Bangkok--3 Jul--Central Group
Central Group have joined Pracharat Raksamakkai of Ratchaburi to host "Pineapples in the City" to sell pineapples from Ban Kha in Ratchaburi. Space has been provided to sell over 100 tonnes of pineapple at four stores in Bangkok, with sales at the events expected to exceed 1 million baht. Growers can sell their high-quality produce to consumers and generate revenue for themselves directly.
Pichai Chirathivat, Executive Director of Central Group Co., Ltd. noted, "We heard the news that from last May to June, pineapple growers faced a severe crisis due to pineapple fruiting in large numbers, while the number of growers has also increased. This has caused pineapple prices to soften from 14-15 baht to only 7-8 baht. The main problem is that growers do not have adequate distribution channels to sell their produce. So, Central Group joined with Pracharat Raksamakkai of Ratchaburi to assist this group of growers by hosting "Pineapples in the City". This will help sell pineapples from the Ban Kha group in Ratchaburi, who number over 3,076 growers and produce 273,000 tonnes per year. We have provided space for growers to sell their pineapple at a price of 15 baht per kilo at four stores: 3-9 July 2018 at Square A, Central World, 3-10 July 2018 at Promotion Hall, Central Plaza Ramindra, 3-15 July 2018 at in front of PowerBuy Floor G, Central Plaza Pinklao and the Balcony zone Floor 1, Central Plaza Westgate."
The pineapples from Ban Kha are the Batavia variety, a famous cultivar of Ratchaburi province. Production and management systems are laid out by the same methods to save costs and increase production efficiency. The specialty of this variety is that the eyes are rather shallow, with a fragrant aroma and a refreshing sweet taste, as well as delicate, soft flesh with no acid effect on the tongue. Ratchaburi province has similar topography with high mountains and plateaus, rainfall concentrated in the months of September to November and temperatures of 13-38 degrees Celsius. The soil is mostly loose and sandy with good drainage and soil pH. These conditions result in high-quality pineapple production with an identity distinct from pineapples from other areas. As such it is a pineapple cultivar with a registered standard Geographic Indicator (GI).
"We hope that this project can help sell over 100 tonnes of pineapple from Ban Kha in Ratchaburi, with a total value of over 1 million baht. We hope to assist Thai growers in creating jobs, creating careers, helping building community and improving the quality of life which aligned to Central Group's core CSV project "Central Tham". Our assistance to growers is continuous though business units in our group such as Tops, Central Food Hall and Thai Wasadu which provides all branches' parking space to be the channel to present quality products to our customers. This has created emotional connections of growers with consumers," concluded Pichai.