Nestle debuts Maggi Imperial Oyster Sauce, CNY campaign

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15th February 2018

Nestle has introduced an all-new limited-edition Maggi Imperial Oyster Sauce along with the ‘Maggi Lebih Masak, Lebih Wang Wang’ campaign to spread happiness and prosperity during Chinese New Year.

According to the press release, “Maggi has developed nine new recipes featuring nine popular Chinese dishes such as ‘5 Blessings Fish Maw Soup’, ‘Golden Dumpling of Abundance’ and ‘Prosperous Sweet & Sour Pineapple Chicken’.

All these recipes feature the brand’s all-new limited-edition Maggi Imperial Oyster Sauce. Made with a unique blend of oyster extract and scallop flavour, this lusciously thick, sweet and salty sauce promises to infuse dishes with superior taste and a distinctive mouth-watering aroma. These latest recipes are available on the Maggi website while recipe videos are available on the Maggi Youtube channel.”

More recipes can be viewed at the Ho Chak show on 8TV.

During this campaign, a whopping total of over RM 238,888 will be up for grabs, with a Grand Prize of RM 38,888 each for three lucky winners through this year’s campaign 50 Weekly Prize winners will also take home ang pao cash prizes worth RM 288.

The 500ml Maggi Imperial Oyster Sauce is priced at RM 7.85 at Shopee and 11 Street. The price of the usual Maggi Oyster Sauce (500ml) is RM 5.66 at 11 Street (normal price RM 6.61).

Maggi also has the Chinese New Year culinary set at Nestle’s official store at 11 Street featuring essential culinary sauces and seasoning for your festive cooking needs.

Quaker creates menu with online meal delivery firms

By

Tan Heng Hong

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15th February 2018

The Quaker oat brand of Pepsico (Malaysia) is collaborating with the food delivery companies to develop menus incorporating Quaker oats. The partnership with Mammam, the provider of halal certified Asian meals delivered on-demand, sees the creation of three Quaker oat meals – Tom Yum Fried Rolled Oats, Oats Stuffed Grilled Chicken Breasts and Oats Omelette Sandwich.

The three delicious dishes are described by Quaker as “perfect for your balanced diet plan this Lunar New Year.”

Kurin X Quaker

The collaboration with Kurin, the provider of health food on-the-go, on the other hand sees the launching of Kurin x Quaker guilt-free snacks. The snacks comprise Blueberry, Cranberry & Chia Seeds, Raw Cocoa, Walnut & Chia Seeds, Medjool Date, Almond & Chia Seeds and Gluten-Free Protein Brownies.

Chicken Rice Shop X Etika and Mamee

We have seen other brands collaborating with the foodservice industry players. In December 2017, Etika Group of Companies (Etika) worked with The Chicken Rice Shop (TCRS) to unveil Salted Egg ABC into TCRS menu. The ais kacang dessert featured Dairy Champ condensed milk.

The halal chicken rice chain previously partnered with Mamee-Double Decker (M) Sdn Bhd in January 2017 to come up with the limited edition Ayam Rangup Berapi. The chicken rice dish was coated with Mister Potato Crisps Fiery Fried Chicken flavour.

What Mini Me thinks

Food manufacturers are finding ways to reach out to more consumers and one approach is to collaborate with foodservice operators to create co-branded products. Such approach exposes consumers to new ways of consuming their familiar food, thus creating more excitement for the brands.

A look at Chinese New Year display & marketing activities in Malaysia

By

Tan Heng Hong

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14th February 2018

With Chinese New Year approaching, food and drinks marketers have been busy launching creative marketing and post-of-sale display to entice Malaysian shoppers to open up their wallet to spend after a muted CNY in 2017.

Nestle’s Kit Kat is offering consumers with limited edition Kit Kat jumbo mugs, limited edition Kit Kat travel tins to discover cities with your taste buds and limited edition Kit Kat Pink for Valentine’s Day.

Hershey’s and M&M’s are promoting their iconic chocolate products.

As usual, Ferrero Rocher’s chocolate wrapped in gold adds value to the Chinese New Year hamper.

At Pringles, the potato crisps is concentrating on its original (red) and sour cream & onion (green) crisps but apparently all of them are still in their Christmas design.

Similar to last year, OldTown is celebrating the Chinese New Year with golden packaging. The gold pack is designed to tell a tale of sincerity through the symbol of birds as a herald of continuous prosperity.

Power Root’s Ah Huat presents a very mainland Chinese approach to CNY marketing in the form of a prosperity gift pack. Rice cracker maker Want Want has done this a lot in China. This year, Ah Huat collaborated with the paid digital satellite radio and television service provider Astro, which introduced a mobile game app for the first time in Malaysia. Fans are able to unlock limited edition game items when using special Ah Huat QR codes that can be found on Ah Huat Prosperity Gift Packs.

Instant coffee maker Super Malaysia’s Super Prosperity Box comes with a limited edition airtight container.

Quaker Malaysia’s Chinese New Year Gift Box comes together with either Quaker Instant Oatmeal or Quaker Oats For Rice. There’s also a festive recipe on the back of the pack to inspire you to cook up an Oatsome reunion dinner feast.

Sunquick is focusing on Sunquick RTD juice for CNY. Cordial is mainly aimed at the Malay market. for CNY, it is offering 3 exciting flavours in one limited edition pack perfect for gifting and sharing. The message is “Happiness blossoms when you share the joy.”

Pokka Malaysia has the tagline “The taste of new beginnings” featuring Singapore’s MediaCorp artiste Vivian Lai. The focus this year is on promoting the new Kiyo Kyoho Grape Juice Drink.

Ace Canning’s Drinho is promoting its range of Asian drinks that were given a new packaging in late 2017. The The God of Prosperity Choy San Yeh is visiting several outlets to offer Chinese New Year deals on Drinho beverages.

F&N is offering the Keep cool with F&N Seasons of Huat campaign offering the chance to walk away with a grand prize of RM 888 and weekly prizes of 3x crates of F&N beverages with every purchase of 1 carton of F&N Seasons.

Yeo’s is giving away RM 888,888 worth of cash prizes with the purchase of any Yeo’s/Cintan products worth RM 18 & above to win.

May Prosperity keep POP-ping this Chinese New Year with Spritzer Pop.

F&N’s 100 Plus is stacked up high to improve visibility with the gold bowl topping the display.

Coca-Cola features the limited edition designs and a chance to win an exclusive gold can.

Carlsberg Malaysia is promoting its Carlsberg Smooth Draught and its iconic Carlsberg in green can.

Heineken Malaysia Berhad focuses on its Malaysia number 1 beer claim and wishes Tiger beer drinkers “May your year overflow with prosperity and togetherness.”

With the purchase of 3 cartons of participating brands, consumers can get a limited edition Tiger mahjong sets at RM 99.

We take this opportunity to wish all Minime Insights readers a Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai !!

Product spotlight: Shin Sen strawberry juice with real fruit

By

Tan Heng Hong

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13th February 2018

To demonstrate the authenticity of the strawberry juice, the Shin Sen Strawberry Juice in Thailand comes with three real strawberries in each 250ml bottle.

We have seen similar strawberry drinks or powdered strawberry drink with strawberry bits but this is one that features the whole fruit.

Shin Sen Strawberry Juice is priced at THB 35 per bottle and was spotted at 7-Eleven Thailand in November 2017.

New Sunquick RTD juice in Myanmar

By

Tan Heng Hong

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13th February 2018

Co-Ro A/S, one of the world’s leading providers of fruit-based soft drinks and concentrates, introduced its Sunquick ready-to-drink (RTD) juices in Myanmar in the second half of 2017. The Sunquick RTD was first released in Malaysia in the fourth quarter of 2016 targeting at on-the-go occasion and children.

This made-in-Malaysia drink is sold individually in 125ml pack at City Express convenience store in Yangon for MMK 250 (USD 0.19 or RM 0.74).

Sunquick at City Express convenience store in Yangon. Photographed by the author

The company is also employing the same strategy used in Malaysia to bundle the RTD drinks with Sunquick cordial.

Bundling of Sunquick cordial with RTD juice. Photographed by the author

Coca-Cola’s Heaven and Earth RTD tea lands in Myanmar

By

Tan Heng Hong

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11th February 2018

Heaven and Earth, the RTD tea brand of Coca-Cola in Singapore and Malaysia, is now in Myanmar. Launched in November 2017, the range comprises Ice Tea with Lemon, Green Tea with Honey and Herbal Drink. The packaging size is 350ml in PET bottle.

Here is the TVC:

Heaven and Earth is available at City Mart, Ocean and selected small vendors equipped with the Coca-Cola chiller.

Convenience stores not carrying Heaven and Earth

Based on a random survey of a few convenience stores in Yangon, Heaven and Earth RTD tea was relatively absence from the leading convenience chains in the city.

However, the outdoor advertisement of Heaven and Earth RTD tea could already be widely seen in quite a number of smaller vendors.

Two Oishi RTD tea (Green Tea Original and Green Tea Genmai) and one herbal tea from Jia Duo Bao were available in the City Express convenience store, while the Oishi RTD tea, VeVe Gold Green Tea and Lemon Iced Tea and Zeno Lemon Black Tea were found in a “Grab & Go” or “G & G,” a convenience store chain operated by Capital Diamond Star Group. Itoen was spotted at 1 Stop Mart.

Photographed by the author at Grab and Go

The sum up, the key players in the RTD tea markets in Myanmar are Oishi, VeVe Beverages, Zeno and now Coca-Cola (Heaven and Earth). The price per bottle is between MMK 450 (USD 0.34) to MMK 500. There are also a few other brands with a presence in the market including Indonesia’s Sinar Sosro (Fruit Tree), F&N and Yeo’s.

The taste profile is sweet and the packaging sizes for the PET bottles are 350ml – VeVe Gold, Heaven and Earth and 380ml – Zeno and Oishi. So far, there are no family pack and can format for RTD tea. The popular flavours are green tea and ice lemon tea.

Thai RTD tea marker Ichitan did mention it plans to begin marketing activities in Myanmar in August 2017 as reported by The Nation but Ichitan products have yet to be spotted in Yangon.

Asian-inspired Lipton Mango & Pandan RTD tea launched with 45% less sugar

By

Tan Heng Hong

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10th February 2018

In line with the sugar-reduction theme, Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading Co., Ltd. has unveiled the Asian-inspired Lipton Mango and Pandan Flavoured Green Tea Drink in February 2018, according to the press release. The drink contains 45% less sugar and comes with the Healthier Choice logo. The sugar content is less than 6g per 100ml. It comes in two sizes: 300 ml at THB 12 baht (USD 0.38) and 445 ml at THB 18.

Tuangporn Siriwatwitoon, Pepsi-Cola (Thai) group product manager Lipton Ice Tea, said despite the 8.5% decline of the RTD tea market in Thailand to THB 13.7 billion in 2017, Lipton Ice Tea was the only major player achieving a 40% growth in sales, reported the Nation.

The success is attributed to the launch of the Lipton Food Buddy campaign, proactive channel expansion and pack-price strategy.

Competitive landscape

Lipton is still a relatively small player in the Thai RTD market but is gaining share. According to Ichitan’s nine-month 2017 presentation citing Nielsen, Oishi had the biggest brand share at 39.2%, followed by Ichitan 23.1%, YenYen (Ichitan) at 10.7%, Jubjai (Oishi) at 5.1% and others at 21.9%. Within one year, Oishi and Others (including Lipton) have wrested away market share from Ichitan.

Ichitan 9 months 2017 presentation citing Nielsen data

To be launched in other markets

Thailand is the first market for Lipton Mango and Pandan Flavoured Green Tea Drink. The drink will be launched in other markets including Malaysia. The drink has already been certified halal by the Malaysian halal certifying body JAKIM.

Ichitan releases guava, mango flavoured RTD tea

By

Tan Heng Hong

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10th February 2018

Thailand’s Ichitan Group PLC launched two new RTD green tea in Indonesia in December 2017. The two flavours are guava (jambu) and mango (mangga).

The two new addition means Ichitan now has a total of nine beverages for the Indonesia market including 4 flavoured green tea, one milk tea and one unsweetened tea.

The RTD maker has plans to increase the proportion of export in 2018 to counter the impact from the new sugar tax in Thailand where 30-40% of its products are currently impacted. Indonesia will be a spotlight for Ichitan in the years to come. Expect more new launches and exciting marketing activities in Indonesia in 2018 and beyond.

Anti-pollution theme in Pokka Nastbee Honey & Lemon juice drink

By

Tan Heng Hong

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9th February 2018

With the tagline “Bersihkan Hari Aktifmu” or “Clean Up Your Active Day,” the new Pokka Natsbee Honey & Lemon juice drink offers the message of anti-pollution and anti-toxic to consumers.

With the hashtag #AsikTanpaToxic, the Pokka juice drink with vitamin C, real lemon juice and natural honey, claims to remove the toxin in the body as a result of exposure to air pollution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl4D6YjHxtI

We have seen anti-pollution claim in beauty and personal care products in Indonesia but the message is not actively applied in the drinks category due to the lack of scientific claims.

What makes Pokka Natsbee Honey & Lemon juice drink unique is the use of the simple yet easy-to-understand Natsbee Cleanometer to represent excessive pollution, stress and poor lifestyle. All these negativity can be removed by consuming Pokka Natsbee Honey & Lemon juice drink.

By embracing the anti-pollution and anti-stress theme, the honey and lemon juice drink could provide a soothing relief to urban commuters exposed to the harsh weather and polluted streets.

Heavenly Blush – Greek secret to staying full longer

By

Tan Heng Hong

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9th February 2018

Indonesian yogurt brands are making full use of the “secret to” to market their yogurt products. We have seen ABC Kogen Dairy launching its Kin Bulgarian yogurt drink with the tagline “The Secret to Living Younger.” This product contains Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and has been linked to the longevity of the Bulgarian people who have more people aged 100 years and older.

PT Nutrifood Indonesia’s Heavenly Blush aired a TV commercial in early 2018 accompanied by a digital campaign to promote its Greek-styled yogurt. Television presenter Sandra Olga, born to a Chinese-Indonesian father and German mother, is featured in the campaign travelling to the Greek island of Santorini in search of the secret to the healthy and active lifestyle of the Greek people. The Greek is portrayed as eating less but feel fuller for a longer time. By eating snacking less, this would help to reduce weight.

The secret is Greek yogurt – high in protein and thickness. Heavenly Blush Greek yogurt is described as having the same properties of Greek yogurt made in Greece. That is the Greek secret of staying full longer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGsNOz2tuZE

Mini Me Insights

Nestle debuts Maggi Imperial Oyster Sauce, CNY campaign

Quaker creates menu with online meal delivery firms

A look at Chinese New Year display & marketing activities in Malaysia

Product spotlight: Shin Sen strawberry juice with real fruit

New Sunquick RTD juice in Myanmar

Coca-Cola’s Heaven and Earth RTD tea lands in Myanmar

Asian-inspired Lipton Mango & Pandan RTD tea launched with 45% less sugar

Ichitan releases guava, mango flavoured RTD tea

Anti-pollution theme in Pokka Nastbee Honey & Lemon juice drink

Heavenly Blush – Greek secret to staying full longer

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