Ms. Prapaipak Weigl, Global Marketing Director (F&B) of TCP Group
TCP Group, the manufacturer and distributor of ‘Sponsor,’ the number one sports drink in Thailand, has unveiled a new formula ‘Sponsor Go 0% Sugar’, according to the company’s press release.
The Thai sports and electrolyte drinks market grew by 13% year-on-year in 2022 to reach more than THB 5bn. Sponsor still holds the position of market leader, with a share of over 90% while Sponsor Original in a glass bottle continues to have the highest sales volume. Launched less than two years ago, Sponsor Go has seen the highest growth rate of 129%.
In 2023, Sponsor is boosting the market through “Sports Marketing” by implementing the 4Es strategy, including:
Entrenched No. 1 Sport Drink, Sponsor aims to establish a strong brand presence as number one in sales and to win the hearts of health enthusiasts by presenting its new brand ambassadors, “Pure-Bumbim,” two gold medal winning volleyball players with outstanding performance in the international arena. They will reinforce Sponsor’s image as an electrolyte drink for Thai athletes competing at the international level.
Enlarge Category to expand Sponsor’s consumer base and target a new generation of consumers, ranging in age from 18 to 35. Research has found that this generation is more health-conscious and looking for new options that fulfill both sport performance and beneficial nutrients, but with a sugar-free option. In order to meet these needs, Sponsor has broadened its portfolio and introduced “Sponsor Go 0% Sugar,” which is just as delicious as the original formula while providing the ultimate refreshment with all of the benefits. Additionally, it is easily portable in a ready-to-go PET bottle for any type of sport and activity.
Engage & Inspire by encouraging people to exercise or participate in activities that make them sweat, through several sports competitions throughout the year. Sponsor will support more than 155 sporting events nationwide covering a variety of sports and anticipates reaching more than 800,000 people. In addition, Sport KOLs will share fitness tips and tricks through Sponsor’s online channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Educational Content, which helps develop the proper awareness and understanding towards electrolyte drinks through a range of engaging content, such as their advantages, different occasions for consumption, and their significant benefits according to nutritionists and sports scientists, which you can follow on Sponsor Thailand’s Facebook page.
McThai (McDonald’s) has launched Truffle Beef Burger in what is seen as another innovation that embraces the trending truffle flavour. This burger comes with 100% beef imported from Australia and is 2.5x bigger than before, creating a delicious experience of rich meat flavors in every bite.
The Truffle Beef Burger is enhanced with the special truffle mayo sauce and is paired with the delicious cheddar cheese from New Zealand.
Charoen Pokphand Group and its subsidiaries have developed and implemented a system to trace the origin of corn used in the production of animal feed since 2017. This system ensures that one hundred percent of corn is derived from forest encroachment and stubble burning. By promoting good agricultural practices, this effort contributes to the conservation of forests and the reduction of dust.
Paisarn Kruawongvanich, CEO of CP Group’s Feed Ingredients Trading Business Group (FIT) emphasized that CP Group adheres to establishing a sustainable food production system and is committed to responsible sourcing of raw materials to used in animal feed production of Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CP Foods) by endorsing the key raw material procurement can be traced and do not encroach on forest areas in line with our policy “No forest [encroachment], no [Crop] burning, we buy”.
The Company has implemented corn traceability in Thailand since 2017 and further extended the system to its overseas operations including Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam in 2020 in order to ensure the procurement of corn from legal crop plantation.
CP Group opposes the cultivation of maize for animal feed that may cause wildfires and slash-and-burn activities at the cultivated areas. The company has developed a corn feed traceability system to purchase corn that can be traced to land areas with title deeds and without forest invasions. We have collaborated with all parties to implement this system to ensure that corn used for animal feed can be traced, and we have improved the system by incorporating a satellite imaging technology that can detect burning planting plots so that we can jointly manage the problem effectively,” Mr. Paisarn explained.
This allows the company’s staff to advise farmers to stop burn their crops or to utilize the stubble. Currently, the company’s operations in Thailand source all of their corn from deforestation-free areas. Linking the data from the plantation to the feed mill, the company also adopted blockchain technology in order to improve the speed and transparency of agricultural raw material traceability to plantation areas and to ensure customers that their food comes from responsible sources with zero deforestation and zero burning of stubble. CP encourages Thai maize farmers to register with the “For Farm” application and verify their identity.
In addition to the corn traceability system, CP Group prioritizes the quality of life of smallholder corn growers by implementing the “Self-Sufficient Farmers, Sustainable Corn” Project since 2016. This project aims to share plantation knowledge and techniques with corn farmers to increase output and quality while simultaneously reducing dust generated by agriculture. This project also encourages corn farmers to practice sustainable agriculture and avoid crop burning.
Sumeth Pinyosnit, CEO of Crop Integration Business Group (CPP), a producer and distributor of corn seeds, said that the company is committed to operating business with socially and environmentally responsible and stand against growing corn in the conservation forests and areas without legal documents. The company opposes any activities being involved in crop burning.
Since 2008, the company has announced its commitment and taken stringent measures to stop activities with seed dealers who were found engaging in forest encroachment, planting on land without legal deeds and crop burning. Along with the measure, the company has implemented a “Farm Pro” project to encourage and support smallholder farmers who growing maize on legally licensed land to enhance their efficiency and productivity and eliminating crop stubble burning. The company is on-going collaborating with experts to find the solution to create value of stubble in a bid to address wildfire and dust PM2.5 issues in the long run.
Acceptance of physical CapitaVoucher as a payment mode will cease from 1 July 2023
Consumers can convert physical CapitaVoucher(s) to STAR$® at 11 selected CapitaLand malls from 2 May to 30 September 2023
Singapore, 27 April 2023 – As part of its ongoing digitalisation efforts, CapitaLand is taking its shopping voucher, CapitaVoucher, fully digital. From 1 July 2023, physical CapitaVoucher(s) will no longer be accepted as a mode of payment at retailers across participating properties. This will be fully replaced by CapitaLand’s existing digital shopping voucher programme eCapitaVoucher, which is available through the CapitaStar app.
Consumers who currently hold physical CapitaVoucher(s) are encouraged to use them by 30 June 2023 at the 16 participating CapitaLand malls. Those who are unable to utilise their physical CapitaVoucher(s) by 30 June 2023 can convert them to STAR$® at an equivalent value from 2 May 2023 to 30 September 2023. The STAR$® can be used to exchange for eCapitaVoucher, merchant deals or carpark redemption vouchers on the CapitaStar app.
Mr. Reuben Yong, Head of Digital Platforms, Retail & Workspace (Singapore & Malaysia), CapitaLand Investment, said: “We launched eCapitaVoucher in 2019 to complement and enhance the popularity of CapitaVoucher, and the digital shopping voucher programme soon took off. Consumers relish the convenience of buying and gifting eCapitaVoucher 24 hours daily, receiving timely reminders about voucher expiry dates and redeeming their vouchers at various cashier points through the CapitaStar app. Meanwhile, retailers gain access to a faster, more accurate and fuss-free voucher reimbursement process with a significant reduction in paperwork. In 2022, sales of eCapitaVoucher grew by 29% year-on-year, and more than S$280 million of tenant sales were attributed to the usage of eCapitaVoucher as a payment mode.”
“With the increasing consumer and retailer acceptance of eCapitaVoucher, it is timely to take CapitaVoucher fully digital as part of our overall strategy to enhance the digital capabilities of CapitaStar in providing value-adding services for consumers and retailers alike. We will continue to innovate and reinforce eCapitaVoucher’s popularity as Singapore’s most widely accepted digital shopping voucher,” added Mr Yong.
Villagers work together to unroll polypiping before laying and connecting
Hopes Malaysia and Heineken Cares Sustainably Bring Clean Water & Food Security to Rural Families in Remote Kota Belud
KOTA BELUD, Sabah, May 01, 2023 – Water and food insecurity – or the lack of access to clean water and nutritious food – are major, widespread problems affecting Sabah’s vulnerable rural community. Families living in Sabah’s disconnected and scattered interior villages are often in deep poverty and barely surviving. Worsening their livelihoods, most are not connected to the government’s water supply, forcing villagers to struggle just to get the basic life need of water each day. Water is the source of all life, so how can Sabah’s over 41,000 hardcore poor progress if they do not even have enough water to drink, cook, clean and farm for their food at home?
Life had been a challenge for the 1045 rural villagers of Kampung Pinolobuh, Kota Belud as clean water was always a necessity that each family had to ration and fight over. The secluded community made up of B40 households is detached from the public water system and solely relies on a natural water source deep in the jungle, 5 kilometres away for their daily needs. They also face the challenges of soil infertility and ever-rising cost of living.
Gravity Water Woes
Relying on a leaking and unsustainable gravity water system built more than 20 years ago, most families were unable to have a proper water supply by afternoon as broken PVC piping would cause low, unusable water levels in the village’s main tank. The increasing population worsened the community’s water scarcity. Dry taps at home and on their farms meant that mothers, farmers and children were being left behind in life without this basic human right classified by the United Nations.
Rolls of polypiping are stored at the village hall in preparation for project execution
“Our population is increasing because people returned to the village after Covid-19. This and more leaking and breaking pipes only deepened the water problem for all of us,” says village representative Encik Jalni. “It is difficult for families to use water at home and on farms each day.”
For the second year with Heineken Cares, local Sabah Civil Society organisation (CSO) Hopes Malaysia has sustainably empowered Sabah’s rural community in fulfilling their basic needs for a brighter future. The Heineken Cares 2022 Programme supports the vulnerable rural families towards lasting food security via an improved gravity water system – sustainably providing two basic needs.
Hopes Malaysia’s Founder Sam discussing with the villagers on how to improve water supply
In 2022, 40 volunteers from Kampung Pinolobuh united to improve the well-being of their
community. The villagers were empowered with the skills, knowledge and durable gravity water system materials, such as poly pipes, to reconstruct their village asset. The volunteers trekked through thick jungles and up the steep foothills of Mt. Kinabalu to lay and connect the piping from the 5km-away water source to the village centre. “The hot sun and strong rains made progress very difficult, but I am proud that we managed to complete the system before the situation got worse,” explains volunteer Encik Daimin on their success.
Families have been able to enjoy a consistent water supply since the start of 2023. “The tank actually overflows now, and my children and I don’t have to worry about the water suddenly running out at our farm or home,” gratefully expresses local mother Puan Kin.
Sustainably Farming For The Future
Additionally, the collaboration has also further empowered 30 families in the rural village through sustainable small-scale farming, utilizing the efficient gravity water system. Farmers are part of community training workshops and learn farming essentials for improving both their food security and livelihoods in the long-term.
The participating households have since been able to harvest more than 200 kilograms of fresh produce, which is steadily increasing monthly. Access to a consistent healthy food source at home – including varieties of leafy and fruit-bearing crops – assists families in having healthier diets, while also reducing their food expenses and creating savings.
Although harvested mainly for self-consumption, extra vegetables are sold locally for more income. Green farming techniques, such as using vermicompost fertiliser, protect and revitalise the environment while reducing waste. This ultimately ensures that the rural families are self-sufficient through their sustainable practices for generations to come.
Speaking of the impact sustainable farming has brought to Sabah’s rural community, Hopes Malaysia Founder Sam Lee speaks, “Families attend our farming workshops and learn proper, sustainable farming techniques that bring long-term results. They are also given the materials and support needed to start farming for nutritious food. There is much potential for sustainable farming in rural Sabah villages, but land often needs to be fertilised. These workshops have already changed the lives of over 350 families in 15 rural communities.”
Aligned with the United Nations’ SDGs in this Decade of Action, Hopes Malaysia aims to equip more rural Sabah families with clean water and sustainably farm for their own food. The CSO greatly needs your support and donations at www.hopesmalaysia.com/supportruralfamilies to continue helping villagers in need. For more details on Hopes Malaysia’s sustainable charity projects and CSR partnerships, kindly email hopesmalaysia@gmail.com or contact +60162417838. Sustainably fulfilling the basic needs of Sabah’s rural community.
In-joy Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd, the marketing arm of Malaysia’s Guan Tong Industries Sdn Bhd, showcased its latest barista beverage BlackMo at FHA-Food & Beverage 2023 held recently in Singapore. BlackMo is a brand co-owned by Global Business Synergy Pte Ltd.
With the tagline ‘Be your own barista’, BlackMo is a unique instant drink that uses molasses as a sweetener. The product comes in a twin pack format with a tearable sachet containing the blackstrap molasses, a nutritious by-product of sugarcane production. This twin pack format allows consumers to adjust the intensity of the sweetness of their drink.
Image credit: Minimeinsights.com
BlackMo comprises 5 SKUs comprising two tea and two coffee beverages all with oat milk.
BlackMo Oat Milk White Coffee
BlackMo Oat Milk Latte
BlackMo Oat Milk Coconut Latte
BlackMo Oat Milk Jasmine Tea
BlackMo Oat Milk Maple Tea
BlackMo Oat Milk Maple Tea is sweetened with both molasses and maple syrup, while BlackMo Oat Milk Coconut Latte contains coconut milk as well.
As you will notice, BlackMo is not entirely sweetened with blackstrap molasses. The sweetening element contains other ingredients as well such as frutose, glucose and sucralose.
The ingredients in BlackMo Oat Milk White Coffee are oat milk powder (51%), molasses syrup (38%) [blackstrap molasses, fructose, glucose, trisodium phosphate, potassium sorbate and sucralose], soluble freeze dried coffee and microground coffee, milk solid, maltodextrin, flavours and silicon dioxide.
The ingredients in BlackMo Oat Milk Latte are oat milk powder (39%), molasses syrup (38%) [blackstrap molasses, fructose, glucose, trisodium phosphate, potassium sorbate and sucralose], milk solid, soluble freeze dried coffee and microground coffee, maltodextrin, flavours and silicon dioxide.
The company chooses to use airtight tub to stand out on shelf and to keep the products sealed.
Mantra, the original Thai plant-based food, revealed its latest plant-based crab series at FHA-Food & Beverage 2023 in Singapore. The range comprises plant-based minced crab and plant-based crab ball. The plant-based crab ball is made from soybean protein (27%) and chickpea flour (23%), water (45%) and rice bran oil (5%).
The plant-based minced crab can replace crab, which is the essential ingredient in the popular crab fried rice dish in Thailand.
Float Foods (OnlyEg) has unveiled Asia’s first plant-based poached eg and plant-based eg yolk at FHA-Food & Beverage 2023. The chef-friendly products are made for B2B application.
The Professional Poached Eg is suitable for breakfast, brunch and benedicts. To warm up the egg, keep in sealed original packaging and steam in the oven at 60 degrees celsius for about 6 minutes or keep in sealed original packaging and poach in water at 60 degree celsius for about 3 minutes. The product is free from trans fat, cholesterol and artificial preservatives and colourings. It is lower in saturated fats compared to regular eggs. The poached eg has 4.2g/100g of protein.
Claims: vegan, gluten-free, plant-based and GMO-free
OnlyEg Poached Eg debuts commercially in Singapore at Little Farms Cafes from 15 May 2023 in the form of an Avocado Smash Egs Benedict.
The Profesional Eg Yolk is a rich, savoury, vegan egg yolk. Just pour it over your favourite dishes from pasta to rice bowls. It has 5g/100g of protein.
Image credit: Minimeinsights.com
Ingredients: water, canola oil, pea protein, seasonings, starch, natural colouring, thickener and gelling agent.
The product is free from trans fat, cholesterol and artificial preservatives and colourings.
Claims: vegan, plant-based, non-GM and gluten-free
Float Foods has also showcased its latest Professional Eg Foam as a replacer to egg white to target drink application. The Professional Eg Foam is great for mixologists looking for an egg-free alternative. Just add 30ml of Eg Foam into a shaker and dry-shake vigorously. After that, add ice, then shake again. It has to be kept chilled at 0-4 degree celsius. Once opened, keep the pack refrigerated and use within 14 days.
OnlyEg Mocktail:
30ml soda water
60ml lime juice
30ml OnlyEg Foam
Cocktail – Gin Sour
30ml liquor (gin)
30ml bitter
60ml lime juice
30ml Eg Foam
OnlyEg Eg Bake is another new product from Float Foods. This powdered product contains 40g/100g of protein and is free from cholesterol
Singapore-based Ha Li Fa Pte Ltd, the producer of fish balls, fish cakes, meatballs, surimi products, and chicken sausages under the name BoBo, showcased its Eat Plant Love (EPL) at FHA-Food & Beverage 2023 in Singapore.
Image credit: Minimeinsights.com
At the event, the company promoted its EPL plant-based ingredients as ideal for the hawker setting including for steamboat (luk luk). In fact, LiXin Teochew Fishball Noodles in Singapore, famous for its fishball noodles, is serving EPL’s Taupok, Ngoh Hiang and Vegetable Ball at its stalls across the island nation.
In Singapore, Xi De Li has partnered with EPL to launch its first plant based seafood youtiao – Chili Plant-Based Seafood You Tiao and Mushroom Plant-Based Seafood You Tiao.
EPL’s booth at FHA 2023 demonstrates the versatility of its plant-based range for hawker stalls. Penetrating into the hawker scene will be the ultimate challenge for plant-based food providers. Companies do need to ensure the taste as well as the price of its plant-based range remains competitive in the hawker setting.
Canard, a micro-brewery established in Denpasar, Bali in 2022 has unveiled six of its craft beer at the recent FHA-Food & Beverage 2023 in Singapore.
Canard Strawberry Gose (ABV: 3.7%) is a refreshingly sour, salty beer, that lends itself beautifully to a wide range of fruits and syrups
Canard Witbier (ABV: 4.8%) has a pale straw colour and slightly hazy from the yeast and wheat malt with a refreshingly bright citrus and lemon coriander nose
Canard Kölsch (ABV: 4.7%) is a brilliantly clear pale golden beer, with a balance of malt, fruit, and hop character.
Canard Session IPA (ABV: 4.7%) is a decidedly hoppy, bitter and crispy pale ale with a balance that is hop-forward, dry, and with a slightly caramel, malty flavour.
Canard Porter (ABV: 4.8%) reflects its origins for a light body, black beer with full savoury notes of coffee, chocolate, toasty malt, and toffee aromas.
Canard Weizenbock (ABV: 9.5%) is thick with a mousse-like texture that is long-lasting with a light brown foam.
Image credit: Canard Brewing
Canard Brewing provides recommendation on compatible glass pairing to make the Canard beer experience a memorable one.
The communication on Canard Brewing’s social media account shows how the brand positions its craft beer at female consumers offering them with a variety of craft beer to suit their individual preference.
You can try all of their awesome beers at Canard Taproom. Open Wednesday – Sunday | 2pm – 10pm.
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