Thai entrepreneur targets health market with vacuum fried fruit chips
By Jon Fernquest
Today's
article ia about a small Thai company that is placing its
bets on a
new technology for producing fruit chip snack foods.Fruit chips produced by the new technology have less oil in them and are therefore more healthy.
Today's article begins after the vocabulary.
vacuum fry - a
method of frying that results in less oil in the food than deep frying
(See Wikipedia)
deep fry - a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil or fat (See Wikipedia)
entrepreneur - a small business person, a person who owns and runs a small business
placing its bets on - gambling on something new in their business (don't know for sure whether they will make money with it or not)
snack - a small amount of food eaten between meals that provides some energy until the next big meal (See Wikipedia)
deep fry - a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil or fat (See Wikipedia)
entrepreneur - a small business person, a person who owns and runs a small business
placing its bets on - gambling on something new in their business (don't know for sure whether they will make money with it or not)
snack - a small amount of food eaten between meals that provides some energy until the next big meal (See Wikipedia)
Economics
A bite of a growing market
Maker of Greenday healthy snacks seeks a higher local profile5/07/2010
Yuthana Praiwan
After its success in the global market, a Thai family-run maker of crispy fruit and vegetable snacks wants to turn its local products into popular souvenirs of Thailand for tourists.
Greenday snacks are made using vacuum frying, resulting in oil content of just 2% of volume compared with15% for deep frying.
local
- in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area
that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
high profile - very visible to the public, many people are watching and thinking about it (example: the high-profile celebrity murder case)
global - throughout the world ทั่วโลก
crispy (adjective) - food that make a sound when you bite it (crackle sound) as it breaks in your mouth
souvenirs - something you buy while travelling or at an event to remind you of going there (See Wikipedia)
content - the things inside another thing
oil content - the amount of oil in a food
volume - an amount of space (example: the volume of the box was two square meters)
high profile - very visible to the public, many people are watching and thinking about it (example: the high-profile celebrity murder case)
global - throughout the world ทั่วโลก
crispy (adjective) - food that make a sound when you bite it (crackle sound) as it breaks in your mouth
souvenirs - something you buy while travelling or at an event to remind you of going there (See Wikipedia)
content - the things inside another thing
oil content - the amount of oil in a food
volume - an amount of space (example: the volume of the box was two square meters)
Established decades ago, AS World Trading has grown from a small processor of preserved fruits and vegetables under the brand Mr Number One to a medium-sized manufacturer. Since global trends and consumer tastes are always changing, the company has never stopped making improvements as well.
Our ultimate goal is to see our Thai tropical fruit crispy products as popular souvenir products for tourists, like Japan's Tokyo Banana brand," said Chairat Kongsuphamanon, vice-president of Greenday Global, a new company set up to promote the products.
decades
- periods of ten years เป็นสิบๆปี
preserved - kept something as it is, especially in order to prevent it from decaying or being damaged or destroyed ซึ่งปกป้องไว้
brand - a type of product made by a particular company ตรา, ยี่ห้อ
consumer - someone who buys and uses goods and services ผู้บริโภค
tastes - things different things that a person both likes and dislikes
ultimate - the final result after a long series of events
tropical - relating to the hottest area of the Earth, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn ในเขตร้อน
promote - to move someone to a job at a higher level เลื่อนตำแหน่ง
preserved - kept something as it is, especially in order to prevent it from decaying or being damaged or destroyed ซึ่งปกป้องไว้
brand - a type of product made by a particular company ตรา, ยี่ห้อ
consumer - someone who buys and uses goods and services ผู้บริโภค
tastes - things different things that a person both likes and dislikes
ultimate - the final result after a long series of events
tropical - relating to the hottest area of the Earth, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn ในเขตร้อน
promote - to move someone to a job at a higher level เลื่อนตำแหน่ง
As part of the second generation, five years ago I wanted to grow our family business from preserved fruits, as that market was likely to be saturated sooner or later," said Mr Chairat, 29.
It was the first time that the company had made a dramatic change in its business, from only preserved foods to fruit and vegetable crisps, which are more popular among consumers these days.
generation
- a group of people in society who are born and live around the same
time รุ่น (คนรุ่นต่างๆ)
saturated - full, no more room for expansion
dramatic - a sudden, surprising or very noticeable change
consumers - people who buy things or services (individuals and families)
saturated - full, no more room for expansion
dramatic - a sudden, surprising or very noticeable change
consumers - people who buy things or services (individuals and families)
Even so, snacks and preserved food are increasingly perceived as junk food by consumers amid the growing trend of health concerns," said Mr Chairat.
Therefore, he sought new technology to develop new products. The result was a healthy line of snacks using vacuum frying that results in crispiness but with much lower oil content.
trend
- a gradual change or development that produces a particular result
ทิศทาง แนวโน้ม
trend - a new development in clothing, make-up, etc แนวโน้ม
concerns - worries ความกังวล
health concerns - worries about your health and your family's health
line of snacks - the different but related snack products produced by a company
X results in Y - if you do X then you get Y as a "result"
crispiness (noun) - food that breaks apart and makes a noise when eaten
trend - a new development in clothing, make-up, etc แนวโน้ม
concerns - worries ความกังวล
health concerns - worries about your health and your family's health
line of snacks - the different but related snack products produced by a company
X results in Y - if you do X then you get Y as a "result"
crispiness (noun) - food that breaks apart and makes a noise when eaten
With vacuum frying, crispy fruit still contains nutritional quality almost on par with fresh fruit, so it should be our key advantage over other snacks in the market," said Mr Chairat.
Mr Chairat says now is the right time to promote the brand in its home market.
Fresh food processed by vacuum frying contains only 2% cooking oil by weight - much lower than the 15% content from using a traditional deep-frying method.
That means less fat and lower cholesterol and, he says, better taste
nutrition -
providing the materials necessary to your body so it can grow and be
healthy, many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated
with good nutrition (See Wikipedia)
nutritional quality, nutritional value - the helth benefits of different materials found in food
on par with - about the same as, having about the same value as
key - important คนสำคัญ
advantage - a condition giving a greater chance of success ความได้เปรียบ
processed - treated in some way, e.g., treated with chemicals, cut, etc.
traditional - things (clothes, music, customs, etc.) that have been part of a country or society for a long time
food processed - doing "food processing" to raw food (so it can be sold in a store)
food processing - the methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food for consumption by humans or animals (See Wikipedia)
cholesterol - a chemical found in food, consuming high quantities over time is associated with heart disease (See Wikipedia)
nutritional quality, nutritional value - the helth benefits of different materials found in food
on par with - about the same as, having about the same value as
key - important คนสำคัญ
advantage - a condition giving a greater chance of success ความได้เปรียบ
processed - treated in some way, e.g., treated with chemicals, cut, etc.
traditional - things (clothes, music, customs, etc.) that have been part of a country or society for a long time
food processed - doing "food processing" to raw food (so it can be sold in a store)
food processing - the methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food for consumption by humans or animals (See Wikipedia)
cholesterol - a chemical found in food, consuming high quantities over time is associated with heart disease (See Wikipedia)
Mr Chairat's innovation has paid off. Greenday products last year generated sales of 60 million baht out of the company's total of 200 million. This year, he expects 80 million baht out of company-wide sales of 220 million baht.
Previously, the company focused on exports as Thailand has abundant fresh fruits and vegetables available to consumers at low prices.
Other types of snacks had retail prices far lower than ours because they used traditional deep-frying processing, so even though they are not healthy, it was hard to beat them," said Mr Chairat.
innovation
- a new way of doing something นวัตกรรม
generated - created
abundant - in large amounts, more than enough มากมาย
retail - to sell directly to the public for their own use ขายปลีก
beat - win ชนะ
generated - created
abundant - in large amounts, more than enough มากมาย
retail - to sell directly to the public for their own use ขายปลีก
beat - win ชนะ
Also, AS World Trading over 20 years had developed a strong network abroad, which made it easier to market overseas.
Nowadays, most of the healthy crispy fruit snacks available locally are imported and their sales are growing despite their high prices. Therefore, it is time for Greenday to establish a presence in the Thai market.
Mr Chairat plans to emulate the success of the export model, by developing a dealer network and customer relationship management.
Our strategy is to tap the real needs of our customers apart from our healthy fruit snacks' crispy image," he said.
The company will invest 20 million baht to develop new packaging and another 10 million to expand production capacity to 750 tonnes a year from 500. It also plans to seek new markets such as the Middle East and Oceania.
network
- a large system of connected parts, organisations, people, etc.
เครือข่าย
establish - to start a company or organization that will likely continue for a long time สถาปนา, ก่อตั้ง, จัดตั้ง
presence - when someone or something is in a place การอยู่ในสถานที่หนึ่ง (ของบุคคล)
emulate - try be like someone because you admire them
emulate the success of - try to achieve the same success as another person (because you emulate them)
a dealer for Y - a business that sells the product Y for another company that manufactures and produces it
dealer network - many dealers in different locations, connected up and helping each other do business
customer relationship management (CRM) - a strategy for "managing and nurturing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. CRM denotes a company-wide business strategy embracing all client-facing departments and even beyond." (See Wikipedia)
strategy - a plan to achieve a goal over a longer period of time (longer than a "tactic")
tap - use
image - the picture of something that people have in their mind, what people think about something ภาพลักษณ์
image - an opinion that people have about someone or something ภาพลักษณ์
packaging - the container or covering for a product while it is waiting to be sold in stores
expand - to become larger ขายตัวออกไป
capacity, production capacity - the amount of something that can be produced ความสามารถในการ (ผลิต)
expand production capacity - make bigger factory to produce more goods
establish - to start a company or organization that will likely continue for a long time สถาปนา, ก่อตั้ง, จัดตั้ง
presence - when someone or something is in a place การอยู่ในสถานที่หนึ่ง (ของบุคคล)
emulate - try be like someone because you admire them
emulate the success of - try to achieve the same success as another person (because you emulate them)
a dealer for Y - a business that sells the product Y for another company that manufactures and produces it
dealer network - many dealers in different locations, connected up and helping each other do business
customer relationship management (CRM) - a strategy for "managing and nurturing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. CRM denotes a company-wide business strategy embracing all client-facing departments and even beyond." (See Wikipedia)
strategy - a plan to achieve a goal over a longer period of time (longer than a "tactic")
tap - use
image - the picture of something that people have in their mind, what people think about something ภาพลักษณ์
image - an opinion that people have about someone or something ภาพลักษณ์
packaging - the container or covering for a product while it is waiting to be sold in stores
expand - to become larger ขายตัวออกไป
capacity, production capacity - the amount of something that can be produced ความสามารถในการ (ผลิต)
expand production capacity - make bigger factory to produce more goods
(Source: A bite of a growing market, Maker of Greenday healthy snacks seeks a higher local profile, 5/07/2010, Yuthana Praiwan, link)
