Bangkok--Feb 20--Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Three Alternative Flavours on Offer: Lemon, Tomato & Thai-Style 'BestFoods', the leading manufacturer of salad dressings long known in Thailand and around the world, reinforces its leadership in Thailand's salad dressing market through the launch of 'Light Salad Dressing', developed under the 'Delicious & Healthy' concept with 50-55% less fat than the regular salad cream. To spice up the market as well as create product awareness, recognition and trial among consumers, BestFoods will set the world's record with 'The World's Longest Salad Bar' as part of its launch activity. Ms. Wichitra Khemalaap, Marketing Director of CPC/AJI (Thailand) Ltd., revealed that the light-formula salad dressing has been developed to serve the needs of today's consumers who are concerned about their health and looks, and thus tend to eat more vegetables and salads. In addition, BestFoods' newly launched "light" salad dressing will add into Thailand's salad dressing market new alternatives in terms of taste and quality for salad-lovers. According to a recent research on Thailand's salad dressing market conducted by 'ACNielsen (Thailand)', the leader in market research, it was found that 41% of respondents representing consumers in metropolitan Bangkok use salad dressing regularly. The cream salad dressing was found to be the most popular among the family members including young children, due to its wide variety of appetizing tastes. In addition, salad was found to become a daily enjoyment to many families, due to its deliciousness, easy preparation, and health benefits. "The research showing the popularity of salad consumption, together with the growing trend of healthcare, the flavour varients we offered, and the widely recognized high BestFoods' quality, convince us that our light salad dressing will be warmly welcomed. We expect the sales of 'Light Salad Dressing' to contribute to the company's total sales and thus enable us to control an expected 60% market share this year," added Ms. Wichitra. Currently, 'BestFoods' is the leader in the country's salad dressing market. It offers into the market three product categories: 'Mayonnaise', 'Sandwich Spread', and the 'Salad Cream' category, under which 'Light Salad Dressing' is a new product line. 'Light Salad Dressing' is another high-quality salad dressing from BestFoods that has 50-55% less fat than the regular salad cream. It can be used not only as a dressing on top of vegetable or fruit salads, but also as a dip for fried foods or seafoods. Moreover, it can be used as a sandwich spread by mixing with cucumbers, onions, and meats. BestFood's light salad dressing comes with 3 flavours: Lemon Salad Dressing; Tomato Salad Dressing; and Thai-Style Salad Dressing which contains chilies and garlic and, thus, gives a distinctive and sharper taste that suits Thais' palate. "Before the launch, we did let 'ACNielsen (Thailand)' conduct both qualitative and quantitative research. The research found that the light salad dressing is well liked by Thai consumers, with 2 main cited reasons: "delicious taste", and "good for health". When it comes to the purchase demand after trial, the Lemon Salad Dressing recorded 94%; the Thai-Style Salad Dressing, 81%; and the Tomato Salad Dressing, 73%. Therefore, we are convinced that all three light salad dressing flavours will be warmly welcomed by consumers and achieve sales as expected," said Ms. Wichitra. Currently, all 3 flavours of BestFoods' Light Salad Dressing are available at leading supermarkets nationwide, in a packaging that is not only eye-catching but also hygienic. Each of the flavours is packed in various sizes to serve every consumption need of consumers: 50cc. sachet priced at Bt7, 200cc. bottle priced at Bt29, and 300cc. pouch priced at Bt36. To create awareness among consumers towards the launch of its light salad dressing, BestFoods has prepared to kick off a series of sales promotion activities, starting off with an exciting launch event marked by 'The World's Longest Salad Bar' in addition to various fun-filled activities. The launch event will be held on February 24, 2001, from 2 p.m. - 6 p.m., at the outdoor area between Siam Discovery and Siam Center buildings. Ms. Wichitra added: "The world's longest salad bar is created to be a magnet, drawing consumers' interest to the 'BestFoods' brand and to our 'Light Salad Dressing' products. In making this come true, we have to give special thanks to the Royal Project which are agreed to provide varieties of fruits and vegetables for this special activity. Our longest salad bar will be recorded as a world record, certified by Ripley's Believe It or Not! (Thailand)." 'The World's Longest Salad Bar' is an activity supporting the launch of BestFoods' Light Salad Dressing which comes in 3 flavours: Lemon, Tomato, and Thai-Style. The longest salad bar will be formed like a labyrinth and used in a game creating enjoyment for consumers and allowing them to take home salad from the world's longest salad bar. In addition, BestFoods allows consumers to join the fun of guessing the length of the world's longest salad bar and win 2 return Bangkok-Hong Kong tickets as a grand prize. During the introductory period, BestFoods will also hold other sales promotions activities, including advertising and public relations via newspapers, magazines, and television; activities at the salad bar and chilled area in the fruits & vegetables section of leading supermarkets, department stores and superstores - such as TOPS Supermarket, The Mall Home Fresh Mart, Bang Lampoo Department Store, Macro, Carrefour, Big C, Foodland, Food Lion, Villa, Seiyu, etc. In addition, there will be distribution of product samplings to target consumers at office buildings in the metropolitan Bangkok and its vicinity; plus product testing tour and salad-making demonstrations throughout the year. Issued on behalf of : CPC/AJI (Thailand) Ltd. For further information : Waralee Bunnag Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Ltd. Tel. 632-8300-7 End.-AN-