Skip to main content

SUWASIT WITTAYAWIJUG, SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT, THAILAND/PHILIPPINES

Suwasit Wittayawijug

We have rapidly achieved significant positions in a high-potential market

 

The Group has adopted a very proactive strategy in Thailand. What does this entail?

In 2010, the Group decided to launch a project called ThaiXL within its Thailand subsidiary, with the aim of quadrupling sales over five years. In order to achieve this objective, some clear strategic choices were made: Selecting pillar products adapted to local demand; focusing on a single brand, Tefal; strengthening our distribution and, finally, increasing the outsourcing of production in the Asia zone to ensure enhanced industrial competitiveness.

Suwasit Wittayawijug 2

How have you been able to fulfil specific local requirements?

Thai cooks use blenders for many culinary preparations, such as making spicy pastes, mincing pork or chopping garlic. With its six blades, our “Triplax” blender is perfectly suited to this level of versatility. Similarly, our range of non-stick sauté pans, which are deeper than their European counterparts, has been designed especially to cope with preparing typical Thai dishes. In addition, over here, all the brands have their own teams of demonstrators at retailers’ points of sale. This is an essential sales approach for being listed buy distribution and boosting sales. We now have more than 500 promoters, who benefit from well-defined training sessions throughout the year. We also organise regular field visits to help us constantly improve the quality of their work.

What are the results of ThaiXL to date?

We are in line with our execution plan. In four years, we have tripled our sales and doubled our market share, which exceeded 6% in 2013. This is proof that, with a strategy that is adapted to specific local features, the Group can succeed and achieve rapid growth in a new market.