Bangkok--20 Aug--Peachy Village
New brand predicts Peachy future for Thai baby food market
- Peachy is created by real parents with a passion for making healthier baby food options available in Thailand
- Innovative pouch packaging designed to make weaning easier than ever for busy mums
- First ever baby food brand based on Thai fruits and vegetables
The young parents behind new baby food brand Peachy hope their launch range of fruit and vegetable purees will be a catalyst for the Thai baby food market and inspire parents to feed healthier food to their babies. As the first ready-to-eat baby food based on Thai fruit and vegetables, Peachy comes in innovative pouch packaging and is now available in Thai supermarkets.
“We were really disappointed by the lack of weaning options for our children in the Thai market which we found surprising when you consider the abundance of locally grown fruits and vegetables such as bananas and mangoes, which are key ingredients in first foods,” said Jamie Rowland Jones, Managing Director, Peachy Village Co., Ltd.“So we decided to create our own baby food brand to make it easier for other parents to find healthy, natural food for their little ones.”
Peachy fruit and vegetable ingredients are sourced entirely from Thailand (with the exception of apples — from New Zealand) and include indigenous Nam Dok Mai mangoes and Nam Wah bananas which have long been used for homemade baby food in Thailand and are well known for their high nutritional content. Peachy uses innovative pouch packaging, which is becomingly increasingly popular for premium baby food products globally, adding convenience whilst helping maximize the food’s taste and nutrition.
Developed in consultation with food and nutrition experts, Peachy products are suitable for babies from six months to three years and contain no added salt, sugar or preservatives, designed to help encourage healthy eating habits from the earliest age. While many doctors recommend making baby food from fresh at home, Peachy is designed to appeal to modern parents who may be too busy to cook their own baby food bust still want to provide the best, natural food for their children.
“Today’s modern mums and dads want their babies to enjoy the best kind of foods, but they also want convenience. The pouch packaging we chose for Peachy makes it easier than ever for parents to feed their babies at home or on-the-go,” said Thidasak Rowland Jones, head of product development.“We have created recipes which are nutritious but also tasty so that even fussy eaters can learn to love eating fruits and vegetables, helping them develop healthy eating habits to last a lifetime,” added Thidasak.
Personal branding by parents, for parents
Peachy branding centres around a cartoon chef character who represents Thidasak and Jamie’s first son Peter, also known as Peachy’s “chief taster”. Simple, fun illustrations of the chief taster in colourful scenes help the Peachy packaging to stand out on the shelf while communicating the fact that Peachy is made by real parents.
Peachy marketing efforts in 2012 will focus on educating the target market about the importance of providing the right kind of foods to babies during the weaning process. In cooperation with nutrition experts, including Dr.Chatrapa Hudthagosol, Dr. PH from Mahidol University’s Department of Nutrition, scheduled marketing activities include an educational road show to leading Thai hospitals, product tasting at selected stores and nurseries and on-going customer relations activities through the brand’s facebook page (www.facebook.com/peachybabyfood). An advertising campaign will run in targeted magazines to communicate the benefits of using Peachy to help children develop healthy eating habits while the product is also being showcased at food industry events throughout 2012 to further promote Peachy baby food to target customers in Thailand and overseas.
“Compared to developed markets, the importance of weaning is not well understood by Thai consumers. Through our educational marketing activities we aim to increase awareness amongst Thai parents about how important it is for babies and young children to start eating healthy food from an early age and the link between the food they eat when they are young and how this affects eating habits later in life,” Jamie confirmed.
Working closely with Thai fruit and vegetable farmers
Peachy is manufactured by Srichiengmai Industry Co., Ltd. according to HACCP, GMP and Halal food production certifications. As one of Thailand’s leading producers of tomato products for over 30 years, Srichiengmai Industry is located near Nong Khai in North-East Thailand and operates a contract farming system which allows a close working relationship with nearby farmers to secure high grade fruits and vegetables and ensure traceability of ingredients.
“The way we work with local farmers allows us to strictly control the quality of the ingredients used to make Peachy and ensures that Good Agricultural Processes (GAP) are followed,” said Mr.Sakchai Unjittikul, Managing Director, Srichiengmai Industry Co., Ltd. “Furthermore, the manufacturing of Peachy baby food in our international standard manufacturing plant is a good example of how creativity can add significant value to Thailand’s fruit and vegetable farming industry,” Khun Sakchai added.
The five Peachy recipes (Pumpkin, corn milk and potato puree, Apple, mango and banana puree, Banana, cantaloupe and potato puree, Mango, sweet potato and carrot puree and Apple, spinach and sweet potato puree) are now available in 110g pouches at major supermarket chains in Thailand, retailing for around 55 baht per pouch.
More information can be found at www.peachy.co.th and www.facebook.com/peachybabyfood