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FiberCreme unveiled as high-fiber, low-sugar creamer for beverage, food preparation

Indonesia’s non-dairy maker PT Lautan Natural Krimerindo has unveiled FiberCreme on 8 August 2017. The product contains soluble fiber and is made from oligosaccharide and coconut oil. The multi purprose creamer rich in fiber is the first of its kind in Indonesia. The product helps to reduce the blood-sugar level and improves overall digestive system.

Gluten, trans fat and cholesterol-free

FiberCreme is free from trans fat, gluten and cholesterol. It is rich in fiber, has a low glycemic index and offers slow release glucose response, making it ideal for diabetic sufferers.

For coffee, tea and meal

As the sugar content in FiberCreme is only 1.44g per 100g, the company is promoting FiberCreme for application in coffee and tea. Apart from beverage, Hendrik Gunawan, director of PT Lautan Natural Krimerindo, said FiberCreme is also ideal for cooking as a substitute for milk and coconut milk (santan) in traditional dishes like gulai daun singkong and opor ayam.

Creamy Opor Ayam. Image from FiberCreme

To promote the use of FiberCreme, the company has made made available a lot of recipes on its dedicated website. Click here for access to the site.

Available in three variants

The 450g is selling for IDR 38,000 (USD 2.8) per box, while the 168g in plastic bottle sells for a price of IDR 25,000. The smallest 100g is retailed at IDR 10,000 per pack.

What Mini Me thinks

FiberCreme is another example of how Indonesian companies are proactively innovating to come up with better-for-you products to address the twin evils of diabetes and obesity that are plaguing the Indonesian society.

The application of santan sawit (palm oil-based coconut milk substitute), milk and yoghurt as a substitute for coconut milk in food preparation is being widely promoted by companies in Malaysia. Positioning FiberCreme in the same direction is a first step to addressing health concern among Indonesian consumers about the use of santan.

 

Coca-Cola Celebrates 60th Year of Merdeka with commemorative cans by Reggie Lee

Kuala Lumpur, 22 August 2017 – Coca-Cola Malaysia has drawn on quintessential scenes of life in Malaysia and what makes us Malaysian in a collaboration with cartoonist Reggie Lee for a set of limited edition cans to commemorate 60 years of independence.

One of the country’s top cartoonist who is known for his dry humour, takes on current issues and social commentary, Reggie’s unique style often includes messages of unity and inclusiveness and it was these traits that made him an ideal partner for the world’s largest beverage company which has been present in what is now Malaysia since 1936.

Coca-Cola unveils its 60th Merdeka edition cans by Reggie Lee_L-R_Lim Kean Yew; Ahmed Yehia; Reggie Lee; Gareth McGeown

“Reggie’s insight into local culture complemented with his talent to bring them to life through his drawings made him the ideal partner for this Merdeka project and we are certain that Malaysians can relate to the series of cartoons he has created. This is a significant occasion and we have produced these commemorative cans to remind everyone of what makes Malaysia special,” said Ahmed Yehia, Country Manager for Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei, The Coca-Cola Company.

The Merdeka edition Coca-Cola cans feature a set of four drawings in Reggie’s unmistakeable style that depict popular topics among Malaysians – food, public holidays, badminton and a sense of community – were launched today at the Royal Selangor Club, significantly situated by Dataran Merdeka.

Cartoonist Reggie Lee at the launch of the Coca-Cola 60 Years Merdeka edition cans

“I am absolutely thrilled to be part of Coca-Cola’s Merdeka campaign this year. I never dreamed that I would be so honoured by this request to have my cartoon characters on the cans of Coca-Cola. I intend to share my very first one with my mother back in Penang as she will be ever so proud of her son whom she thought might never amount to anything,” shared Reggie during the launch.

“Being an advertising guy for so many years, I’ve also loved the many ad campaigns that Coca-Cola has come out with, campaigns that demonstrate how Coke always brings people together. My work over the years has always been to showcase the Muhibbah spirit of Malaysia, that we are a nation of people who celebrate our differences and bond over our love of good food and a good laugh. So, to be able to do this with Coca-Cola is an exceptional honour,” added Reggie.

The four Merdeka designs can be found on Coca-Cola Classic and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar cans

Available nationwide, the Merdeka edition can be found on the Coca-Cola Classic and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar cans while stocks last.

Formal Tech Education Not a Prerequisite for Startup Success, Study Finds

Research from iPrice Group and Gobi Partners.

Here are some interesting points:

  • 75% of the founders took non-tech majors. The most popular ones being engineering, economics and business.
    People often assume that they need to study coding or computer science to build a startup.
  • The universities that produced the highest number of tech startup founders are NUS (40), Harvard (9) and Stanford (7).
    NUS prevails and produced more successful founders in Singapore than Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD combined.
  • But yet, most founders studied overseas (Bachelor’s – 114 international vs 46 local)
    This may be largely to due to a higher number of foreign startup founders in Singapore.

Click here for the blog link to access the complete infographics.

The latest report from Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking 2017/2018 caused a stir when Nanyang Technological University (NTU) was ranked 11th place, overtaking the National University of Singapore (NUS) for the first time, which was ranked 15th place.

For the Singaporean youth, deciding where they want to continue their higher education is a challenge. Several questions that come into consideration are, which university should I enrol in? Should I study in Singapore or abroad? What major should I take to ensure I can get a high paying job after graduation? and much more.

To study this, iPrice partnered with Gobi Partners to compare 90+ startups and 190+ founders to analyze their education background. They chose to only analyse founders who successfully obtained a Series A or a higher funding round as it is a good indication on the success of the startup. Here are the findings from the study.

National University of Singapore (NUS) Produced The Most Founders

From more than 190 founders analyzed, 40 of them came from NUS. Carousell founders, Siu Rui Quek, Lucas Ngoo and Marcus Tan studied there. 4 of the co-founders of 99.co, namely Darius Cheung, Ruiwen Chua, Saurabh Mandar and Yan Phun are alunmni of NUS. Other founders include Min-Liang Tan, CEO of Razer, Timothy Kua and Vinod Nair, co-founders of MoneySmart, and Isaac Timothy Tay and Jonathan Low, co-founders of honestbee.

Harvard University came in second with 9 founders. From Harvard, some of the alumni include co-founders of Grab, Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling, and the husband-and-wife duo of DocDoc, Cole Sirucek and Grace Park.

In third position, we have Stanford University with 7 founders such as Arrif Ziaudeen the CEO of Chope, Forrest Li the Group CEO of Sea, and Zach Cheng of Referral Candy.

Singapore’s own Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is tied with business school INSEAD for fourth place with 6 founders each.

Notable founders from NTU include Richard Koh the CEO of M-DAQ, Anthony Koh the Group CEO of MC Payments, Anuj Bheda the co-founder of 99.co, and Lawrence Wu and Frank Phuan the Directors of Sunseap.

Meanwhile, alumni from INSEAD include Roger Egan III and Vikram Rupani of Redmart, Jani Rautiainen of PropertyGuru, and Greg Mittman of MyRepublic.

Last but not least, Singapore Management University comes in at fifth place with 4 founders and they are Kuik Xiao Shi the COO of Vanitee, Chang Wen Lai the CEO of Ninja Van, Daniel Lim the Chief Brand Officer of Reebonz and Deborah Lee the Head of Operations of HipVan.

Other than the 6 universities, we also have several universities that produced 3 successful founders such as the University of Cambridge, Monash University and Carnegie Mellon University.

From the above, it is fair to say that the quality of graduates our local universities produce are as competitive as the ones from international universities. Not to mention that NUS has produced more successful startup founders in Singapore than Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD combined.

75% of the Startup Founders Come From Non-Tech Backgrounds

Out of 150 Bachelor holders, 112 of them took non-tech majors and 38 of them took up tech related majors.

From those 112, the popular majors are engineering (30), economics (19), and business (12).

Some of the founders that took engineering are Parikshit Paspulati the CTO of Active AI, Guangda Li the CTO of ViSenze, and Joel Neoh of Fave.

For founders who took up economics, we have Rifeng Gao the CFO of Grain, Dixon Chan the CEO of Burpple, and Walter de Oude the CEO of Singapore Life.

Among those from business school are Bjorn Lee of MindFi, Darren Thomas the CEO of Double Helix Tracking, and Andrew Roth of Perx.

The most popular majors among the 38 tech graduates, on the other hand, are computer science (19), computer engineering (13) and computing (4).

Among those who studied computer science are Ng Jing Shen the CTO of Paktor, Jamie Wang the Director of iCarsClub, and Kersie Koh the Creative Director of Clozette.

There is a common misconception that in order to build a successful tech startup, you would have to be a coder or a student of computer science. But from the findings, that isn’t necessarily so.

Majority of the Founders Studied Abroad

On the Bachelor level, out of 160 founders, 114 of them studied abroad. On the Master level, 27 out of 31 founders studied abroad and on the MBA level only 1 studied locally, while 35 others studied abroad.

There are also examples of those who studied for their Bachelor’s locally and went overseas for their Master’s. For example, Anuj Bheda the co-founder of 99.co, took his Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering at NTU and continued his Master’s at MIT.

*** Out of the 195 founders: 41 did not list their bachelor’s field of study and 31 did not list their bachelor’s place of study. 4 founders did not complete their studies and were disqualified.

This press release was supplied by iPrice.

Wonda Coffee launches in the lion city, perks up consumers with Wonda-ful offer to awaken the senses

Japanese brand WONDA Coffee brews into town to entice coffee drinkers across the nation

SINGAPORE, 11 August –  As Singapore gears up to celebrate its 52nd National Day, consumers in the Lion City will have more reasons to rejoice. Coffee lovers can look forward to the romanticism of coffee with the launch of WONDA Coffee, one of the leading ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee brands from Japan, that will captivate Singaporean taste buds to perk them up for a busy day ahead!

With two best-selling, robust and premium variants to choose from – the creamy, full-bodied Kopi Tarik, made from carefully selected quality beans and which is brewed to meet the coffee-licious notes that Singaporeans love, and Extra Presso, with more than 50% Arabica coffee beans, exuding a stronger taste for that extra kick for the day. Each of these WONDA variants packaged in a 240ml can are set to give Singaporeans a tantalizing treat in terms of variant and quality.

WONDA Coffee was first launched outside of Japan in Malaysia by Etika Sdn Bhd and is today a house-hold name there. It has been well-received amongst coffee aficionados and is known for its famed variants that ‘tastes like just brewed’. Within six months, it rose to claim second ranking in the RTD coffee brands category in Malaysia. The brand saw a lot of potential in the Singapore market and decided to expand across the Causeway to provide Singaporeans the unique taste of premium coffee that will help awaken the senses with rich tastes and provides an immersive experience.

As part of their launch celebrations, WONDA Coffee will be rewarding consumers with exclusive and special WONDA-ful offer at 7-Eleven outlets across the country. The launch promotion of SGD2.50 for two cans of any variant ensures that consumers get a chance to satisfy their coffee cravings from 12th July 2017 to 5th September 2017. Additionally, a sampling activation will be rolled out from 21st August 2017 at selected 7-Eleven outlets. Another special treat is that Singaporeans can literally wake up and smell the aroma of WONDA coffee with the nation’s first ever coffee-scented advertisement; a scented jacket wrap around the TODAY daily.

“Coffee is an integral part of life here and we are able to offer coffee lovers in the island nation new tastes and enriching experiences with WONDA Coffee. To make the launch even more unique for consumers, we are not only offering an exclusive deal at 7-Eleven, but we have also come out with an innovative coffee-scented print advertisement, the first of it’s kind in the island nation. We will leave no beans unturned to showcase how WONDA Coffee is a game-changer in the RTD coffee market, and will continue to deliver on our brand promise of bringing the ‘tastes like just brewed’ coffee to all consumers.” said Santharuban T. Sundaram, Vice President of Marketing at Etika Pte Ltd.

Etika Pte Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Group Holdings Pte Ltd., Japan and WONDA Coffee is a leading brand in the Land of the Rising Sun.

 

 

Made with premium quality Arabica coffee beans that serve up a ‘just brewed’ taste, WONDA Premium Coffee delivers the perfect touch of delicious freshness that will awaken your senses. Introduced in  Singapore by Etika Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Group Holdings Pte Ltd., Japan, WONDA Coffee is a leading brand in the Land of the Rising Sun. The premium ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee offers the smooth taste of freshly brewed coffee in two unique variants: Kopi Tarik, a creamy and full bodied coffee made from carefully selected quality beans and Extra Presso, which contains more than 50% Arabica coffee beans and delivers a stronger coffee taste.

 

 

Etika Pte Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., Japan and the official bottler for PepsiCo in Singapore. Etika Pte Ltd markets and distributes some of PepsiCo’s global brands such as Pepsi, Sting, Evervess, Revive Isotonic, 7UP, Tropicana, Mirinda, Lipton Ice Tea, Mountain Dew, Gatorade and MUG, as well as its own range of products which include WONDA Coffee, Calpis, Dairy Champ and Chill.

 

Quorn aims at meat reducers, a permanent menu in Shakey’s

From Quorn

We interviewed Michael Singson, foodservice marketing head at Monde Nissin Corporation, during the recent WOFEX 2017 to get to know more about the meat-free Quorn and its plans for the Philippines market. WOFEX was held in Manila on 2-5 August 2017.

Meat reducers

According to Michael, Quorn provides consumers with “something healthier but still indulgent.” The product comes with the texture of meat but without the meat inside. He added the “trend is going something healthier but not does necessarily mean going vegetarian or vegan.”

Quorn is for consumers “who are conscious about their intake of cholesterol but not necessarily giving up on meat as people love meat,” said Michael. He explained the consumers of Quorn are those that are “consciously trying to avoid meat once a week or twice a week.”

Quorn is displayed in the frozen processed meat section in the supermarket in the Philippines and is marketed as “deliciously meat-free protein.” The shelf arrangement makes it easier for “meat reducers” to pick up Quorn while shopping in the frozen processed meat aisles.

Quorn in a supermarket in the Philippines. Photographed by the author in August 2017

Quorn permanent menu in Shakey’s

Shakey’s Pizza tied up with Quorn to introduce meat-free pizza in October 2016 as a limited-time offer. It became an official mainstay flavour in March 2017, said Michael. Replicating something similar in overseas markets is “one of the plans but the difficulties of course would be to convince a partner to have a new product like Quorn,” added Michael.

Quorn at Shakey’s Pizza. Image taken from Shakey’s Pizza Philippines website

Quorn in nearly 200 supermarkets in the Philippines

The growing availability of Quorn, now in almost 200 supermarkets in the Philippines, helps to make this meat-free product closer and more accessible to potential customers. Click here for an interactive map to see where Quorn is available in the Philippines.

A map displaying which supermarkets are selling Quorn in the Philippines

As of 20 August 2017, the meat-free product is available mostly in the Greater Manila area and in three supermarkets in Cebu. The concentration of the availability of Quorn in the Greater Manila area is a strong indication that urban consumers in this area are more likely to know about the negative impact on health of eating meat. Correspondingly, there is a higher chance of them consciously trying to reduce meat intake for health reason.

A map displaying which supermarkets in the Greater Manila area are selling Quorn

What Mini Me thinks

Quorn is an interesting example of how a meat-free product is able to sink its root in a meat-loving country like the Philippines. The acceptance of Quorn also highlighted the beginning of a consumer movement that embraces a vegetable-based diet on ethical or health grounds.

Kings of Malaysia’s E-Commerce

Ranking the Top 50 E-Commerce Platforms in Malaysia

Since the boom of e-commerce in Malaysia during the mid-2000s, the e-commerce industry has consistently steadily grown and is today a RM24.6 billion industry. Over the years, we have seen the rise of both international and local players entering e-commerce space to realise its full potential. While we await to see a fully developed e-commerce in the near future as seen in China or the US, let’s assess the progress of e-commerce and see who are the ‘kings’ of e-commerce in Malaysia today.

To find out who holds the ‘throne’ in Malaysia’s e-commerce landscape, we utilised publicly data provided by SimilarWeb, LinkedIn and Social Media pages such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to find their online traffic, number of staff and followers on social media. Based on this, we created an interactive infographic to rank and easily view who is most popular amongst Malaysians.

So, who are the winners in Malaysia’s e-commerce landscape?

The Three Kings of Malaysia’s E-Commerce: Lazada, Zalora & 11 Street

We ranked and averaged each e-commerce’s rankings and found that Lazada remains the clear winner, followed by Zalora and 11 Street. This is reflective of Lazada’s announcement earlier this year, as they said Lazada in Malaysia is growing more rapidly as compared to other countries where they operate. Their market leading status can be easily seen through their traffic as they received an average 29 million visitors on a monthly basis while 11 Street, ranking 2nd place in overall average traffic only received 9 million visitors, almost 3 times smaller.

Not to mention with Amazon entering into Southeast Asia through Singapore, the Alibaba-backed e-commerce has publicly expressed confidence when facing competitors as they have obtained valuable on-the-ground knowledge of the six markets where they operate and plans to further bolster their services to stay on top of their game.

We also saw that the top three e-commerce were all founded in the Southeast Asia region. While e-commerce originating outside the Southeast Asian region such as eBay and Sephora is available to Malaysians as well, regional or local based e-commerce seemed to be more successful probably due to their on-the-ground knowledge which gave them a higher advantage. Nevertheless, Malaysia remains an attractive location for international players as well as Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced its partnership with Jack Ma to establish an electronic trade forum to fast-track the growth of e-commerce for both local and foreign players.

Local Kings of Malaysia’s E-Commerce Landscape

A household name to many, Lelong is the undisputed local ‘king’ of e-commerce with online traffic almost five times more than Hermo in 2nd place.

Probably the oldest Malaysian based e-commerce (est. since 1998), Lelong remains the most popular C2C platform to Malaysians as they were among the first to spot the e-commerce potential.

Another apparent trend in the top 10 list was that cosmetics and fashion websites such as Hermo and Fashion Valet are hugely popular as well. These local brands thrive mainly through social media pages such as Instagram where they can easily feature products via images and partnerships with popular local celebrities and brands.

While e-commerce specialising in tech & gadget products are popular in countries such as Thailand and Indonesia, i-Pmart was the only similar merchant featured our top 50 list. Reason for this was because many tech & gadget merchants initiated their business through physical shops and provided tech services. Unfortunately, our list only included businesses who initiated their business on the online space to so we can provide an accurate apples to apples comparison.

Malaysian Fashion Brands Dominates the Instagram Arena

If you’re an active Instagrammer, you’re most probably following one the following brands as well. Currently Bella Ammara ranks number one, followed by Naelofar Hijab, and Fashion Valet. Meanwhile, non-local fashion-centric brand Lazada, is only in sixth place with followers more than two times smaller than Bella Ammara. Interestingly, we could see that Bella Ammara was able to amass a larger fan base though they had 10 times lesser Instagram posts as compared to Fashion Valet.

Fashion brands in Malaysia has seen much benefit running their operations through an e-commerce model as it enables them to scale their business according to consumers’ needs in the most efficient manner possible.

One such example can be seen through Shopee. Initiated by Garena mid-2015, the e-commerce is the youngest e-commerce in the list but swiftly rose in popularity and is now ranked 4th place in the overall highest average traffic for Q2 in 2017.

From a local perspective, we can see Lelong ranking 3rd highest in traffic but only has 51 staff (according to LinkedIn) indicating a highly efficient C2C e-commerce model which enables them to maintain the platform with low number of staff while maintaining more than 6 million monthly visitors.

About iPrice Group

iPrice Group is a meta-search website where Malaysian consumers can easily compare prices, specs and discover products with hundreds of local and regional merchants. iPrice’s meta-search platform is also available in six other countries across Southeast Asia namely in; Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, Vietnam and Hong Kong. Currently, iPrice compares and catalogues more than 100 million products and receives more than five million monthly visits across the region.

iPrice currently operates three business lines: price comparison for electronics and health & beauty; product discovery for fashion and home & living; and coupons across all verticals.

 

Media Contacts

Jeremy Chew

PR & Content Marketer

jeremy.chew@ipricegroup.com

+6010-226 5271

Feed the mind and body right for optimal performance and general well-being

Dr. Jack Wong, Senior Scientist of BRAND'S Suntory International (far left) and Ms. Kuang Ming Ming, General Manager of BRAND'S Suntory Malaysia (2nd left) together with the invited panelists

18 August 2017

“You are what you eat” is a commonly used phrase by parents and nutritionists as the food one eats has a bearing on one’s state of mental, emotional and physical health, which directly impacts your overall well-being.

Getting the fundamentals of human nutrition right can ensure that you have the mental focus and concentration for improved productivity, helps you cope with stress better, and gives your body the energy to carry you through the day’s activities.

However, providing our mind and body with the right nutrition is often neglected because of hectic lifestyles that determine when or what we eat, rather than what we need.

Therefore, leading health food supplement brand, BRAND’S¼ is reminding Malaysians to feed their mind and body to ensure that they are living life to their fullest potential by always performing at their best regardless of age.

“Eating right to ensure the mind and body performs at its optimum level needs to be a lifelong habit where conscious effort is made to incorporate a good diet and nutrition regardless of age whether you are a young student, working professional, busy mother or enjoying your golden years,” said consultant dietitian and founder of her own nutrition clinic Indra Balaratnam at the BRAND’S¼ “Feed Your Mind And Body” panel discussion today.

The nutritionist emphasized that consuming the right food, following a balanced diet and getting proper rest not only gives you energy and mental clarity but also puts you in the right emotional frame of mind to help manage stress better.

Joining Indra at the panel discussion moderated by host Adrian Seet was the multi-talented Cheryl Lee – 988 FM radio host, actress, singer and lyricist – and top students, 18-year old Yang Chong Sheng and Lee Zhi Xuan who both sat for their SPM examinations last year.

“While I do enjoy my work and taking on new projects, sometimes when my schedule becomes too hectic, it leaves me feeling stressed and tired. I know that it is important to nourish the body so that I don’t feel fatigued and am able to keep going through the long hours,” shared Lee.

Meanwhile, students Yang and Lee acknowledged that a healthy mind and body, combined with a positive attitude lets them perform at their best on a daily basis to achieve great heights in both their studies and extra-curricular activities.

Both are recipients of the BRAND’S¼ SMART Achievers Awards, an annual programme that recognises the outstanding performance of students who excel in both their studies and co-curricular activities. They are part of a group of 24 students who were rewarded with cash prizes for excelling in their PT3, SPM, STPM and university examinations last year.

Neuroscientist Dr. Jack Wong Jin Lin, who is also a senior scientist at BRAND’S¼ Suntory International, shared the science behind the iconic green capped bottle of chicken essence and explained how it reduces physical tiredness, improves mental concentration and maintains emotional well-being.

“Increased blood circulation and oxygen flow to the brain and body keeps mental and physical fatigue away, while reducing anxiety and stress hormone, cortisol, so that the ability to stay alert or focus is not affected,” said Dr. Jack Wong.

“BRAND’S¼ Essence of Chicken is a natural food supplement with no added salt and is cholesterol and fat free, making it suitable for daily consumption to help fuel the mind and body,” added Dr. Wong.

A trusted name with a heritage of over 180 years that continues to improve over time through R&D, BRAND’S¼ Essence Of Chicken is the only chicken essence in the market backed by over 40 international scientific papers and clinical studies. Results have shown that regular consumption improves memory by up to 15% and enhances concentration by 22%, while metabolism can be increased by up to 16%.

As part of the BRAND’S¼ “Feed Your Mind And Body” awareness initiative, BRAND’S¼ has committed to nourish the minds and bodies of Malaysians nationwide with the distribution of 100,000 bottles of BRAND’S¼ Essence Of Chicken.

Running from July until the end of August, the sampling team will visit high traffic locations including LRT stations, office buildings, shopping malls, universities and toll plazas.

Quorn now available in Singapore for meat-free eaters

The UK meat-free brand Quorn has been launched in Singapore. Quorn is owned by Monde Nissin from the Philippines since 2015.

In November 2016, CEO of Quorn, Kevin Brennan, talked about the company opening its first office in Asia in Singapore in an interview with ABS-CBN News. He said the product would be redistributed in Southeast Asia. Since then, Quorn in available in Thailand in March 2017 and now in Singapore. The meat-free product was first launched in the Philippines in 2016.

Quorn’s first posting on its official Singapore Facebook page was on 27 July 2017, giving us a good indication when Quorn was first actively promoted online in Singapore.

The Quorn range in Singapore comprises the following products – Mince, Pieces, Crispy Nuggets and Southern Fried Chicken Bites, all frozen. They are available on the online grocer RedMart.

Image from RedMart

 

Coca-Cola drops 390ml PET bottle in favour of smaller 330ml

Coca-Cola Malaysia has revised its pricing strategy for the minimarket and traditional channels. It has dropped the hugely popular 390ml PET bottle option (RM 1.00) and replaced it with the new 330ml and 425ml with a respective price of RM 1.20 and RM 1.50.

The new packaging options are as follow:

  • 330ml – RM 1.20 (Coca-Cola/Fanta/Sprite/A&W)
  • 425ml – RM 1.50 (Coca-Cola/Fanta/Sprite/A&W)
  • 1.25L – RM 2.50 (Coca-Cola) and RM 2.20 (Fanta)

RM 1.50 (425ml) Fanta, Coca-Cola and A&W selling in a provision goods store in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Photographed by the author in August 2017

The 390ml PET bottle that was introduced together with the 1.25L at the end of 2014 were meant to provide consumers with a much lower entry price point than the standard 500ml and 1.5L. Since then, PepsiCo has followed suit with its own 390ml PET bottle (Pepsi and Revive) at a much later date in 2016.

99Speedmart key channel for 330ml

99Speedmart, which opened its 1,000th outlet at Section 13, Shah Alam on 12 August 2017, has been the main partner of Coca-Cola’s 390ml and is now selling the 330ml beverage in PET bottle.

Coca-Cola and Sprite in 99Speedmart in Kuala Lumpur. Photographed by the author in August 2017

What Mini Me thinks

Even though the new packaging represents a price hike, the key strategy remains unchanged that is to offer consumers with a beverage with an affordable price point. With the shift towards healthier beverage choices, portion control might possibly work with the 330ml option.

Still, it is interesting to see if PepsiCo will respond by keeping their 390ml portfolio to compete with market leader The Coca-Cola Company with a more competitive pricing or follow suit. At the moment, it is hard to find the 390ml Pepsi (RM 1.00) in 99Speedmart, which probably suggests PepsiCo has ended the price war with The Coca-Cola Company.

Yili Ambrosial yoghurt drink generating buzz in Malaysia, Singapore

Yili Ambrosial (ćź‰æ…•ćžŒ) ambient Greek style yoghurt drink, a product achieving around CNY 8 billion in sales in China in 2016, has generated a buzz especially among the local ethnic Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore. Yili Ambrosial was first introduced in China in 2014 and already registered CNY 1 billion in revenue during the same year.

Popular on 11Street

The best indicator of the popularity of Ambrosial is 11Street, one of the leading B2C sites in Malaysia formed through a joint venture between local Celcom Axiata Bhd and South Korea’s SK Planet Ltd. 11Street’s key rival is Alibaba’s Lazada. There are 11 products with the keyword “Ambrosial” on 11Street and 6 items on Lazada. Almost all the products included the Chinese name “ćź‰æ…•ćžŒ” or “Anmuxi” as the product description.

The product is moving beyond the online marketplace. Yili Ambrosial was recently spotted in one of the shopping malls in the Klang Valley in Malaysia.

Yili Ambrosial range on display in one of the shopping malls in the Klang Valley. Photographed by the author in August 2017

Credit goes to Running Man

Running Man (ć„”è·‘ć§ć…„ćŒŸ) plays a crucial role in popularising the Yili Ambrosial Greek style yoghurt in Malaysia. This reality show featuring Angelababy and Li Chen (李晚), both are brand ambassadors for Ambrosial, is popular with Malaysian Chinese who watch the programme mainly on Youku and YouTube. The product placement of Yili Ambrosial Greek style yoghurt drink in the show, together with the attractive packaging and celebrity endorsement, has worked to create a curiosity towards the product.

A girl by the name of Stephanie Khor from Ipoh reviewing Yili Ambrosial range on YouTube. She said she first found out about Ambrosial from Running Man China.

Directly sourced from Yili

One of the distributors told me they obtained the product directly from the manufacturer Yili. At the moment, the Chinese dairy company has yet to appoint any local exclusive distributor, which means anyone can obtain Yili Ambrosial for sale in Malaysia.

Premium pricing

Price as of 19 August 2017 on 11Street.my

The price for a pack of 12 x 205g is around RM 60 (CNY 93) on 11Street and that is before shipping cost. As a comparison, a similar product selling on Feiniu.com, the e-commerce site operated by China’s top hypermarket chain RT-Mart, ranges from CNY 50 to CNY 66.

Price on Feiniu.com as of 19 August 2017

What Mini Me thinks

Chinese dairy product has never been in demand in Malaysia unlike in Singapore where Mengniu Yoyi C lactobacillus drink is available in the leading retailers. The success of Yili Ambrosial in creating a buzz in Malaysia and in Singapore is due to a combination of factors. The key success factors are using the right celebrities (Angelababy and Li Chen), the popularity of Running Man, the unique taste and having an attractive packaging. Most importantly, there is nothing like this in the two countries.

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