“Hokkaido Cheesy Sausage Bites” uses Hokkaido cheddar cheese, a mixture of genuine Hokkaido milk from Japan.

Ausana Mahagitsiri, Owner and Director of PH Capital, the franchise operating the Pizza Hut restaurant chain in Thailand, said: “Customers have always been at the heart of our business. Therefore, creating a great customer experience is a vital mission of Pizza Hut.

“The “Hokkaido Cheesy Sausage Bites” is innovated especially for Thai consumers who can taste their WoW unique delicious stuffed crust pizza recipes with high quality ingredients, Hokkaido Cheese, produced from milk in Hokkaido, Japan.”

In a press release issued on Friday, the company said that while year-end sales are expected to grow 4 per cent to Bt19 billion this year, it will pave the way for a brighter year in 2019 by fine-tuning the Amway brand image to target younger people alongside a strategy to promote sturdy growth among Amway business owners.

Kittawat Ritteerawee, Managing Director of Amway (Thailand) Limited, said: “Amway’s sales uptrend keeps up with our year-end growth projected at 4 per cent this year, favoured by consumer behaviour in health and beauty where people are willing to pay for products that come with better technologies and innovations for well-being.

“Amway offers products that truly meet consumer expectations, as proven by the market leadership of Amway brands in the health and beauty categories: Nutrilite is the world’s No. 1 selling vitamins and dietary supplements brand and Artistry is Thailand’s No.1 premium beauty brand. Besides this, Amway has established itself in the digital marketing landscape with all relevant digital platforms developed to connect with the active lifestyles of consumers and support sustainable growth of the Amway business.

“Amway has been very active in the market for health and beauty products year to date,” he said. “Among them, our weight management brand, BodyKey by Nutrilite, continued to grow by leaps and bounds with sales of more than 5.2 billion baht within only three years. And in line with the personalised beauty trend, we launched Artistry Signature Select Personalized Serum as the brand’s flagship line of high-performance serum that enables users to customise the formula for the specific needs of different skin conditions. The new serum received a great response from consumers, resulting in consistent sales growth since the launch earlier this year.

“Amway made another market foray in the second half of the year by introducing XS Zero, the first exclusively sugar-free energy drink brand sold globally. To connect this new energy drink with the lifestyles of young consumers, an online community was launched with the concept of “XSperience More”, which will pave the way for XS Zero to rise as the leading energy drink brand for the new generation by year 2019.

“To expand to a younger base of consumers, Artistry’s latest twist lets ‘passionistas’ express themselves with vivacious looks using Artistry Studio beauty products,” he added.

“Inspired by the hottest cities in the world, the new line of colour cosmetics captured bright lights, colours and the fun of New York City into its debut collection, Artistry Studio NYC Edition. The collection received an over-expected market response, resulting in the first stock being sold out in only two days. Its strong contribution will enable the Artistry brand’s sales to hit the target of Bt2.2 billion this year.

“By combining our product emphasis on health and beauty with our strategic aim at young, active consumers and our year-round delivery of brand and product experiences, we are confident that Amway’s sales will exceed Bt19 billion in 2018, a year-on-year growth of 4 per cent.

“Next year, Amway’s focus will remain on health and beauty products while the brand image will be fine-tuned in favour of modern appeal and approachability to facilitate continued penetration of the new generation. Business channels will also be developed to keep abreast of digital consumers. Products to be launched will correspond with the active lifestyles of the consumer. In addition, our key strategy will be driven to support sustainable growth of Amway business owners,” Kittawat said.

The bank’s deposits will also increase by up to 3 per cent in this year compared to last year, with deposits now at Bt2.3 trillion, he added.

The bank also has set a 2019 target of new-loan growth of up to 6 per cent, by focusing on loans for the government’s megaprojects and small and medium enterprises businesses. In term of deposits, the bank would maintain growth of up to 4 per cent in the year 2019 compared with this year, he said.

The concept will be first revealed at its outlets at Paradise Park Srinakarin and Terminal 21 Pattaya.

Sasithorn Phongsathorn (Chatsirivichaikul), chief executive officer and president of Land and Houses Bank Plc (LH Bank), stressed that the bank has aggressively promoted its wealth management, digital banking and trade finance services through collaboration with CTBC Bank, its business partner with expertise in these services.

CTBC Bank is the largest private bank in Taiwan, with assets worth over Bt6 trillion and Bt4.2 trillion as of the third quarter of 2018. CTBC Bank has acknowledged expertise in wealth management, digital banking and trade finance services. The collaboration combines the synergies of the two banks and strengthens competitiveness, enhancing Land and Houses Financial Group to meet the international standard and respond client needs.

In the past year, Land and Houses Financial Group has witnessed improvement in several dimensions, including technology advancement for greater convenience; developing new products to meet customer demand and lifestyles such as securities trading and fund trading; and the opening of new accounts via the LH Bank M Choice application.

In the first quarter of 2019, LH Bank will unveil new services, including trade finance and e-wallet payment via QR Code, Sasithorn said.

Scheduled to open tomorrow, the Lego shop at Siam Paragon will follow a “co-sharing” partnership between Lego Group and DKSH (Thailand) Ltd.

Occupying 170 square metres of retail space, the outlet will carry some 300 Lego toys, 32 of which are exclusive products available only at certified Lego outlets. Retail prices will range from Bt180 per piece to over Bt30,000.

Atsushi Hasegawa, general manager for emerging Asia, Lego Singapore, said the toymaker has 240 certified stores all over the world, 50 of which are in Asia, including China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and now in Thailand.

“Thailand is a very attractive market for Lego. The country has an established economy, a large population and an established retail industry,” Hasegawa said, adding that Lego will boost its investment in Thailand over the years.

He said that since more than half of the world’s children are in Asia, it is the future growth area for Lego.

“We expect to see faster growth in Asia, including Thailand, and sustainable growth in Europe and America,” he said.

The first certified Lego shop in Thailand also reaffirms the Kingdom’s positioning in the ranks of top Lego countries in the Asian region.

“Asia still has a low base for Lego toys compared to many established markets in the West, but the company is also seeing an opportunity to boost its sales by five or six times in the region,” he said.

Hasegawa said that for Thailand, the company’s initial priority is not to increase the number of Lego stores, but to deliver the right brand experience to children at the right locations.

“Our marketing strategies will aim to achieve a set target, with the expectation of Bt100 million sales volume in the first year. There is also a plan to continuously expand Lego certified stores in Thailand later,” Arden Feschuk, director of commercial development of DKSH (Thailand) Ltd, said.

Feschuk added that the sales value at the Lego shop is estimated to hit more than Bt300 million in the next five years from now, which is in addition to other sales and distribution channels, such as department stores, specialist and general toy stores, hypermarts and e-commerce.

He said that about 60 per cent of Lego sales in Thailand come from department stores, over 15 per cent from specialist toy stores and the rest from other channels.

“During the first year of opening, more than 400,000 people are expected to visit the store, with Thais accounting for 60 per cent and foreigners 40 per cent. Due to the company’s one-price strategy, exclusive Lego sets will cost the same here as they do in neighbouring countries. Due to this, Lego fans will no longer have to go overseas to buy Lego products. Also, new collections will be launched at the same time as in the States and Europe,” Feschuk said.