‘Mitr Phol’ Unveils ‘Mitr Phol Syrup’ as the Sweet Nectar of Modern Life

Mitr Phol, Thailand’s leading brand of sugar products, is introducing ‘Mitr Phol Syrup,’ a 100% pure sugar cane syrup, as a new modern kitchen innovation which is convenient and safe to add sweetness into any food, drinks, or even bakery items under the theme concept of “Adding Sweetness, Adding Good Time”. The company reiterates that life should be, in fact, sweet with ‘Pla – Achara Burarak’ the avid owner of ‘Kab Kao Kab Pla’ restaurant mixes up sweet and sunny drink while celebrity lovers ‘Nui-Sujira Arunpipat’ and ‘Pond-Chaiyapon Leepapan’ bake up their favorite sweet and loving item.


Mr. Kanong Sakpetch, Group Managing Director, Sugar Business, Mitr Phol Group, manufacturer and distributor of the ‘Mitr Phol’ sugar products, reveals that “the new Mitr Phol Syrup is made from 100% pure sugar cane and it is the new cooking innovation that suits the modern life. Naturally aromatic to the base ingredient, the syrup adds not just straight sweetness into food or drink, but also subtle aroma that makes them even more delectable and delicious. This new syrup keeps well over a year at room temperatures, hence gives buyers more value for their money than other types of sugar syrups. And this reflects how Mitr Phol always caters the products to suit consumer’s demands which in this case, modern, smaller family kitchens looking for extra cooking convenience that saves their time.

“Mitr Phol Syrup is available in two packages of 180 ml. bottle and 850 ml. pack. The product aims at modern consumers whose flashy lifestyle covers delectable tastes of their food and extra cooking convenience as well as food and beverage businesses, such as restaurants, hotels and coffee shop owners where Mitr Phol Syrup can help facilitate their cooking and baking process.”

‘Pla – Achara Burarak,’ owner of ‘Kab Kao Kab Pla’ restaurant and ‘Iberry’ ice cream parlour, introduces Butterfly Pea Coconut Soda as a healthy holiday drink which is easy to make on any fine free day. Mixed from anchan flowers (butterfly peas) juice, baked coconut juice, lime juice, and soda, the drink is sweetened by the aromatic Mitr Phol pure sugar cane syrup before pouring into an ice-filled glass and immediately served.

The new celebrity couple of actress ‘Nui-Sujira Arunpipat’ and businessman owner of Papa Pond ‘Pond-Chaiyapon Leepapan,’ introduce the sweet menu of ‘Strawberry Mille Feuille with Blueberry Sauce’ which, as legend has it, was first made by a French chef who wanted to express his true love to his sweetheart. The cake means layers of good things and ‘Mille Feuille’ (translated ‘thousand layers’) represents 1,000 days of true love he has for his lover from the very first day until the end of time.

“First, prepare the crispy puff base by layering the puff pastry onto the baking tray, topped with sugar and icing and bake it at 180 degrees Celsius for about 5-8 minutes. The filling is also very easy to make. Just beat mascarpone cheese with whipped cream, vanilla extract and pure sugar cane syrup until just forming. Then, prepare the blueberry sauce by mixing the sugar cane syrup with the unsweetened blueberry sauce, unsalted butter on a low heat and add lime juice at the end when the sauce is almost done. Put everything together nicely, by composing the crispy puff, cream and blueberry sauce together into layers. Serve immediately.”

“Mitr Phol Syrup” produced from natural sugarcane - Adding sweetness…Adding good times.

The Colory Vivid, a HIP Condo adjacent to Ratchada-Huaykwang MRT, announces a 30% presale to date and an Open House sale

The Colory Vivid, a HIP Condo adjacent to Ratchada-Huaykwang MRT, announced a 30% presale and an Open House sale on this coming February 6, 2010. In the event, the project, which is valued at 500 million Baht, will offer many one-time deals including lucky draws for one-price promotion of 49,000 Baht/SQM on selected floors making a special starting price of 1.5 million Baht for a 31-SQM one-bedroom suite with two restrooms and complete fixtures.


Mr. Kuna Vitayatanagorn and Miss Sirinapa Sawanglum, Executive Director of One Property & Development Co., Ltd., discloses today that after its presales late last year, the Colory Vivid, a HIP Condo adjacent to Ratchada-Huaykwang MRT, registers a 30% take-up rate so far, which is fairly satisfactory given the looming unfavorable situations then. Now that the local political backdrop and economic outlook have improved, the company is even more confident that it could do better. With the completion of the project’s sales office and showroom, Century 21 Realty Affiliates (Thailand), in its capacity as the Project Consultant, has been assigned to stage an Open House sale on this coming February 6, 2010. In the event, there will be many one-time deals offered to all on-site bookings, especially the lucky draws for one-price promotion of 49,000 Baht/SQM on selected floors making a special starting price of 1.5 million Baht for a 31-SQM one-bedroom suite with complete fixtures. On top of all that, there will also be many fun fairs for all visitors.

“Given the project’s downtown location making it very convenient to commute via Ratchada-Huaykwang MRT or connect to several main routes, e.g. Ratchadapisek, Ladprao, Rama 9, New Petchburi or Sukhumvit, we are confident that the project will offer high investment potentials. Many developers have already invested and developed projects in this area, but most of them are either sold out or in their final phase. Since our project has only a number of units and offer unique selling propositions, we are confident that it will receive much interest from its targets and be able to close its sales in no time.” Mr. Kuna and Miss Sirinapa concluded.

The Colory Vivid was founded by 3 prominent business entrepreneurs including Miss Sirinapa Sawanglum - Thailand’s first Miss Asia-Pacific and a well-known jeweler; Mr. Kuna Vitayatanagorn - an heir to Thailand’s top Cooking Oil Empire; and Liberty Group of Companies - a successful garment exporter. With Mr. Kitisak Champathippong of Century 21 Realty Affiliates (Thailand), a trusted and highly experienced expert in the condominium industry, as the Deal Maker, Investment Advisor and Project Sales Consultant, the three entrepreneurs have joined hands to invest in this joint property venture.

The Colory Vivid is an 8-story low-rise condominium project. With a total of 190 units and a combined project value of 500 MB, it is conveniently located on an approximately one rai plot of land in Soi Pracharatbumpen 6, Ratchadapisek-Huaykwang Road and is only 285 meters away from Ratchada-Huaykwang MRT station. Owned and managed by One Property & Development, the project offers a variety of room types, from a studio with usable area of 27 SQM, one-bedroom suite with usable area of 31-34 SQM or two-bedroom suite with usable area of 47-57 SQM. All room types are perfectly functioned to suit a truly urban lifestyle. Each unit is equipped with built-in kitchen set & hood, electric oven, air-conditioner and complete furniture. The project comes with complete facilities including swimming pool, fitness center, garden, parking lots, 2 sets of elevators, access control card, CCTV and around-the-clock security system. It is scheduled to start its construction in March 2010 and complete in June 2011.

Central Food Retail invests Bt90m in Own Brands quality products

Central Food Retail, operators of Central Food Hall, Tops Super, Tops Market and Tops Daily, has invested 90 million baht in introducing its three own brands – Cooking for Fun, My Choice and TOPS. With their complete range of 1,000 premium-quality products and innovative designs that reflect a full range of customer lifestyles, these brands are completely differentiated from other house brands.


The popularity of house-brand products has been growing every year as consumers has pay more attention to value, quality and diversity of products, said Ms Chiranun Poopat, Senior Vice President – Buying & Merchandising and Marketing of Central Food Retail.

“As Thailand’s leading retail company, we have combined our expertise in premium product selection and consumer insights to develop our own brands of unique quality products to extend our business opportunities.

“A budget of 90 million baht has been set aside to develop the products under the Cooking for Fun, My Choice and TOPS brands, and quality is at the heart of all of them. We’re opting only for premium quality products from original sources across the world, and we treat them with processes that meet international standards. Meticulous care is also provided for packaging design to make all details modern and stylish, and representative of the lifestyles of the consumers,” she said.

Mr Nick Reitmeier, Vice President of Buying – Perishable, Produce, International Food, Wine and Own Brand, said that the own-brand products from Central Food Retail provided new, distinct choices for buyers. The company would continually extend the product lines to cover all consumer’s needs from 1,000 items this year to 1,500 items in 2010. In the past 10 months, sales of these products have already totalled more than 400 million baht.
Prominent characteristics of CFR’s Own Brands are:

Cooking for Fun – Our Chef’s Choice enables you to enjoy special meals with premium-quality products that have been thoughtfully selected. A wide range of cooking ingredients -- perishable food produce, dried food, ready-to-cook items, seasonings, spices, kitchen utensils – is available. Customers can find best quality products such as pure olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pasta of all kinds, organic rice, jasmine rice, Natural Pork and jumbo-sized eggs. Cooking for Fun products are available at all branches of Central Food Hall and Tops Market.

My Choice – Make the Right Choice This level of best quality products provides new culinary experiences with many kinds of consumer items and ready-to-eat meals. These include penne pasta with tomato sauce, rice with sea bass Chu Chee Curry, pork tenderloin with garlic and pepper on rice, mixed salads, waffles, soft cookies, pure longan flower honey, instant coffee, juices, ready-to-drink green tea and fresh water. You can find My Choice products at all branches of Central Food Hall and Tops Market.

TOPS – Quality Makes Us Different Every item represents our best choice at every step of the processes, from ingredient selection and flavour to quality control and package design. Most customers’ needs will be met by TOPS’ range of items, whose value compares favourably with other leading proprietary brands. They include jasmine rice, soybean oil, large-sized eggs, imitation crabmeat, croutons, instant creamer, canned food, dried fruit, paper towels, dishwashing and cleaning products and a wide variety of housewares. TOPS products are available at all branches of Tops Market, Tops Super and Tops Daily.

Discover the exciting, innovative advantages of Own Brand products at all 117 branches of Central Food Hall, Tops Market, Tops Super and Tops Daily.

Sugarcane price poised to hit B950

       Sugarcane farmers will enjoy a record high cane price of nearly 1,000 baht a tonne this season, thanks to the global sugar deficit that has pushed up global sugar prices to a 28-year high.
       "Cane farmers can expect to gain 950 baht a tonne during this 2009-10 harvesting season, a record high in local cane history," said Prasert Tapaneeyangkul, the secretary-general of the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB).
       The price is for cane with a commercial cane sugar (CCS) rating of 10,the total recoverable sugar percentage.
       The government's record high price is calculated based on the export sugar quota, of which around 70% has been committed to sales contracts at a high 19.75 US cents per pound at the exchange rate at 35 baht per dollar.
       "This is the highest price ever for the local cane industry. Farmers should be happy as it is a considerable increase from 830 baht per tonne they earned last year while the cost of production is relatively unchanged from the previous year. It is a wonderful year for the sugar industry," Mr Prasert said.
       The early arrival of winter breezes should also enhance cane sweetness.Mr Prasert said that 70% of cane farmers may have output with a higher CCS of 12.28, for which they may earn up to 1,043 baht per tonne.
       The OCSB expects the factories to start crushing this month. It hopes to see 71.44 million tonnes of cane crushed in this season, a 7.49% increase from 66.46 million tonnes last year. The rise in production is the result of good cane prices since last year which attract more growers.
       Sugar production is expected to reach 7.61 million tonnes this year, a 6% increase from 7.18 million tonnes produced last year, with 5.5 million tonnes allocated for export sales.
       The board also agreed to increase domestic sugar allocation to 2.1 million tonnes from 1.9 million last year.
       "This is because we expect food processors for export, who usually purchase cheaper export sugar, to shift to domestic sugar as the export price may be more expensive than the local one,"Mr Prasert said.
       At present, the domestic price is much cheaper than the export price.

INEFFICIENCY THREATENS THAI FARM PRODUCTS UNDER AFTA

       Three major Thai farm goods - coffee beans, rice and palm oil - will lose their competitiveness under the Asean Economic Community if farmers and the government neglect to increase productivity and cut production costs, researchers warned yesterday.
       A study by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce's International Trade Study Centre showed those three goods stood to lose a combined US$60 million (Bt2 billion) to other Asean countries after liberalisation once the Asea Free Trade Agreement (Afta) comes into effect next year.
       Cenyre director Art Pisanwanich said present inefficiency in productivity, logistics and cost management would hurt the competitiveness of Thai farm products under Afta.
       "Although overall exports of major farm goods will increase following trade liberalisation, the market share of Thai exports in other Asean countries will decrease, because Thailand is inefficient when it comes to productivity and cost management," said Aat.
       Thai farmers must urgently develop their productivity, in order to ensure their competitiveness within Asean. They must also decrease costs for production and lofistics and diversify from commodities to high-value-added goods.
       The government should draw up a strategy to strengthen agricultural practices - one that not only promotes higher prices via intervention schemes, but also development of productivity.
       Aat said that local rice productivity was the lowest among Asean countries. For example, in this year's crop, the yield per rai for rice is 452 kilograms in Thailand, 579kh in Laos and Malaysia, 611kg in the Philippines, 787kg in Indonesia and 792kg in Vietnam.
       Local coffee beans will be hardest hit by Vietnam. Thailand's Asean market share of the product will decline 0.1 per cent, or US$200,000 (Bt6.68 million), to Vietnam's benefit between next year and 2015.
       Thailand's export market share in Asean for coffee beans is now 2.8 per cent, while Vietnam commands 61.1 per cent.
       Rice, Thailand's major export crop, will also lose to Vietnam. About 0.5 per cent of the market share, worth $13 million, will pass to that country. For palm oil, 2.6 per cent of the market share, worth $46 million, will go to Malaysia.
       At president, Thai rice exports crop, will also lose to Vietnam. About 0.5 per cent of the market share, worth $13 million, will pass to that country. For palm oil, 2.6 per cent of the market share, worth $46 million, will go to Malaysia.
       At present, Thai rice exports have a 28.9-per-cent market share within Asean, while Vietnam enjoys 71.1 per cent. Thai palm oil has a 6.4-per-cent market share in Asean, while Malaysia commands 34.4 per cent.
       Tapioca will be the only major Thai agricultural export to enjoy a higher market share within Asean, increasing 0.1 per cent, or $5,000.
       Import tariffs on rice and palm oil, which are 5 per cent now, will be elimated next year. Thailand's tariff on coffee beans will be reduced from 30 per cent to 20 per cent next year and then 5 per cent in 2015, because the Kingdom classifies coffee beans as a sensitive product.
       Chainant Ukosakul, vice chairman of the unversity's committee on trade rules and international trade, questioned whether Thailand was ready for free trade in Asean, saying the government had no sustainable or integrated plans for developing agriculture.
       He urged the government to draw up plans to develop the various farm sectors and improve efficiency in custom procedures, in order to serve trade liberalisation under the AEC next year.

B3bn loans sought for equipment

       The Office of the Cane and Sugar Board is seeking cabinet approval for 3 billion baht of loans to help cane farmers buy mechanised cane-cutters to alleviate a labour shortage in the sector.
       The use of cane-cutting trucks would help overcome a shortfall of workers that has persisted for years in the labourintensive cane-cutting industry, said Prasert Tapaneeyangkul, the secretarygeneral of the OCSB.
       "The OCSB is seeking the cabinet's approval for Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives (BAAC) to grant cane farmers 3 billion baht in loans for three harvesting seasons, starting from the current season to purchase cane cutting trucks," he said.
       The trucks, which cost 5-10 million baht each, can cut 200 to 500 tonnes of cane per day compared with one to two tonnes per manual worker. Up to 700,000 workers are needed to harvest the 6.2 million rai of cane plantations this season.
       "Normally, cane cutting needs to be done within 100 days. Some farmers have opted to use fire tactics to speed up cane cutting but this often ends up burning the cane and reducing yields and the sweetness," said Mr Prasert.
       "Using fire should not be the option.Machinery use will solve the labour shortage," he added.
       To promote the use of technology,the OCSB will provide interest rate subsidies to encourage farmers to apply for the proposed loans. Subsidy rates could vary between 3.5% and 5.5% depending on BAAC decision, he said.
       Meanwhile, the OCSB is preparing to issue a statement to counter US claims that the Thai sugar industry exploits child and illegal labour.
       The office will call a meeting with cane farmers' associations and sugar millers to compile a report to counter the accusations."We export only 17,000 tonnes of sugar to the US. But as we are the world's third largest sugar exporter,we need to defend ourself against this allegation that needs to be corrected to maintain our reputation," he said.
       Other industries such as garments and prawn farms have faced similar allegations. The Foreign Ministry and the Commerce Ministry's Foreign Trade Department are preparing to respond to the allegations, Mr Prasert said.

STRATEGY TO FOCUS ON CORE BUSINESSES

       The Wattanavekin family plans to expand its key businesses-hotels and sugar mills.
       Khunying Natthika Wattanavekin said the family has developed a new strategy for its hotel business, which is run by The Erawan Group, an equal joint venture between the Wattanavekin and Wongkusolkit families. The latter operates the Mitrphol Sugar Group of sugar-mill operators.
       "We have delayed about four new hotel projects, mainly upcountry, including the I-Bis hotel in Hua Hin. We will focus on refurbishing our existing hotel properties, such as the Grand Hyatt [Erawan] in Bangkok and the Hyatt Regency in Hua Hin, to prepare for the recovery of the local tourism sector, which is expected next year," said Natthika, who is on the board of directors at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel.
       The Erawan Group operates 15 hotels run by international chains including Grand Hyatt, JW Mariott, Courtyard, Renaissance, I-Bis and Sixth Sense. The group recently opened a 300-room Holiday Inn in Pattaya.
       "Three to four years ago, we launched our strategy, selling Amarin Plaza, a shopping complex at the Ratchprasong internation, back to the landlord so that we could concentrate on constructing and developing hotels, which is our field of expertise.
       "After building them, we appoint international chains to run our hotel properties," said Natthika.
       She said the group had set an investment budget of about Bt200 million to renovate the eight-year-old Hyatt Regency Hua Hin.
       "So far this year we have renovate half of the 211 guestrooms and the lobby of our Hyatt Regency Hua Hin hotel. The renovations of the rest of the hotel's guestrooms and the Regency Club will be completed by the end of this year" said Natthika.
       She said the group would also renovate the balcony area of the Grand Hyatt Erawan by the end of this year to include a restaurant serving international cuisine.
       "We have also restructured The Erawan Group by promoting top executives to the board of directors," said Natthika.
       Natthika said the Wattanavekin family had three major business groups, which include both joint ventures and owned firms: the hotel group, the sugar-mill business, and the Kiatnakin Group of banks and financial institutions.
       "We run the businesses professionally, transparently and according to the ethical code and philosophy of my father, Kiat Wattanavekin, founder of the Kiatnakin Group," she said, adding that the family started in the liquor and construction businesses before diversifying into sugar milling and finance about 50 years ago.
       Natthika is also chairman and CEO of Eastern Sugar Group, which operates a sugar will in Sa Kaew province.
       The group recently upgraded the processing machines at the sugar mill to increase production capacity to 21,000 tonnes a day from 18,000 tonnes.
       "We have received permission from the local authorities to increase our production capacity by another 12,000 tonnes a day.
       "We will complete this additional expansion within the next three to five years," she said.
       Natthika said the group recently expanded its sugar operation by producing ethanol from molasses. With an additional investment of more than Bt1 billion, the factory is now able to produce 150,000 litres of ethanol a day.
       Applying the Alfa Lava and Delta T production system originated in the US, the factory is able to produce ethanol from both sugar molasses and tapioca chips.
       Natthika, who is also chairman of the Thai Sugar and Bio-Energy Producers Association, said the government should draw up medium-and long-term plans to support and promote the productivity of local sugarcane farmers, especially in the areas of water resources, and research and development of news sugar-cane genes.