchy’s puts into operation factory in Indonesia
In January 2016, Munchy Food Industries saw the commencement of its factory in Bogor. The company currently has three manufacturing facilities in Malaysia, Indonesia (Bogor) and China and is exporting to more than 50 countries.
Munchy Food registered total revenue of RM 500 million in 2015. As a comparison Perfect Food sales reached only RM 280 million in 2014, up 30% from 2012. The of Perfect Food is to achieve RM 500 million sales in five years.
Instant addiction
Image above shows the Try me box at Lotte Mart Kuningan City, Jakarta in November 2016
Julie’s tagline in Indonesia is “Instant Addiction” or “Sekali gigit langsung nagih” in Bahasa Indonesia. The focus is more on the indulgent aspect. At the moment, Julie’s does not seem to have a presence in social media.
Balance Itu Enak
For Munchy Food, achieving the balance is what the “Balance itu enak” or literally translated as “balance is tasty” is all about. The My Biskies biscuits comes with the balance taste of sweet and salty as well as the crunchiness of the biscuit and the smoothness of the cream.
Donita is the brand ambassador of Munchy’s in Indonesia.
Images above and below were captured by the author at Lotte Mart Kuningan City, Jakarta in early November 2016. The balance taste of sweet and salty
Also available is the Munchy’s Milkies with sweetened condensed milk.
Munchy’s has stronger social media presence
Compared with Julie’s, Munchy’s has a stronger presence in social media with its own Facebook and Twitter accounts for My Biskies. As of 26 November 2016, the Twitter account has 2,614 followers, while the Facebook account has 55,412 people like it. My Biskies also has a Youtube account with a link to the video of My Biskies, uploaded in September 2016. The Instagram account has 3,207 followers.
Perfect Food uses the distribution model to sell its biscuits in Indonesia. Munchy, on the other hand, has set up a production presence and this is also a good indication that it has the desire the grow the market over the long run.
The Biskies brand is expected to grow by 200% in 2017 after posting strong growth in 2016, said August Anwar, PT Munchy Indonesia brand manager for Biskies and Milkies. He see strong growth in the sandwich biscuit category but also intense competition.
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