After a successful brand collaboration with “Bar-B-Q Plaza”, the brand also releases the new “Bacon Grilled with Bar-B-Q Plaza Sauce” to convenience stores and more distribution channels.

Titiporn Thammapimookkul Marketing Director – Food and Beverage, Singha Corporation said that Masita’s marketing direction for 2019 is to focus more on product strategy, releasing new products and modifying existing ones to continuously excites the market and to respond to target consumer’s ever-changing consumption behaviours.

Recently, the company has modified the ingredients for all five flavours of Masita into a 0% MSG (monosodium glutamate) recipe but with the same taste as always in a 100 per cent grade-A quality Korean seaweed and Masita is the first Thai seaweed brand to gain an international level recognition of taste and flavor from The International Taste & Quality Institute (ITQI).

Also the packaging has been entirely revamped with a more enticing and exciting colour to create brand differentiation and positive first impression among target consumers once they see the products on shelves.

Masita is one of the very first seaweed brands to hire Kyuhyun from SM Entertainment, five members of the up-and-coming boyband NCT.

This year, Masita employs a similar strategy by unveiling Park Ji-hoon, ex-member of the legendary K-Pop idol group Wanna One, to reach the core target consumers from age 12-18 years old. This brand strategy will bring Masita to new heights and emphasise the brand’s leadership image by using Korean artists and idols as presenters to trigger more brand awareness, engagement and eventually an increase in sales.

Moreover, the company had invested more than Bt50 million in numbers of marketing campaigns and activities to reach millennial audience such as an online activity, for example, who’s is the new presenter for the brand in order to increase social engagement among the brand fans and the artist’s fans while also informing the market about the new product recipe with no MSG through above the line and below the line channels.

“In the age of a rapid change in consumption and lifestyle behaviours, it’s essential for brand to catch up the upcoming trend and be able to on it to respond to the target needs.

“Currently, with the rising trend of health consciousness among our consumers, Masita decided to go 0% on MSG with no compromising on the taste. Furthermore, the brand also refreshed the product’s image by unveiling new presenter Park Ji-Hoon, K-Pop star from South Korea to reinforce the brand as the first seaweed brand to utilise a K-Pop brand presenter campaign to reach teenage consumers.”

The non-MSG Masita will be distributed brick&mortar in both traditional trade and modern trade channels.

“Masita seaweed brand is aimed to gain 20% of the total market share with all these strategic marketing executions,” the company said.

The company said in a press release on Friday that is recreating HomePro Visa Platinum Credit Card and unveiling new credit and personal loan card products – Krungsri HomePro Corporate Card, HomePro First Choice Card and MegaHome First Choice Card.

The new cards target both individuals and commercial corporate customers offering unprecedented privileges including automatic corporate reports, discounts, cash back credit, and 0 per cent interest instalment for up to 12 months for every single purchase at HomePro and MegaHome.

With its plan to penetrate all segments in its client base, Krungsri Consumer forecasts an annual growth of 10-20 per cent in the number of new cardholders and the total volume of personal loan and credit card spending, hoping to achieve Bt14 billion target within this year as the cooperation will keep the businesses of the two partners sustainably expanding.

Thakorn Piyapan, Chairman, Krungsri Consumer, said: “Krungsri Consumer firmly believes in building and growing our business along with our partners’ and as always we put great emphasis on utilising latest technology to bring about exciting financial innovations for the benefits of our consumers.

“After 17 years of mutual trust since HomePro has chosen us as their financial partner, Krungsri Consumer and HomePro today join forces once again in revamping the model of our financial service business in line with the ever-changing environment by using the in-depth customer information analysis technology to develop innovative products, services and privileges to create the kind of experience that better serves our individual and commercial corporate clients.

“The online and offline customer behaviour data we have all points to the opportunity to expand our client base. We then further extend our partnership with HomePro accordingly.

“Apart from the modernised HomePro Visa Platinum Credit Card with more benefits for customers with a family who can now manage their home decoration expenses more worthy, we also come up with three new co-branded cards namely Krungsri HomePro Corporate Card for commercial clientele preferring reliable expense reports on a regular basis for a more efficient financial management, HomePro First Choice and MegaHome First Choice cards designed to meet the demands of HomePro customers as existing financial products fail to do so.

“These are the personal loan cards offering 0 per cent interest instalment for up to 12 months and suitable for new generations and first jobbers who are keen on home or condominium decoration and in need of a clever financial management plan. We invested over Bt100 million in the development of these new card products and marketing promotions we proudly launch today.”

Khunawut Thumpomkul, Director, Executive Director and Managing Director, Home Product Center Public Company Limited or HomePro, said: “Home Product Center, reaffirms our standpoint as Thailand’s Home Solution and Living Experience forerunner.

“This year we are more focused on adjusting our business strategies in accordance with the ever-changing environment, deploying the customer-centric approach and further networking with our partners to develop innovative products and services, while expanding our sales channels through HomePro and MegeHome brands to make sure we will create a better user experience and thus encouraging consumers to decidedly make a purchase via any of our omni channels whose number clearly reiterates our position as the leader in home solutions and retail business for construction.”

“HomePro currently has approximately 3.8 million Home Card members, 43 per cent of which are Bangkokians while the rest 57 per cent are upcountry residents, who contribute to 92 per cent our sales value. Each year, approximately 63 per cent of our members, or around 2.4 million Home Card holders, buy some products at our locations, with an average spending of around Bt22,000 per person annually. More than 65 per cent of these spenders use credit card and more than 20 per cent of which prefer instalment payment.

“Given this useful information, we see a chance to grow our client base both in Bangkok and other provinces to better meet the demands of our consumers based on their specific lifestyles. Krungsri Consumer uses their technology to create new financial innovations which can fulfil consumer needs in today’s cashless society – hence this new exciting synergy.

“We are extremely pleased to expand our partnership with the leader in financial business like Krungsri Consumer with whom we have formed a great bond for 17 years. I strongly believe that these new credit and personal loan cards will be able to meet the different demands of both commercial and individual customers of HomePro and MegaHome, with more than 100 branches among them, and create a better user experience for consumers,” he said.

Thakorn added: “With multiple financial products perfectly designed to better serve consumers in all market segments, the support we always have from our strong partner like HomePro with more than 100 branches, coupled with the use of new technologies and the in-depth information analysis to offer new products and services with unprecedented benefits and privileges to meet the demand of customers in every segment, Krungsri Consumer expects overwhelming response for these credit and personal loan cards.

“We target 120,000 new members for HomePro Visa Platinum Credit Card and Krungsri HomePro Corporate Credit Card and 50,000 new members for HomePro First Choice and MegaHome First Choice cards, with the total volume of personal loan and credit card spending of 14 billion Baht for all four cards this year and an annual 10-20 per cent growth rate of both spending and the number of members. Krungsri Consumer and HomePro have also planned to jointly offer new services in the future such as information-based lending which uses consumer behaviour data as the key information for loan approval analysis to allow those groups of customers, who have no fixed income documents, easy access to financial products.

“This data will also be used for automatic credit limit increase consideration or for selecting more appropriate marketing promotions for each particular customer to create a better and innovative user experience for both Krungsri Consumer and HomePro customers, and to build a sustainable business development for both companies,” concluded Thakorn.

Bangkok – Suntory PepsiCo Beverage (Thailand), a producer and distributor of beverages under global brands such as Pepsi, Mirinda, 7up and Lipton, wished to cool off Thai consumers  during summertime with the all-new “Lipton Ice Green Tea Honey Lemon” ready-to-drink tea.

According to its press release, it is a finest combination of well-sourced green tea leaves and natural honey, with a slight and exciting note of lemon.

Certified with a “Healthier Choice” label, it appeals to health-conscious consumers with a rejuvenating yet low sugar recipe as sugar quantity is lowered by 55%1 or at less than 6 grams per 100 ml.

The new and thirst-quenching Lipton Ice Green Tea Honey Lemon is exclusively available at every branch of 7-Eleven nationwide in a 445 ml bottle and a retail price of Bt20.

Latest news and information of “Lipton Ice Tea” can be accessed online at http://www.facebook.com/LiptonThailand and http://www.suntorypepsico.co.th.

The ceremony was attended by 130 people including Insee Kerdmanee, Deputy Governor of the Rayaong Province, Aran Jaitang and Prasan Boontem, both Deputy Mayor of Maptaphut Municipality, MapTa Phut public officials, citizens of the Nong Fab Village and PTT, PTTGC, Thai Oil and Samsung Engineering.

According to the Samsung Engineering, the new Thailand “Hope Library” was built in 13 months in partnership with Plan International. Beyond building the library, Samsung Engineering fully equipped it with 5,000 books, electronic devices such as TV and DVD player and further donated IT equipment including computer, printer, and software, library supplies such as book cart, desks and chairs.

Additionally, Samsung Engineering hired and trained librarians to provide a long, prosper and sustainable library operation. Around 700 children, youth, teachers living near the library including from 222 children from the Nong Fab School will be the major beneficiaries of the library. Furthermore 2,000 community members in or near the village will also benefit from Samsung Engineering’s “Hope Library”.

Samsung Engineering started the “Global Hope Library” campaign in 2012 and donated libraries in counties such as Iraq, Bolivia, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Nepal, etc.

The chain plans to open five Louisa Coffee outlets in the Kingdom over the next three years. The expansion will be handled by local joint venture Louisa Coffee Thailand Co Ltd, set up by two individual partners – Chris Huang, founder and general manager of Louisa Coffee in Taiwan, and Thai businessman Wongphun Laothamatas, who is also executive director of Louisa Coffee Thailand. Huang will own a 49 per cent take, while Wongphun has the majority 51 per cent stake.

Huang said Louisa Coffee the Thai venture is the brand’s first overseas market.

“We aim to open a total of five Louisa Coffee outlets [in Thailand] in the next three years, as coffee culture in Thailand has been booming in recent years,” he said.

Thailand is considered to have a high growth potential, and both local and foreign cafe chains continue to bloom across the country. The value of the cafe sector alone reached Bt21.22 billion in 2017, and up to Bt23.47 billion last year. The industry is expected to reach Bt25.86 billion in value for this year, according to the Food Intelligence Centre, Thailand.

Thai Coffee Association/Asean Coffee Federation calculated different figures, that put the cafe industry in Thailand at Bt17 billion, of which Bt9 billion is from the general coffee-house segment, and another Bt8 billion represents premium coffee houses.

“Thai people consume an average of between 0.5 and 1.0 kilogram per person per year, while Americans and Scandinavians consume 3.5 kilograms and 10 kilograms of coffee respectively per annum,” said Huang. “Furthermore, coffee consumption is expected to grow at least three-fold to more than 300,000 tonnes per year,” he noted.

“According to the statistics [drilling down] on the population of coffee drinker, Europeans drink an average of 1,000 cups of coffee every year. Meanwhile, the United States, Canada and South Korea are at 500 cups a year on average, with about 4-5 cups for China. For Thailand and Taiwan, consumers drink almost 100 cups of coffee annually.

“We expect Taiwan and Thailand markets will double the growth of coffee consumption in the future,” said Huang. In the meantime, he said the company not only projects the coffee-market potential, but also provides a new-style space for the marketplace. For example, the first Amarin store in Thailand will be set up for customers to experience a coffee journey.

Louisa Coffee was founded in 2006 in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. Stemming from the founder’s passion in coffee, the coffee-house chain has established itself as experts in quality coffees.

“We spent more than a decade crafting the best coffee, from roasting the beans, controlling the temperature to brewing each cup,” he said.

“Louisa Coffee operates over 450 coffee houses across Taiwan at the moment, and will expand to more than 550 stores by the end of this year. Louisa Coffee has officially beaten Starbucks and become the No 1 largest coffee-house chain and the most popular brand in the Taiwanese market,” said Huang.

“Our expansion strategy is to open over 100 stores every year, both in Taiwan and in potential markets abroad. Louisa Coffee has been true to the traditional coffee culture process, using scientific production to ensure every cup of coffee is of the same excellent quality,” he said. In addition to Thailand, Indonesia is seen as a potential market for expansion within Asean region.

In Taiwan alone, about 20 per cent of Louisa Coffee stores are under the company’s owned investment, while 80 per cent are franchised outlets, Huang said. Every franchise owner in Taiwan now owns 1.8 Louisa Coffee stores.

“We will deliver the same system from Taiwan to the Thailand market,” said Huang.

Mongkol Leelatham, president of SME Bank, said that this year the company plans to cut its NPLs deficit to about Bt13 billion worth. Last year’s NPL rate was at 14 per cent or about Bt17 billion.

The bank is now selling Bt3 billion of its bad debt to asset management companies and is pursuing legal enforcement, asset confiscation and auction related to recover Bt5 billion.

The bank has also adjusted its NPL management by not extending debt restructuring for its borrowers who have been in the process for more than 15 years. If any borrowers reach that period, the bank will take immediate legal action extending from filing a case for assets to legal enforcement for auctions. Overall, the bank will adopt higher NPL management efficiency and more repayment discipline.

So far, the bank has recorded about Bt3 billion in the collateralised bad debt of borrowers who took debt restructuring for more than 15 years and is waiting for auctions, with about Bt2 billion of that coming from large enterprises.

“After 15 years, if customers cannot repay, we will not extend their debt restructuring and will immediately let it follow the legal process. We have to reduce the NPL to Bt14 billion in our [loan] portfolio,” Mongkol said.

In addition, the bank will in future extend loans with caution and prudence, he said. This year, the bank targets for NPL to be no more than 0.21 per cent or Bt21 for every Bt1,000 extended in loans.

For the year, SME Bank has set its new-loan target at Bt57 billion. Of that, Bt35 billion is expected from branches, with the remaining Bt22 billion coming from mobile cars as the bank moves into digital banking for its lending service.

The bank recently asked the Ministry of Finance for approval to increase its capital by Bt8 billion. About Bt4 billion of the planned proceeds are expected in the last quarter of this year and the remaining Bt4 billion next year. The planned proceeds will be used for loan extensions.

In regard to the International Financial Reporting Standard – IFRS9, the bank has hired an outside company to study impacts on the bank. It expects the Ministry of Finance to postpone enforcement of the standard for state-run banks for another five years beyond the current 2020 so that the banks can be better prepared.

Mongkok said that with his term soon ending, a nomination process is underway for a new president. About six outside people are interested in the position and the nominations are expected to be finalised within this month.