The THSI list aims to recognise and motivate companies for their efforts towards sustainability, while offering investors an alternative investment in high-performance stocks.

Centara aims to balance its operations to attain financial goals and practice good governance, while creating positive social impact, reducing its environmental footprint and encouraging innovation to sustain the organisation’s competitiveness. The company has formally developed environmental, social and innovation initiatives since 2008, including energy, water, waste and safety management. Centara also engages management, staff, suppliers, guests and communities, for both the long-term growth of its business and vitality of the destinations where it operates. One testament to this commitment is that 15 of Centara’s properties have already achieved gold and silver certification by EarthCheck, a scientific benchmarking and impact assessment body for sustainable travel and tourism.

“Centara intends to operate ethically and sustainably across our entire portfolio. We are committed to sustainable practices throughout our hotel operations, whilst delivering a level of Thai hospitality for our guests,” said CEO Thirayuth Chirathivat. “Companies that respond effectively to the challenges of sustainability can gain a competitive advantage and increase share value. We strive to develop sustainable hospitality strategies and encourage sustainability wherever we operate.”

Alongside the announcement, the company plans to launch two newly acquired top brands that it has successfully sealed deals and signed the agreements with. These two new brands will strengthen its already strong product portfolio led by Bally, a fashion brand from Switzerland, and Lamy, the German pen maker.

Vanchuen Thongjen, DKSH luxury boss, said: “In 2018, we have strengthened our luxury and lifestyle product portfolio, while expanding our product offering to include the categories watches and leather goods. Lately, we have become the authorised seller for the high-end fashion brand Bally in Thailand. To gain more presence in the lifestyle market, we have spearheaded with the leading international lifestyle brand Lamy and plan to introduce two more brands in the near future for a diversified range of product offerings to our target consumers.”

DKSH has been Bally’s authorised distributor since June. The brand has launched its pop-up stores at the first floor of Siam Paragon and M floor in Siam Discovery.

Lamy’s high-quality pens has a brand-new concept store at Siam Discovery at B2S in Central Department Store.

The company said in a press release issued on Thursday that the campaign aims to raise brand awareness among consumers by targeting the new generation that use social media in their day to day lives.

With the launch of the campaign, Pink Lady aims to position itself as the number one apple brand in Thailand.”

Ryan Au, Regional Brand Manager for Asia Pacific and India, Pink Lady, said: “Thailand is one of the biggest markets in Asia, importing over 180,000 tons of apples yearly. Since we started importing Pink Lady to Thailand, we have grown over 400 per cent within five years. In the past, our brand awareness has been measured at 58 per cent amongst consumers in Thailand. With the transition in marketing strategies from B2B to direct consumers, we hope to create a more emotional connection with consumers and in turn grow awareness to 65 per cent.”

“What makes Pink Lady different from other brands, apart from consistently delivering the freshest and tastiest apple in the market, is that we strive to be a part of the consumer’s lifestyle. Our target customers are those who is particular about the quality of product they purchased.

“With the launch of #PinkLadyClicksTH food photography and videography contest, we are confident that participants will be able to experienced first-hand the Pink lady brand in conjunction with Pink Lady Food Photography of the Year in London,” Ryan Au said.

The conditions for participation in the #PinkLadyClicksTH contest is a simple post of any lifestyle food photo or video through social media with the hashtag #PinkLadyClicksTH. Content can consist of anything related to food and represents inspiring stories like a culinary trip, a favourite dish, or a skilful chef, for example, something that gives that ‘Always Wow’ feeling, which is the theme of the campaign. The winning prize is a trip to London’s Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2019.

Sithisak Chantamornwong, CEO of Cititex Group, sid: “The apple market in Thailand is one of the most competitive markets in fresh produce. Although there are many brand options, consumers still can’t separate one from another. With this, Cititex Group saw the market to make a difference and decided to join an exclusive partnership with Pink Lady, the apple brand that prioritizes quality of product and aims to connect with consumers in at a more personal level. With #PinkLadyClicksTH campaign, we believe that consumers will recognise the playful nature of Pink Lady, which will increase brand awareness as well as position the brand higher in the market.”

Gunn Vitidphapatumrong, Category Manager, Produce, Tesco Lotus, said: “Tesco Lotus always strives to bring customers the best quality fresh produce for an affordable price. As consumers grow more health conscious, they have started to pay more attention to where products are made, the quality standards they uphold, and the safety and production process. Since Pink Lady focuses so heavily on the quality of their product, it has proven to be a brand that meets Tesco Lotus’ consumer needs. I am confident that the partnership between Tesco Lotus and Pink Lady for the #PinkLadyClicksTH campaign will add more fun to consumer shopping experience.”

The company said in a press release issued on Thursday that it has captured 70 per cent of domestic market share, and is has been domestically and globally implementing marketing and promotional schemes to enhance awareness at international level.

It recently opened Taokaenoi Land Plus, at Centre Point, SiamSquare, to become a shopping landmark that offers value-for-money products. Renowned star “Bella” was the presenter.

Itthipat Peeradechapan, Chief Executive Officer of Taokaenoi Food and Marketing, said: “The Company has spent a large amount of budget on marketing and promotion. On this occasion, we are delighted to have Ranee ‘Bella’ Campen as the presenter to promote Taokaenoi Land PLUS.

“This prototype will become a landmark for international tourists as well as Thai people who would like to buy souvenirs for loved ones or themselves. In addition to catering for their needs, the shop will carry value-for-money products and deliver a pleasurable shopping experience to customers who shop here. At Taokaenoi Land PLUS, they will find a wide range of products besides snacks, which are the strength of existing Taokaenoi Land.”

At this new shop, tourists will enjoy a one-stop shopping experience. Under one roof, they can find a wide array of products, including products of Thailand that are internationally recognised, such as health and spa products, moisturiser, woven products and other souvenirs.

Furthermore, Taokaenoi Land PLUS aims to be a distribution channel that promotes high-quality local products. Products the shop offers were carefully selected to reassure the customers that they will receive the best souvenirs. In addition to products and services, the shop provides “try before you buy” service to enhance the customer satisfaction.

“The company expect to open at least 80 more branches within three years in tourist destinations countrywide. The shop size will vary from 50 to 200 square metres or larger depending on the areas are worth the investment,”said Itthipat.

A press release issued on Thursday said the company was chosen based on the largest percentage of positive responses to two assertions within the recently administered Korn Ferry employee opinion surveys:

1. I feel proud to work for the company.

2. I would recommend the company as a good place to work.

To calculate the winners, Korn Ferry analysed the percentage of employees who “strongly agreed” or “agreed” with the two statements to create an overall score.

“These statements are proven measures of strong employee engagement and a healthy employer brand,” said Ben Hubbard, senior client partner, Surveys & Listening, Korn Ferry. “Because these statements are consistently used by companies around the world to benchmark levels of employee engagement, they provide an excellent foundation for our award.”

Fifty-two companies in 47 countries across the globe are recognised as Korn Ferry 2018 Employee Engagement Award winners, including Groupe Renault, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, L’ORÉAL, Luck Companies, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Ralph Lauren. In Thailand, three companies received the award including L’Oreal Thailand, Tesco Lotus and Exxon Mobil.

Mark Royal, Senior Director at the Korn Ferry Institute, said: “High levels of employee engagement will help businesses meet the challenges ahead, contributing to productivity, agility, and attraction and retention of talent. Engagement is a critical business metric, as proven by Korn Ferry research, that shows high levels of employee engagement can boost revenue growth by up to two and a half times.

“An engaged workforce has the power to deliver tangible competitive advantage in the ever-evolving war for talent and discretionary performance.”

“We are honoured to be named the Most Engaging Place to Work by Korn Ferry. We thank all our employees who shared their pride and recommendation of L’Oréal Thailand as a great place to work as part of the survey, they are our soul and source of pride.” said Ines Caldeira, Managing Director, L’Oreal Thailand.

Thailand’s market for swimming products is this year estimated to reach between Bt2.5 billion up and Bt3 billion, marking growth of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent from last year.

However, the company has set a target to maintain sales growth of at least 30 per cent a year, outpacing the expansion in the market

Sport Spot Integration will promote the brand with plans to focus on children and families who have high purchasing |power.

The company also aims for a 10 per cent share of the total market of Bt3 billion within three years, while preparing to expand into Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV).

“For CLMV, we are happy to work with a potential distributor but if the market is sizeable we might operate our own operation,” said Nohn Suvachananonda, chief operating officer, Sport Spot Integration Co Ltd.

“Vietnam and Myanmar are the targets due to the potential and expat community being big enough and the brand fits in those target markets.”

He said that Thailand also has very high potential despite the relatively low incomes in the country compared with some of the leading countries in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore. The key drivers are segmentation between the children’s and fitness swim markets.

Robert Davies, general manager ZOGGS Asia Pacific, said ZOGGS is a premium sports brand founded in Australia in 1992.

The brand is inspired by swimming and aims to enable more people to experience swimming and help new swimmers learn proper techniques and develop skills with quality swim products, he said. “ZOGGS has created a wide range of swimming goggles, swimwear products, swimming training equipment and pool games for those who love to swim whether for fun or for health,” Davies said.

“ZOGGS targets children who are learning to enjoy the underwater world.

“We want to give children the confidence in water and let them have fun with swimming. ZOGGS currently has distributed in |over 60 countries around the world.

“Sport Spot Integration and ZOGGS share the vision on how to build the brand and have long had a strong business partnership. Working together, we are confident that we will succeed in building the brand in Southeast Asia. We see Thailand, in particular, as a key market in a strategic location where we expect a upward growth in the children’s and family sector.”

High expectations

Itthi Nana, chief executive officer of Sport Spot Integration, said: “Our company was founded in 2000 and has been importing and distributing ZOGGS products in Thailand for more than eight years, starting with goggles and swimming equipment.

Our goal is to bring in high-quality overseas products produced with state-of-the-art technology to build and make it a sustainable brand here in Thailand.

“We are generating growth of 30 per cent per year on average. And we are determined to become the market leader of kids and families swimming under the slogan of ‘The Leading Family Swimming Brand in Thailand’.

The products we import have become hugely popular and successful with kids and families who enjoy swimming as an exercise. In addition, we are the exclusive distributor in neighbouring countries, namely Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, whose markets we have continuously tapped into.”

ZOGGS products are available at shops in The Emporium, The Emquartier, Siam Paragon, CentralWorld, Megabangna and The Mall Bangkapi in Bangkok, and Jungceylon in Phuket, as well as at SBR-Swim Bike Run Stores.