Thailand’s Ichitan Group PLC has recently aired commercials that strengthened the Japanese heritage of its Shizuoka premium RTD tea range in the minds of Thai consumers.
Launched in 2018, Shizuoka RTD tea is a product developed between Ichitan and the Shizuoka prefecture in Japan, also known as the Japanese tea capital. This RTD tea taps into the healthy drinking trend in Thailand.
Shizuoka RTD tea is a success story
Shizuoka RTD tea has been a success for Ichitan. Sales of Shizuoka RTD tea jumped 286.2% year to date June 2019 to reach THB 206 million, according to the Ichitan Opportunity Day Quarter 2/2019 citing Nielsen Retail Audit.
Within RTD tea, Shizuoka RTD has been instrumental to the strong growth of the premium tea segment (+33.4% YTD June 2019) in Thailand. As a comparison, the overall RTD tea market only grew by 5.5%. Premium tea still accounts for a small share of the market at 10.5% but this was up from 8.3%.
Positioning Shizuoka RTD tea
The tea leaves used in the Shizuoka RTD tea comes from a tea plantation with over 400 years of history and was first established by Somon Ohashi in 1600. The Kawane Tea Plantation is now managed by the 13rd generation.
Ichitan has in the past created commercials that described the high quality of the tea from Shizuoka. These commercials also depicted Japanese tea masters carefully selecting the finest tea to produce Shizuoka RTD tea. Such an approach is commonly being used by brands to describe the provenance of their products.
Home-made video improves authenticity
In a departure from the norm, this time Ichitan recruited the tea farmers from Shizhuoka to produce their own “home-made” videos with an objective of attracting the interest of Thai consumers to their tea. The videos were carefully shot to include images of the tea plantation and Mount Fuji serving as the backdrop.
Such a creative approach of using locals to make their own promotional videos that are not just plain funny but also ‘real’ serves as an alternative approach that marketers can use to craft the authentic message for their brands.
WONDA Coffee Sarawak Edition is available at 7-Eleven for a limited time only
WONDA Coffee Malaysia Day digital contest will reward fans with flight tickets to a domestic destination of their choice
Kuching,
Sarawak, 6 September 2019 â WONDA Coffee, one of Malaysiaâs leading
ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee brands today launched a new WONDA Coffee can design
that represents one of the most culturally rich states in Malaysia. In a launch
officiated by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, the WONDA
Coffee Sarawak Edition features the iconic Malaysian hornbill and has intricate
drawings that represent the artwork of different local tribes.
This
truly unique representation of Sarawakian heritage was introduced during a
showing of famed musical Ola Bola Merdeka in Kuching. The Chief Minister
acknowledged the new design and complimented its localization as it also showed
the diversity and harmony that make up the true Sarawakian spirit. Speaking at
the event, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Alternate Business from Etika
Sdn Bhd, Santharuban T. Sundaram said that they felt this was a special time
for all Malaysians celebrating the twin patriotic days of Merdeka on 31 August
and Malaysia Day on 16 September.
 âThe large variety of sights, sounds, tastes and cultures here in East Malaysia and in particular, Sarawak, are simply beautiful. It helped inspire our new WONDA Coffee Can design and we are proud to be able to share them with our fellow consumers and fans of Sarawak today. Indeed, we have so much to celebrate during this time as a nation,â he adds.
Every
state has its own coffee culture
The
Limited Time Offer (LTO) and unique can designs have been a huge hit for WONDA Coffee fans and collectors. This year, there will be a
total of three different designs introduced, including the Sarawak Edition
featured today. âCoffee drinkers in Malaysia have a wide variety of preference
and from our studies we noted that coffees in Malaysia were brewed uniquely in
different states. We wanted to capture that local, âjust brewedâ taste and we
came up with the Sarawak Edition in conjunction with Malaysia Day as a result,â
states Santharuban.
WONDA
Coffee will also be releasing limited time
only designed cans featuring renowned landmarks of Perak and Melaka as well.
The three new WONDA Coffee LTOs come with its own can design and have slightly
different tastes depending on how these coffees were brewed. For example, The
Sarawak Edition Coffee is a full-bodied coffee with only a hint of bitterness while the Perak Edition Coffee is buttery and has
a caramel aroma and the Melaka Edition Coffee is made from a medium roast and
tastes more earthy. All versions are milk coffees, made with WONDA Coffeeâs
signature premium coffee beans and promises to âtaste like just brewedâ.
Correspondingly,
the design of each WONDA Coffee can was made to match the stateâs iconic
symbols. âWe chose these states and icons to represent the history, culture and
nature that make-up our unique Malaysian identity,â says Santharuban.
The
Malaysia Day Edition WONDA Coffee Contest
Beginning
16 September to 15 October, WONDA Coffee will be holding a special Malaysia Day
contest to reward WONDA Coffee fans and consumers for their continued support.
All Malaysians need to do is buy any 2 cans of WONDA Coffee 240ml (assorted
variants) in a single receipt from 7-Eleven, Kedai Mesra PETRONAS and Shell
Select during the contest period, submit their entries and receipt details to
the number provided via WhatsApp, together with their full names and IC number,
and retain the original receipts as proof of purchase. Each two-can purchase
will be eligible for a chance to win a pair of flight tickets to a local
destination of their choice.
âThe Limited Time Offer and unique can designs are an annual treat
for WONDA Coffee fans and collectors. The unique and special local art on the
cans are a truly special collectible for those looking forward to their release
during Malaysia Day each year. Indeed, we live in a truly beautiful nation and on top
of incorporating our unique culture into the new can designs, we wanted to give
consumers a chance to explore the country by giving free flight tickets to a
domestic destination. In this manner, not only are we celebrating our coffee
drinking traits but fostering unity and appreciation for all forms of Malaysian
culture,â adds Santharuban.
Carlsberg unites Liverpool FC fans with more of its special-edition commemorative brew
SHAH ALAM, 11 September 2019 â Carlsberg Malaysia is paying tribute to the indomitable spirit of Liverpool FC with 2,500 bottles of its special-edition Carlsberg Red Barley for the second time this year, in response to the overwhelming enthusiasm from Malaysian fans.
Carlsberg Red Barley is a visually stunning beer, inspired by legendary Liverpool FC manager Bill Shankly when he made the iconic decision in 1964 to dress his players in all red â making them âlook like giants⌠and⌠play like giants” in his words, winning the FA Cup for the first time at Wembley six months later. Not only is the Carlsberg Red Barley bottle, label and cap red, the beer itself is a crimson red!
Unlike other âredâ beers such as red ales or beers with fruit added, Carlsberg Red Barley is a special-edition 4.5% ABV (alcohol by volume) pilsner that gets its distinctive colour from a barley variety that is specially curated and bred by the scientists at the Carlsberg Research Laboratory, giving it the clean, crisp and slightly hoppy taste expected from a traditional pilsner.
Due to the barleyâs commercial rarity, Carlsberg Red Barley was produced in very limited quantities for the global market, with only a handful of bottles offered via lucky draw at selected outlets in Malaysia during The Reds championship-winning finals against Tottenham Hotspur in June.
Ted Akiskalos, Managing Director of Carlsberg Malaysia, said, âCarlsbergâs support of Liverpool FC since 1992 represents the longest-lasting partnership in the Premier League. We heard you, fans in Malaysia, and we have pulled together to bring in more of this collectible brew which deserves a place on any trophy cabinet as a tribute to the Reds.â
Liverpool FC fans can look forward to collect this commemorative brew simply by enjoying Probably The Best Beer at more than 80 outlets nationwide in conjunction with Probably The Best Football Viewing Parties.
Consumers who purchase three big bottles of Carlsberg Danish Pilsner or Carlsberg Smooth Draught at participating coffeeshops and restaurants as well as Carlsberg drinkers at participating bars, pubs and bistros will receive a game card and stand to win the special-edition Carlsberg Red Barley at Probably The Best Football Viewing Parties between 14 September to 28 September 2019, coinciding with Liverpool FCâs matches with Newcastle, Chelsea, and Sheffield United.
No one is excluded from the red fever as Carlsberg will also run an online contest across Malaysia to award 5 lucky winners with the iconic red brew, which will come with the new Carlsberg premium stem glass and in a collectorâs gift box that opens to reveal a video tribute to The Reds in the lid! Simply like and follow the Carlsberg MY Facebook page and look out for your chance to win!
âWeâre incredibly proud to be part of the Liverpool FC family for decades with Probably The Best Partnership in the Premier League. As two iconic names, Carlsberg and the Club are as inseparable as the enjoyment of our quality brews alongside the beautiful game, and we hope fans enjoy Carlsberg Red Barley as much as we went all red for The Reds,â added Akiskalos.
The Aura Mineral Water brand of Thailand’s Tipco is encouraging consumers to upcycle used plastic bottles. Upcycling is the new approach towards a sustainable future. The discarded materials (ie mineral water bottles) are reused to create a product of higher quality or value than the original such as a shirt as in the example of Aura Mineral Water’s upcycling program.
To encourage consumers to upcycle their bottles, consumers can earn points from each bottle. They can then use the points to redeem a free mineral water or a shirt made from recycled plastic for the lucky few.
Mobile upcycling machines. Image by Aura Mineral Water
Image credit: Minimeinsights.com
The program uses the Refun machine, which is being used by PTT, Central World and other entities to collect plastic waste.
F&N Foods Singapore has joined the kurma bandwagon with the launch of F&N Magnolia Plus Fresh Milk with Kurma.
Milk with dates (kurma) has been driving the milk category in Malaysia. Now, most of the major dairy brands in Malaysia including Farm Fresh, Goodday, Marigold and Summerfield have launched their own date milk with the exception of Fonterra and F&N Magnolia. In Indonesia, Fonterra’s Anlene brand does encourage consumers to blend its Anlene chocolate milk with kurma during Ramadan.
F&N made a strategic choice of rolling out Magnolia Plus Fresh Milk with Kurma in Singapore first instead of launching it in Malaysia where competition is rife. Competitor Farm Fresh has already made available its Kurma Milk in Singapore.
In Singapore, the new fresh milk with kurma from F&N is positioned as creamy, delicious and full of goodness. It is also a great source of energy and iron. This positioning helps to make kurma milk suitable for everyday consumption and moves away from being fixated on Ramadan where kurma is traditionally consumed to break the fast.
F&N Dairies (Thailand) Limited has added a new caramel flavoured milk under the F&N Magnolia Plus Ginkgo range. The existing flavours include chocolate and plain.
F&N Magnolia Plus Ginkgo contains Ginkgo biloba extract and is high in vitamin B12 that are beneficial to the brain and help strengthen memory. It also has up to 30% calcium to help maintain strong bones.
CP-Meiji Thailand, meanwhile, has reformulated its Meiji Pasteurized Choco Malt Flavoured Milk with a lower sugar formula. The drink combines the combines the delicious taste from 2 sources – the chocolate-flavoured milk and rich malt extract. The reformulated drink has 21g of sugar/200ml compared with 25g/200ml previously.
Dewina Holdings Sdn Bhd, the maker of Brahim’s, Malaysia’s leading ready-to-eat (RTE) meal, has launched RTE porridge. Available in two variants – Chicken Rice Porridge (Bubur Ayam) and Savoury Rice Porridge (Bubur Lambuk), the porridge series comes in a retort pack that is microweable and is ready to eat in 1 minute.
The halal-certified porridge does not contain preservatives and is low in calorie. The 250g pack is suitable for one person.
Brahim’s Bubur Lambuk (153kcal) contains meat pieces, potato, carrot and wild betel, while Brahim’s Bubur Ayam (158kcal) is made with chicken pieces, carrot and spring onion.
The porridge is currently showcased at Halfest JAKIM 2019, Malaysia’s largest halal food and beverage expo (4-8 September 2019).
Brahim’s Bubur Lambuk ais available for purchase on Shopee at a discounted price of RM 5.5 per pack (normal price RM 5.90). Brahim’s Bubur Ayam has the same price and can be bought on Shopee too at RM 5.5 per pack.
In our opinion, the next phase of Brahim’s entry into the RTE porridge segment is to tap the baby food market with RTE porridge suitable for infant aged 6 months and above. Such products are already available in Vietnam.
FamilyMart Malaysia has finally introduced its first mobile app to provide consumers with special savings as well as members exclusive deals. With the app, FamilyMart customers can access welcome rewards, birthday rewards and the chance to accumulate Famipoints.
Across the region, Familymart mobile app is available in countries like Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand.
The “locate” feature in the FamilyMart Malaysia app provides the most up-to-date information on the closest FamilyMart near you. By downloading the app, members can get exclusive 50% off Hojicha softserve/milkshake. The mobile app also serves as a one-stop destination for updates on new launches from FamilyMart Malaysia.
Unlike the myNEWS.com app, the FamilyMart app does not have ane-wallet function.
With FamilyMart jumping on board the mobile app bandwagon, 7-Eleven Malaysia is now left as the only leading convenience store chain without any mobile app.
Dunkinâ Donuts Malaysia Aims to Secure Larger Wallet Share by Building Up its e-Commerce Presence
KUALA LUMPUR 5 September 2019: It is no longer a brick-and-mortar versus online store for Dunkinâ Donuts Malaysia.
The donut chain recently expanded its trade channel with Shopee, the
no.1 online shopping platform in Malaysia. The aim was to provide consumers
with the best and seamless online to offline experience to strengthen overall
customer engagement and brand affinity.
âOur e-commerce journey started in September last year, when we first launched our online store. We then engaged with online food and beverage technology startups such as Foodpanda and Grab to enhance our customerâs experience.
âWe are seeing some traction in e-commerce with delivery sales contributing close to 10% of the overall sales for outlets that offer delivery,â said Jesrina Liew, Dunkinâ Donuts Group General Manager.
She added that customers today view online and offline operations
through a single lens, and it should no longer be the case of brick-and-mortar
versus online store for food and beverage (F&B) businesses.
Liew
said that while consumersâ media consumption has changed to that of mobile
first and their growing appreciation towards the vast inventory that is now
readily available online, they are still drawn to the tactile experience of
brick-and-mortar outlets, even more so, when it comes to F&B. Therefore,
convergence of the two channels into one business plan is essential.
âHence, we think that online marketplaces such as Shopee, with their innovative and aggressive marketing tactics such as the 7.7 Orange Madness and 9.9 Super Shopping Day campaigns can offer complementary benefits to traditional brick-and-mortar outlets such as ours.
âTaking the example of the 9.9 Super Shopping Day – we estimate that the platform traffic would increase by four times and we hope that our attractive promo of RM0.99 per donut, in addition to deals on beverages and merchandise, would gain more visibility through this partnership,â she said.
Ian Ho, Shopee Regional Managing Director said, âThe F&B deals under Shopeeâs Ticket and Vouchers category is a newly-introduced segment. We started off first by featuring hotel and cafe dining deals before introducing this new segment. Â We find that the customer base for F&B deals is increasing by the day. Given the positive response, we realised that there is nothing to stop us from partnering with F&B chains like Dunkinâ Donuts.â
Ever since launching its official store on Shopee on 26 June 2019,
Dunkinâ Donuts has seen extremely positive response from Malaysians. It has
sold over 5,000 donuts online during the 7.7 Orange Madness campaign and the
on-going 9.9 Super Shopping Day that will end on 9 September. On top of that,
the Chocolate and Coffee beverage deals were a favourite.
Additionally, the store is charting an increase in daily orders during
the 9.9 Super Shopping Day, as compared to the 7.7 Orange Madness campaign. To
illustrate, the 9-donut voucher deal was snapped up in three days, generating a
1.6 times increase from the previous campaign.
Shopee commends Dunkinâ
Donuts for taking a big step and expanding its footprint online because it is
no easy feat. Ho said, âIts growth on Shopee is attributed to several factors,
from the convenience of redemption process to the online exclusive deals and
discounts that provide for a great bargain. More importantly, the donut chain
has the readiness in technology and resources to tap and market their products
and brand to consumers they previously did not have access to.â
âWe are ever ready to
assist Dunkinâ Donuts, be it providing them with marketing solutions or
co-organising campaigns to further reach its touchpoints across the country,
effectively. Our list of assets is there for Dunkinâ Donuts to leverage on
including homepage banners, Push Notifications and EDM blasts. There are also
Shopeeâs in-app features like the Shopee Quiz and Shopee Live that were
introduced to bring brands closer to their customers, and boost engagement for
a more rewarding shopping experience.â
Apart from the RM0.99 deal for a donut, Dunkin’ Donuts is in one of
the 9.9 Super Shopping Day offers called the RM9.90 voucher pack. All users
need to do is purchase the pack to enjoy vouchers from across various brands
including Dunkin’ Donuts to be able to enjoy savings up to 17 times of their
money spent.
From now till 9 September, the 9.9 Super Shopping Day will feature
discounts up to 90%, and daily deals from as low as RM1 in its Shocking Sale
and ONE OR NOT game. Users will also get to enjoy free shipping with a minimum
spend of RM9.
Founded in 1950, and growing globally since 1970, Dunkin’ Donuts is
the world’s leading coffee and baked goods chain. The brand has over 12,000
restaurants in 50 countries worldwide. Dunkin’ Donuts first established in
Malaysia in 1987, and now operates almost 90 outlets in the country. It is on a
mission to serve positive energy to customers, by offering quality food and
beverages, and also excellent service.
Chinese dairy giant Mengniu has added a new range of flavoured milk under its YoyiC banner in Indonesia. The new YoyiC Milk Drink is made from imported New Zealand milk and is available in two flavours chocolate and strawberry.
Mengniu’s entry into the ambient milk segment comes after the company rolled out a comprehensive range of chilled yogurt including yogurt drink, probiotic drink and most recently spoonable yogurt. The ambient YoyiC Milk Drink will allow Mengniu to reach out to the mass market to circumvent the challenges faced by chilled dairy due to the under development of the chilled chain infrastructure in the country.
NSL Foods, a manufacturer of bakery goods and distributor of packaged meals in Thailand, has announced that its Natural Bites Cricket Protein Bread has...
