Tesco supports Thai exotic fruits with instore promotion

Healthy & Tasty Thai Fruit at Tesco, originally uploaded by i-asiamag.

His Excellency Mr. Kitti Wasinondh, the Thai Ambassador to the United Kingdom, was the guest of honour at the celebratory event of a promotion supporting fresh Thai produce in Tesco stores in the United Kingdom.

The promotion, called ‘Healthy and Tasty from Thailand’, is running in more than 430 Tesco stores throughout the UK from 10 to 30 May 2010. The launch event took place on Wednesday 26 May in the Tesco store in Kensington, London and was attended by a delegation of Tesco UK directors, dignitaries from Thailand, members of the Department of Export Promotion for Thailand (DEP) and invited guests from Tesco’s Thai business, Tesco Lotus. This year will see a 46% increase in Thai exports to the Tesco Group to a projected 11.7 billion baht. The majority of this figure was fresh produce worth 6.3 billion baht, itself showing an increase of 25 percent, against a background of Thai crop exports declining overall by almost a fifth during recent economic and political instability. Last year Tesco pledged to double exports of Thai produce to the Tesco Group from 8 to 16 billion baht in the future.

H.E Mr Wasinondh was delighted to attend the event which he felt was a good example of the strong ties linking our two countries.

"British companies are some of the EU’s largest investors in Thailand and Tesco stands out as one of the most successful. As the market leader in the Thai grocery market, Tesco Lotus has a strong presence in our country yet it also has an excellent track record of significant investment, job creation and the introduction of environmentally friendly practices. Tesco’s work has greatly contributed to the increase in Thai agricultural exports to the UK and beyond."

　

Specialist in-store teams have been offering Tesco customers the opportunity to taste fresh and exotic Thai produce, including dragon fruit, lychee, mangosteen, rambutan, long kong and longan, often for the first time. The promotion aims to raise awareness of the variety of exotic fruit produced by Thailand and how each fruit should be prepared. Customers are given an information booklet to take away which includes details of all the fruit on show and preparation guidelines.

Greg Sage, International Corporate Affairs Director at Tesco Plc., felt the promotion was a fitting way to introduce some of Thailand’s exotic produce to UK customers.

"We are delighted to be able to support Thai producers and stock such wonderful Thai produce in our stores across the world. Many of our customers in the UK go to Thailand on holiday and enjoy the local fruits. It’s fantastic that we are able to offer such a great range of exotic fruits in so many of our UK stores."

The promotion has been jointly co-ordinated by Tesco in the UK, Tesco Lotus in Thailand and the DEP. An estimated 40 tonnes of Thai produce are expected to be sold over the course of the three week promotion and this is testament to the hard work of all those involved.

Adisai Dhummakupt, Executive Director of the DEP, was delighted to be involved with co-ordinating the promotion once again.

"This promotion is the third consecutive annual event to be co-ordinated by Tesco Group and the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand. Tesco will increase their imports of Thai fruits by 50% this year and this event is an important contribution to our desire to increase Thai exports to the UK overall."

Guests were treated to a performance from a group of Thai dancers upon arrival before hearing from Tesco’s John Timothy and H.E Mr. Wasinondh as they officially launched the promotion. The delegation later enjoyed a tour of the Tesco store and a tasting session of the promotional fruit on offer.

Johnathan Sutton, Group Sourcing Manager for Asia and Oceana, Tesco Plc., said the event showed Tesco Lotus’ continued commitment to help market Thai fruit abroad.

"We have known for a long time that Thai fruit is indeed very healthy and tasty and should receive wider exposure in markets such as the UK. This should benefit Thai farmers in the long term," he said. "We have been working with the DEP over the last five years to seek new channels for all kinds of Thai exports into Tesco group and have managed to increase the figure each successive year, helped by new opportunities from our store opening programme in China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and India."