Thailand’s economic climate could mean consumers in the Asian nation take a more conservative approach to Chinese New Year celebrations in 2016, according to Wipavee Watcharakorn managing director of importer Vachamon.
“This year the business outlook in Thailand is not so great, especially from October to December (2015),” Watcharakorn told Asiafruit. “It has been slow and thus I feel people will not celebrate it as a big event.”
The conditions are likely to see the continuation of a trend towards value added products, as Thai retailers bid to appeal to price and time sensitive consumers.
“Convenience and packaging are key factors for the Chinese New Year period,” said Sarot (Bob) Assavapornchai of importer Superfresh. “Supermarkets will play a more important role with this as consumers can get everything they want in supermarkets with easy traffic. Small and ready to use packaging will becomemore attractiveto consumers.”
Assavapornchai said imported oranges, apples and table grapes continue to be the three “king” categories for Chinese New Year in Thailand, while demand for cherries is also high.
A full preview of Chinese New Year programmes will appear in the December/January 2016 edition of Asiafruit.
