New Tefal rice cooker launched in Thai market

The innovation aims to spur the market in this final quarter of the year and meet consumer needs for convenience and efficiency in technology, leveraging Tefal’s single-brand strategy to step up as the leader in Thailand’s rice-cooker market, the company said.
“Tefal is a world leader in cookware and small electrical appliances,” said Suwasit Wittayawijug, country manager of Groupe SEB (Thailand).
“We strive relentlessly to develop products to cater to fast-changing consumer needs with our innovations, namely Tefal non-stick pans, Tefal thermo-spot, Tefal Actifry and the Tefal Free Move cordless steam iron.
“This time, Tefal is set to change the game again in the rice-cooker market by introducing spherical heating technology. The spherical receptacle improves convection to cook rice |evenly throughout. It is our pleasure to launch the Tefal Spherical Bowl |officially for the first time in Thailand.”
He said that according to German market research company GFK, the rice-cooker market in Thailand was worth Bt2.45 billion, second only to the fan market in the small-electrical-appliances field.
“Rice cookers are an essential utensil in every Thai household, as Thai people eat rice every day. In the first half of 2015, the rice-cooker market expanded by 6.9 per cent. Market share for computerised rice cookers increased by 25.6 per cent, which is the highest compared with other types.
“With this in mind, we have chosen to launch the Tefal Spherical Bowl computerised rice cooker. We have also elected to penetrate the market using a single-brand strategy to help consumers remember our brand easily and strengthen each of our product portfolios.
“The Tefal Spherical Bowl offers better performance and durability with six to seven layers of nano-ceramic coating in the inner receptacle and a diamond-shaped exterior that allows excellent heat diffusion. This will assist in cooking the rice evenly throughout, with greater steam penetration and improved flavour and texture.”
“The product also comes with multiple functions for cooking different types of rice and rice textures while featuring eight different cooking programs for the perfect preparation of congee, porridge, cake, brown rice, and soup as well as steam, reheat and keep-warm functions,” Suwasit said.
“In marketing the Tefal Spherical Bowl, we will be driving our marketing offline, on the ground and online in big cities across Thailand with more emphasis on communicating via online media. This is because [younger] consumers tend to do more shopping online.”
As part of the promotion for the launch of the Tefal Spherical Bowl, customers who purchase one will receive one free 1-kilogram pack of organic riceberry rice until December 31 or until supplies run out.
“With this campaign, Groupe SEB also takes the opportunity to do| something good for society by supporting riceberry production from a group of farmers in Phayao province to help create jobs and increase income for them as well as helping preserve organic rice farming. We buy the rice directly from the farmers to ensure they receive full profits from sales,” Suwasit said.“As we approach the year-end holiday season and high season for shopping, we are confident that this is an excellent time to deliver unprecedented experiences to our customers with our innovations. Both the timing and the marketing campaigns should help drive sales in rice cookers and small electrical appliances until year-end.”