Coca-Cola picks Thailand for 'Habu' herbal drink launch

[webfact]

Coke picks Thailand for Habu launch
Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn
The Nation


Diggy Dey, second left, business development director at Coca-Cola Thailand, and Charnvit Charindhorn, second right, senior vice president for marketing at ThaiNamthip, announce the launch of Coke

BANGKOK: -- Coca-Cola has announced the launch of its first herbal drink, Habu, for the Thai market. Thailand is the first country to unveil this new beverage.

Diggy Dey, business development director at Coca-Cola Thailand, said herbal beverages had always been an integral part of Thai culture, so the company saw an opportunity to develop one here, specifically made for Thai consumers.

"The heritage of herbal drinks is the key inspiration behind the product and brand design - the brand name Habu is easy to pronounce and identifiably Asian with similarities to the English word 'herbal'. Habu's label and packaging are our modern interpretation of beautiful clay pots traditionally used to brew healing herbal drinks," Dey said.

The new ready-to-drink herbal-blended beverage is a combination of four cooling ingredients: rosella, liquorice, luo han guo, and cogon grass.

He added that there was great potential for Habu in the market. It is a great-tasting, cooling beverage designed to be an everyday, on-the-go-drink for Thailand's hot, tropical climate. Herbal beverages, including herbal-fused and tea-based drinks, are among the three most popular drinks in Thailand, alongside bottled water and sparkling beverages, and this is also one of the fastest-growing categories.

"Habu is the newest brand conceptualised by Coca-Cola Thailand specifically for Thai consumers. We are very proud that Thailand is the first to launch Habu," Dey said.

"As a multinational company, Coca-Cola shares its successes and best practices globally all the time. If Habu is a success here in Thailand - and we are confident it will be - other markets within the system can certainly consider replicating Habu for their local market."

Bt21-bn market

He said the company estimated the value of Thailand's market for ready-to-drink herbal beverages including tea-based drinks at more than Bt21 billion, and that it has been growing by an annual average of 25 per cent for the past three years. Coca-Cola expects Habu to fill a gap in the herbal-drink market with its taste and unique blend of four cooling herbal ingredients.

"We are confident Habu will perform in line with market growth and expectations and will see solid outcomes," he said.

The Habu launch is backed by a Bt160-million one-year campaign titled "Habu Cooling", which engages online and offline activities as well as introducing brand ambassadors Pope and Ko Tee to build awareness and recognition. There will also be a massive nationwide sampling programme, with a target of 1 million sample bottles this year. Charnvit Charindhorn, senior vice president for marketing at ThaiNamthip, said: "Habu will be produced by our system's industry-leading, high-tech production capacity. As announced earlier this year, we have invested Bt4 billion in our nationwide production facilities for all of our beverage categories including the production of our new brand Habu.

"The Coca-Cola system in Thailand's strong portfolio of still beverages, such as Minute Maid Splash, Minute Maid Pulpy, Minute Maid Nutriboost and Namthip, contribute more than 20 per cent of the volume of Coca-Cola's total portfolio and has been growing year on year for the past three years," Charnvit said.

"We hope our first herbal-drink brand, Habu, will provide more choice to our customers and consumers as well as strengthen our still-beverage portfolio. As Thailand's leading beverage company, we don't take lightly the responsibility we have in bringing our customers the best, great-tasting drinks.

"When we develop an entirely new beverage, we take all the steps necessary to ensure it will be a market leader, a category winner, and that it will add something unique to our world-class beverage portfolio.


-- The Nation 2013-08-14

[andrewrooney]

All this talk about herbs....

Is Coca-Cola making ya dong?

[Payboy]

"Habu is the newest brand conceptualised by Coca-Cola Thailand specifically for Thai consumers

I went to the local mom & pops, but No Habu. :bah

Edited August 13, 2013 by Payboy

[Thai at Heart]

No mention of sugar content.....

[NongKhaiKid]

Maybe they heard that Thais will believe anything. Just tell the ladies it will make their skin whiter

[CelticBhoy]

Diggey Day! That's some handle.

[NongKhaiKid]

Diggey Day! That's some handle.

He must really hate his parents.

I remember when " Scooter " Libby of the Bush administration was charged with leaking the name of a CIA agent and Jay Leno quoted his lawyer that Scooter would go to court to protect his good name.

[DocN]

The Hub of Habu?!

[ricku]

I think I'm gonna have to try this one.

Say what you want about the Coca-Cola company, but they rarely make stuff that tastes bad.

No mention of sugar content.....

Who cares, as long as it tastes good and is sweet enough?

Edited August 14, 2013 by ricku

[jaltsc]

If they add plenty of sugar and other flavorings, it will be a big seller. It's not much different than the promotion of Richard's Wild Irish Rose (Advertised as a wine, but probably has never seen a grape) in the states. Their product is the number one beverage choice of hard core alcohol addicts. They introduced a ginseng flavored "wine" and convinced their consumers that it was a healthy alternative. Thais are even more gullible (Just observe the snake oil salesmen on TV). They will only see the "natural herbs" and drink the product by the liter. In a few year the health ministry will scratch their heads and wonder out loud why type 2 diabetes is still on the rise. Thailand, Hub of "There's one born every minute"

[Slip]

I tried it the other day- to my mind it tastes like a heavily diluted version of Vimto.

[OzMick]

Another great American product promoting obesity, tooth decay, diabetes and heart attacks. If you ever get to follow a truck carrying coca-cola concentrate, take time to study the hazardous material signs abundantly displayed, a fine indication of how GOOD it is for you.

[rametindallas]

Another great American product promoting obesity, tooth decay, diabetes and heart attacks. If you ever get to follow a truck carrying coca-cola concentrate, take time to study the hazardous material signs abundantly displayed, a fine indication of how GOOD it is for you.

The drivers who truck Coca Cola use the syrup to polish their chrome, The Police use it to clean bloodstains off the street, Coca Cola will dissolve a steak in one week in a bowl, It is very good for cleaning the vitreous china of toilet bowls. Put it in a saucer and mice that drink it will die. All kinds of good uses but I would never drink the stuff.

Since Thailand has such a great tradition of native herbal drinks, why would anyone buy some over sugared, diluted herbal drink from a huge multinational corporation whose only motivation is to get your money in their pocket, when they could buy the genuine article locally?

Khun Slip #11. What does Vimto taste like?

Edited August 14, 2013 by rametindallas

[jmccarty]

High Fructose Corn Syrup, some very cheap other chemicals and maybe some artificial colouring. Excellent!

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

I think I'm gonna have to try this one.

Say what you want about the Coca-Cola company, but they rarely make stuff that tastes bad.

No mention of sugar content.....

Who cares, as long as it tastes good and is sweet enough?

you mean like red and orange fanta, coke zero and diet coke?

yeah those all taste great.

[trainman34014]

So; they want people to stop drinking their regular drain cleaner and drink crap overloaded with sugar and other chemicals. Nice; they will do anything to try and kill us somehow.

[xen]

But as you swallow your dose of sugar or corn fuctrose and other chemicals , it is offset by the good that the unnamed herb is doing for your health.

[xen]

As you consume either a high dose of sugar or corn fructose , this will be offset by the good the unnamed herbal component will do to your health . See no problem at all.

[lomatopo]

Another great American product promoting obesity, tooth decay, diabetes and heart attacks. If you ever get to follow a truck carrying coca-cola concentrate, take time to study the hazardous material signs abundantly displayed, a fine indication of how GOOD it is for you.

"Habu is the newest brand conceptualised by Coca-Cola Thailand specifically for Thai consumers. "

Hard to figure out how even the dimmest of people could think this is "Another great American product..."?

[happynthailand]

The coke rep. gave the wife a case of Habu to try out

sold out in a couple of hours,thai's seem to like it ok

got to be nice and cold,warm doesn't taste to good.

not to sweet though.

[ginjag]

Diggey Day! That's some handle.

He must really hate his parents.

I remember when " Scooter " Libby of the Bush administration was charged with leaking the name of a CIA agent and Jay Leno quoted his lawyer that Scooter would go to court to protect his good name.

We had a bank manager in the UK Mr Hunt, first name Issac, and dad had a friend at school called Mr Hookham his first name Alf.

reply off topic. Now on topic if it wasn;t watered down -vimto flavour I would buy.

[DocN]

I guess, all of you ranting against Coke of course life a totally healthy life-style.

No alcohol (noooooo...only vicious rumors state, that alcohol may not be good for you...), no cigarettes, jogging every morning...

[Slip]

Another great American product promoting obesity, tooth decay, diabetes and heart attacks. If you ever get to follow a truck carrying coca-cola concentrate, take time to study the hazardous material signs abundantly displayed, a fine indication of how GOOD it is for you.

The drivers who truck Coca Cola use the syrup to polish their chrome, The Police use it to clean bloodstains off the street, Coca Cola will dissolve a steak in one week in a bowl, It is very good for cleaning the vitreous china of toilet bowls. Put it in a saucer and mice that drink it will die. All kinds of good uses but I would never drink the stuff.

Since Thailand has such a great tradition of native herbal drinks, why would anyone buy some over sugared, diluted herbal drink from a huge multinational corporation whose only motivation is to get your money in their pocket, when they could buy the genuine article locally?

Khun Slip #11. What does Vimto taste like?

It's kind of fruity/ herbal but still awfully sweet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimto

[OzMick]

Another great American product promoting obesity, tooth decay, diabetes and heart attacks. If you ever get to follow a truck carrying coca-cola concentrate, take time to study the hazardous material signs abundantly displayed, a fine indication of how GOOD it is for you.

"Habu is the newest brand conceptualised by Coca-Cola Thailand specifically for Thai consumers. "

Hard to figure out how even the dimmest of people could think this is "Another great American product..."?

Keep trying you'll get there eventually.

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

I guess, all of you ranting against Coke of course life a totally healthy life-style.

No alcohol (noooooo...only vicious rumors state, that alcohol may not be good for you...), no cigarettes, jogging every morning...

Actually i like a drink, generally to excess at least once a week. i smoke, though i wish i didnt, and i ride my bike a minimum of 100km per week and when i stop, i love to have a coke in bag.

but lets not pretend that it is not pure poison.

[steve down under]

I guess, all of you ranting against Coke of course life a totally healthy life-style.

No alcohol (noooooo...only vicious rumors state, that alcohol may not be good for you...), no cigarettes, jogging every morning...

I drink ,I smoke but oil beef hooked if I will let Coca Cola / Pepsi or any other carbonated soft drink crap near my lips or digestive system !

[Suradit69]

Maybe they heard that Thais will believe anything. Just tell the ladies it will make their skin whiter

"Maybe they heard that Thais will believe anything. "

I thought it was farang males who queue up to swallow any illogical fairy tale woven by their intellectual superiors, aka primary school leavers fresh from Isaan.

[bangarang]

Oh awesome, just what we need! Another sugary drink! Let me guess that there will also be a whitening agent in it as well?

[DocN]

Oh awesome, just what we need! Another sugary drink! Let me guess that there will also be a whitening agent in it as well?

Just collagen...and that makes you beautiful...or slim...or ...intelligent?!

[SOTIRIOS]

........Habu is a Japanese name for a venomous snake............ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habu

.....I would like to read ALL the ingredients..........

Edited August 14, 2013 by SOTIRIOS