Bangkok--Nov 18--Aziam Burson-Marsteller
Big C is broadening its high-end customer base by launching its “Farm Fresh Hygienic Food” section to meet the demands of health-conscious consumers and to offer an alternative to wet markets. It expects to increase its revenues from fresh foods by 10%.
“Big C has launched the ‘Big C Farm Fresh Hygienic Food’ line of vegetables and fruit as well as meats and seafood, including pork, chicken, fish and shrimp. With the ‘Big C Farm Fresh Hygienic’ product line, we aim to serve health-conscious consumers and make it more convenient for them to buy the hygienic food at the same time as other products at Big C,” said Ms. Jariya Chirathivat, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Big C Supercenter PCL.
“Driven by our determination to provide alternatives and to support the good health of the Thai people, Big C has spent over a year thoroughly researching suppliers in preparation for opening the ‘Big C Farm Fresh Hygienic Food’ section. We can thus offer our customers good-quality, hygienic fresh food at reasonable prices. Big C will affix a ‘Farm Fresh Hygienic’ label to all our high-quality hygienic goods to enable consumers to make informed decisions when purchasing our fresh products. Big C’s ‘Farm Fresh Hygienic’ products are now available at 23 Big C stores in Bangkok and suburban areas. In addition, the hygienic shrimp are sold at 44 Big C stores nationwide.”
The “Farm Fresh Hygienic” project is a fine selection of premium fresh and processed foods supplied directly from the source. The product must be from a GAP, GMP, HACCP, Q Mark and Food Safety certified distributor to qualify. Big C researched a variety of topics including confirming that only verified fertilizers and feeds were used in production, ensuring that the companies employed non-toxic and environmentally friendly harvest and manufacturing processes and controlling the logistics and storage/sales processes. Big C has determined a number of criteria for quality hygienic fresh foods, including production process, packaging and logistics. All hygienic fresh foods sold at Big C are labeled “Farm Fresh Hygienic” to reinforce that they have been specially selected to meet Big C’s high standards, so consumers can be assured of high quality and freshness.
Since Big C began selling the “Big C Farm Fresh Hygienic” products, consumers have responded favorably to the excellent product quality and reasonable prices. In addition, other health factors have heightened awareness of certified hygienic fresh foods. The company’s current partners in this project include Betagro and Charoen Pokphand Foods (hygienic pork and chicken), the Seafood Association (hygienic shrimp), AQ Fresh (Tubtim fish), Dr. Vegetable (hygienic fruit and vegetables), Suan Som Sai Tong (oranges) and S.N.C. Interfood (vegetable soybeans).
“We are now selling the ‘Big C Farm Fresh Hygienic’ products at 23 Big C stores in Bangkok and surrounding areas. We are poised to extend this project to cover other outlets in mid-2006. We expect the launch of the innovative ‘Big C Farm Fresh Hygienic’ line to draw more customers to our stores and increase revenues of our fresh food group by 10%,” said Jariya.
Big C Supercenter PCL (BIGC) founded in 1993, is a retail consumer good trade operator under the name of Big C Supercenter. It offers a wide variety of products at the most competitive prices under the slogan “More Than Just Low Prices” to maximize the highest value for customers at its 40 store nationwide. For further information about Big C Supercenter, visit our Web site at www.bigc.co.th.
For more information, please contact:
Nattakarn or Satida
Aziam Burson-Marsteller
Tel 0 2252 9871 End.