The Sustainable Table - Business Leaders Talk Welfare
Join Elissa Lane, the dynamic CEO of Global Food Partners, on her podcast, "The Sustainable Table - Business Leaders Talk Welfare." In this enlightening series, Elissa engages with top business leaders at the forefront of integrating animal welfare and sustainability into their corporate ethos and operations.
Each episode features a new guest sharing their personal and professional journey towards more ethical business practices. These conversations illuminate the practicalities and challenges of adopting sustainable and animal-friendly policies, revealing how these leaders are influencing positive change within their industries.
Listeners will be inspired by stories of innovation, from implementing responsible sourcing strategies to leveraging cutting-edge technologies for sustainable sourcing. The podcast highlights the business benefits of such practices and delves into their broader societal and ecological impacts.
"The Sustainable Table - Business Leaders Talk Welfare," hosted by Elissa Lane, is a must-listen for anyone interested in how contemporary businesses are navigating the path to a more sustainable and responsible future.
The Sustainable Table - Business Leaders Talk Welfare
The Coffee Club Thailand on effective marketing strategies for cage-free eggs: A conversation with Jub Nongchanok Stananonth
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We had the pleasure of hosting Jub Nongchanok Stananonth, the General Manager of The Coffee Club Thailand, under Minor Food Group. With restaurants across Thailand, Jub shares how The Coffee Club has been able to transition to cage-free sourcing, and proactively communicate the initiative to guests. She shares effective marketing and communication strategies, tips for food businesses who want to go cage free, and the overwhelming positive feedback from guests. Tune in to learn more about their cage-free journey and how offering cage-free eggs has increased customer satisfaction!
Hello everyone. Welcome to our podcast, the Sustainable Table Business Leaders Talk Welfare. For those of you joining for the first time today, welcome. My name is Elissa Lane and I'm the CEO and co-founder of Global Food Partners. On this podcast, we interview thought leaders in the fields of cage-free and other sustainability, responsible sourcing and welfare initiatives. I'm honored to have with us today Jub Satananon, the general manager of the Coffee Club Thailand. She's based in Bangkok, thailand.
Speaker 1The Coffee Club is a subsidiary of the Minor Food Group of Thailand, which has a 2,027 company-wide cage-free egg commitment With over 2,400 outlets in 23 countries. Minor Food is one of the largest quick service and casual dining restaurant chains in the Asia-Pacific region. There are currently 41 coffee club locations in Thailand. Jubb has decades of experience in the food industry, including serving as marketing director for Sizzler Thailand in China and assistant vice president of group marketing for Minor Food Group. She is the recipient of various prestigious marketing and sustainability awards, including Asia's Top Outstanding Woman Marketeer of the Year by the Asia Marketing Federation for her innovative, impactful marketing strategies, tactics and values. In her role as General Manager of the Coffee Club Thailand, jubb oversees the coffee club business and brand in Thailand. Welcome to the podcast, jubb, we're very, very happy to have you here today and to get to know you and the coffee club's initiatives better. So let's get started.
Speaker 2Yeah, thank you very much, Elisa. I'm pleased to meet you guys. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1Thank you. So I know I gave a bit of your bio in the introduction, but can you tell us a bit more about your story? So how did you get into marketing and the food industry and the role that you're in today?
Speaker 2Actually I can say like back to my beginning of working. I started working in the advertising agency at the Ogivian Method and after that, when I joined a minor food group as a marketing manager for Sizzler and also Dairy Queen, at the beginning it started going to the marketing jobs. I worked for marketing for over like 10 years and then I moved to general manager of the coffee club.
Speaker 1Great Thank you, and I know the coffee club in Thailand has had a lot of success implementing cage-free sourcing and its cage-free policy through its program that's called Happy Breakfast, Happy Life. Can you share more about this program, Happy Breakfast, Happy Life and about your journey to go cage-free in your restaurants?
Speaker 2Okay, actually, I can say that our journey to go cage-free in your restaurants. Okay, Actually, I can say that our journey to go cage-free eggs start from our brand purpose. Okay, we believe that we can make the right choice for everything we choose to customer, to people and also to planet. So, as Coffee Club, we have the brand positioning. We're famous on all-day breakfast and also egg is our key ingredient. So we believe that happy hen right, we produce happy eggs and it becomes happy breakfast. So it's simple like that that we start.
Speaker 1And so when you first heard about the issue, when you started working on cage-free eggs and how to switch from conventional cage-free to cage-free, how did you first start learning about the issue?
Speaker 2Okay, like I mentioned to you that the eggs is a key ingredient.
Speaker 2So we start with egg first. So we're working with our supply chain and we're working with sourcing in terms of the cage-free and do the trial with our food with R&D first in terms of the cage-free and do the trial with our food with R&D first. So we have, like we contact with the small farms and also medium farms and also the big farms, but finally, what we want is that we have the criteria to ensure that they can give us the enough supply. Approximately, we use around 57,000 eggs if you want to run the whole for the system. So per month right, that's mentioned, that is per month. So finally, we decided to go with a big player like better grow in thailand, because they can provide us the sufficient supply and also high standard. So they have a certified thing which is make the eggs hygiene and also clean.
Speaker 2Okay, as I mentioned for you, we start working with our supply chain and also IND. So we use the cash-free egg to produce the food at our store with the eggs, for example, egg benedict, the omelet and also fried egg. What we see, obviously comparing to the normal egg, is that the cash-free egg has a very bright red egg yolk so it's very red and also no fishy smell at all and it tastes delicious. So it's interesting. And when we find out the ingredients and also benefits, we see that they give a lot more on the vitamins. So in that case customer perception, when we try it in some store trial and we talk to customer customer mentioned that oh, no fishy smell at all for the egg. And when you eat an omelet, right, and also the poached egg is not fully cooked, right, so when the egg yolk is no smell I mean fishy, so it's quite nice. So that kind of things that we see the benefit.
Speaker 2And when we are testing in terms of the transportation, because we afraid that it's going to be easy to broken. So and also we order it very frequent because we want to ensure that it's fresh every day. So we order it every consecutive day direct to store, not passing to the warehouse. So it has to be direct to the store. So that's why we're working on the logistics. So once we can work on the logistics and can deliver to the store frequently and also we can keep it and no damage much, so that's why we can expand to our stores.
Speaker 1Wow. So currently all of the 41 stores are using cage-free eggs and it's fresh delivery.
Speaker 2Yeah, I like if I try to have the whole, okay, I can say like 100 in bangkok, absolutely in the upcountry, some, some of the locations like on the island.
Speaker 1We still working on that yeah, I was gonna ask because I know some companies have trouble in southern thailand and, of course, in some of the islands, so so how you managed to do that? So there's still some challenges with more of the remote locations.
Speaker 2Yes, yes, I can say, it's easier in Bangkok and we have over than 60% of our store in Bangkok, so we use our locations in Bangkok, but in upcountry, especially in the island, we still have the challenge.
Speaker 1Yeah, okay, and cities like Phuket and Krabi. Yes, we work with the beta grow on that. Okay, great, great. And when you were talking to different suppliers, you mentioned small scale, medium scale and you ended up working with beta grow. What were some of? Were there any challenges with the smaller and medium scale suppliers?
Speaker 2yes, I can say like even for the all-store in Bangkok, like I mentioned that over 600,000 eggs per year and over 50,000 per month. We need consistent and also we need the eggs every day at the store. So, if you work with the small, I think that it's good to work with directly to the farmers. However, it's quite hard to control in terms of the sufficient supply and also in terms of the contingency plan, and also we want to have something for certified in terms of the eggs as well. So it's quite important because we want to ensure that it's hygiene and also clean for our customer. So that's what we start at the beginning. We try to finally work with the big one, because it will be more consistent.
Speaker 1And can I ask, with your current supply of cage-free eggs, was there an increase in price? Was there any challenge around price of cage-free?
Speaker 2Yeah, I think it's very interesting when I started working in I can say February last year, in 2023, that I started launching the catch-free egg. The price of the catch-free is a bit higher than normal eggs. Okay between the size of the use, and then it becomes that the price gap is quite small. I can say only 0.6 baht gap for normal eggs to catch free, so for me it's nothing. So I think that serving the catch free egg is much value to customer than the price.
Speaker 1That's great. So you weren't seeing prices like some other companies are experiencing, where it's 100% more or 200% more expensive. It was economically viable to do in your stores. Okay, so about 0.6% higher, 0.6 baht, 0.6 baht higher. So for listeners outside of Thailand, what percentage that represents An estimate of an increase? I?
Speaker 2think that I can say like 4.6 baht per egg comparing to 4 baht, so it's easier to understand it. So it's just only that in terms of percentage you can calculate it's not that high. So for me, I think that it's quite worth for us to work with the cash-free.
Speaker 1Great and you were talking about how you've been getting some feedback from customers that they noticed the taste is better, better smell, better taste. Do you hear that feedback a lot from customers when you know, compared to when you were using conventional eggs, and can you tell us a bit more about the feedback from clients?
Speaker 2Okay, I think that the most impact pictures that customers can see from a cage-free egg is the fried egg on the rice on the steak. That if you have the fried eggs and the red one in the middle and the white one around, because if you put the poached egg or omelet you cannot see the color clearly, right? So when you have the fried eggs, you fry eggs and very red and customer when they serve to customer and customer said why is so red? It's so bright, it's so colorful in terms of the egg, because normal egg maybe is a bit yellow, right? So this one is a very I mean impact to customer when they see the product and then when they taste the product, like I mentioned, that it's no fishy at all. So they feel good and it's a bit big, it looks big.
Marketing Cage-Free Eggs to Customers
Speaker 2So for customer they take the pictures on the menu when we put the egg hatchery on the top with the fried one, so we see the difference from a normal customer don't take the picture of the fried egg. So I think that it makes the food presentation look better and also high quality and also eye-catching and customer knows that it's a high quality and then we promote any egg menu. We put the icon of the catch-free in the insert, that kind of thing. Or we put the catch-free eggs on the sticker on the table so customer know that oh, it's not normal egg, it's catch-free. And they ask our staff. So our staff have to have the knowledge about it as well so they can explain that catch-free egg means that the egg is a happy egg, the egg that can run and also give the eggs. So easy to explain to customer and customer feel happy and give the eggs.
Speaker 1So easy to explain to customer and customer feel happy. Okay, so when a customer walks into the store they're seeing on the menu the symbol for cage-free, and then at the tables and they're able to ask and have conversations with the staff there, and the staff is also happy about serving cage-free eggs and proud of the higher welfare and more sustainable products. So if you were to share what has been the most impactful marketing strategy or communication strategy, to share with the customers what you're doing with cage-free eggs, what would you say?
Speaker 2Okay, Okay, I can say like, in terms of communication, you cannot do only one campaign and then drop it. So what we do is that we do it throughout the year. Okay, but in terms, throughout the year, we start with the excitement of the new menu of the catch-free egg. We come up with the signature big breakfast that we use the eggs and also we do the egg benedicts and also fried rice so you can see the red color of the egg yolk clearly. So that one we launch it with our r&d new menu, launch with the insert menu and also we do some kind like a more on the educationals. Explain what is it about? We have the sticker on the table to remind. We have the led board. We have the board led in the store and also when we launch a new menu, we have the boards. We have ED in the store and also when we launch a new menu, we have the standee outside so we put the icon of the KHV8. And also in terms of the membership, we have membership around 100,000 in 2023. So now we have almost 200,000 members so we can give them the offer to try the KHV8 with the special offers and bring them to the store and in our own asset media.
Speaker 2We promote to our Facebook content with the storytelling style and also with the page review. We invite the Facebook page KOLs to test the product and talking about it so they can write in their own style and also their comments. They have freedom to comment. So it's quite very good in terms of customer-generated comments and also the page review comments. So it's quite natural and it's not like advertisement.
Speaker 2So we do it along the year. I mean not just only one, one time, but we do heavily when we launch and after that we do the content along the period with the sub menu that we promote, highlight. So what we receive the very good in terms of the feedback. I think another good thing is that we should do the cross channel okay, cross channels from the online to offline and also offline to online, with the PR news, with the scoop, with the KOLs, with the special articles, that kind of things, and also with the members, with the notifications to try the new menu from the KHPA so a customer can hear, a customer can taste and also a customer can visit to store and experience it.
Speaker 1It's a lot. That's really great. It sounds like you're very proactive in communicating what you're doing and the reason why you're doing it, and that's really important for growing awareness in the country. So people, whenever they go into your store or see your social media, they're learning more about cage-free and animal welfare and how they can help. You mentioned you have in your stores led some communications through led. Can you share more about that, okay?
Speaker 2it's a monitor in the store that like a monitor. We have the takeaway counter as well. So our store coffee shop we serve the breakfast and also we serve the coffee, so we have the takeaway counter. On the top of takeaway counter we have the led board that we can promote anything on that. And also in the store we have a dining area so people can sit and also have breakfast over there and also all day menu. So, uh, when we change, have something new, we put it on the led screen and it's a rotation for the content. So one of the content is catch-free egg as well.
Cage-Free Egg Marketing Strategies
Speaker 1Okay, yeah, and I'll put in the show notes and maybe share in our newsletter and LinkedIn some of the images you've shared with me of how you market and communicate. So they're really cool and really informative and varied as well. You have many different types of designs and communications. So when you are communicating your commitment to cage-free and that the products, your foods, are made with cage-free eggs, I'm wondering is there an angle of the storytelling that you think resonates more with the customers, Like if it's focused on environmental impact or animal welfare or sustainability in general? Do you know? If there's like one, is there a message that is stronger for customers that they seem to identify with more?
Speaker 2Yeah, I think that the good impact one, the pictures that we show the chicken flying, something like that. So when we see that one and we see chicken very happy, running or freedom, so it's when they image the chicken in the farm I mean the closed farm, which is they give the eggs so they can see the chicken cannot move much, right. So when they see the chicken look like that in the farm we are not the open farm that they can run on the grass because we are afraid of some of the toxins on the grass, real grass, so we put it in the closed farm but anyway they can run around. So I think that pictures that shows the chickens I mean the hens very happy, that one, and also with the eggs it just looks fresh, something like that. So that's very, very impactful.
Speaker 2I can say like we were talking about animal welfare, but when they see the picture they can relate it and also they see that oh, it's very fun and we're very happy and it looks funny for the chickens and they say, oh, we eat the chicken and eggs fresh every day from this kind of chickens. And also we put the words in that happy chickens, happy breakfast, happy eggs, that kind of things we play around with happy words. So customer feel is more impact to this one. However, we have some articles talking about reducing on carbon dioxide because from our buying the big lot of the eggs along the year we can reduce XXX kg of carbon dioxide. For us I can say that we can reduce 157,000 kg along the year. So this kind of information we can have an article talking to customers to make it more tangible that how much they can help by eating the cage-free egg. So I think it should be combined with the nice pictures and also the informative together. Okay.
Speaker 1So nice pictures of the chickens being able to express themselves more and run and exercise. Do you ever show images the hens that are in conventional systems, in cages, or it's focused on the happy hens?
Speaker 2Okay, I focus on the happy hen Okay, I focus on the happy hen. I don't want to against on the normal eggs like that, because I know that in some locations they may be not afford to do that and also the people. Eggs is a fundamental and it's very cheap for protein is very cheap as protein for people. So I think that people who are starving, they cannot choose right, so I don't want to to have that issues for comparison. So I say just only the good parts of the cage-free egg, and also I'm talking that it's better quality and give you that kind of this and that. So I prefer to talk on the good things rather than comparison.
Speaker 1Yeah, that makes sense. That seems to be more impactful for anything, just focusing on the positive and the good things. And are you noticing, say, over the past years, a shift in consumer attitude at all, like when they first were seeing information about cage-free and now that they're more exposed to it over the years?
Speaker 2For minor food groups, especially for the coffee club.
Speaker 2Every brand actually, we have the brand tracking study so we can see that before. I can say, like, after working for this company I mean for coffee club, for two years after COVID, I can see that before that we don't have the attribute that arise in terms of the sustainability. So after we working, we do a lot of sustainability, not just only the cash free, also the zero waste for the plastic as well. So when we work and also the plant-based coffee. So when we combine all of that, we see that in terms of the significant shift up in terms of the perception of the sustainability image for coffee club in a year from 2022, 2023 and onwards. So I can say it also has a positive percent in terms of the comparison to the normal, for the norm of industry, and we see the positive on that. So I can say from the tracking it's a positive side. And from the reality when we talk to customers yes, absolutely, they mentioned about it. It's quite good quality and delicious and the color is nice, no fishy. That that's what customer can perceive.
Speaker 1Good, so it's being received very well and good feedback and they're appreciating the sustainability and animal welfare efforts. Good, and you mentioned other initiatives that you're working on there. Is there one that you have enjoyed the most? Okay, let's say, aside from cage, free, x, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2So coffee club. Actually we have a proposition of uh be the coffee credentials and also breakfast credential. So on the food side we focusing on the breakfast, which is a cage free, but on the side we're talking about the packaging of the takeaway packaging of the coffee. We sell a lot in terms of the coffee packaging takeaway. So we're focusing on the zero waste. I can say why I'm so passionate about that.
Speaker 2I think that from coffee I mean from the beans, I mean the red color, you can do a lot of things from that to the beans and to the grain and also to the package. So we're starting with the, for example, the beans. We after we use it, the grain that we use after the beans, we produce it to show the example to customer that you can make it from the grain. We make it like the shower cream and also the crop and also it can be the lotions that made from the coffee. And then we're talking about the packaging we upcycle of the bean packaging which is the fried one.
Speaker 2We make it as the eco bag, okay, like the crossbody bag made from the real packaging of the bean package. We ask our restaurant manager to bring it back when we have the manager meeting and we ask the supplier to make it as a bag and we sell at the store at the cost. So when customers who buy it they feel good because they can reuse the package, not throw it away and become waste. And also, in terms of the package, all the plastic in our restaurant we change it to biodegradable and we try to encourage no straw by using the ziplit so they can use it for the iced coffee and also for the hot coffee with the ziplit, so no need to have the straw. But I can say like for this part, I see the behavior of customers still using the straw in some customer because they're afraid that when they use the zip lip it will be dirty.
Speaker 1I mean the slip into the shirt will spill off.
Speaker 2Yeah, but so it needs time to educate and also change the behavior. But we try to do that for all the areas that we have Great.
Speaker 1It's a lot of initiatives, and that's throughout Thailand at all, throughout Thailand.
Speaker 2I can say a hundred percent of our plastic we change to these, and also no straw and also all the separate cup, that kind of things. But yes, that that what we try to do Great.
Speaker 1So I have a couple more questions. So let's say somebody uh let's say a restaurant company in Thailand is starting to work on implementing its cage free commitment, like you've been doing over the years. Is there a piece of advice you would give them? How should they start doing this?
Speaker 2I can say like working in terms of sustainability is a little bit maybe difficult to imagine for other people because some people may think of the profit on today, right, today profit. But I can say like you have to begin with the end in mind, that what you want in the pictures okay at the end end and then you go for it. I can say like it's quite difficult to do at the beginning because you have to add the budget right, but it's in terms of long term. It helps improve in terms of the image that you care, and I think that people nowadays they are very concerned on that. Your business has to do something to the world and also care to others as well.
Promoting Sustainability and Animal Welfare
Speaker 2So I think that is a good part that you can show on that from the sustainability project. And maybe you start with a small one and some projects, for example like Case Free, if you can work well on the transportation because, as I mentioned, you cannot put in the store too long, so the transportation will be count as a cost as well. But if you can make it like in thailand I, the gap is just only 0.6 baht, so it's nothing right. So let's try it first and exploit it okay, and then you can start bit and bit.
Speaker 1I think that everyone can make the impact if they do a little bit every day so, imagining so, having in mind the outcome that you want to see, and going for it, and it sounds like it's doable in Thailand. So the cost difference seems much lower than in many other places and people appreciate it. Customers appreciate it. Okay, and do you have any plans in the next 12 months with this cage-free initiative or any other animal welfare initiatives that you can share?
Speaker 2Okay, on this part I have a working. I think that the supplier played an important role as well. They have a lot of initiatives. We can work with them as a partner and normally they have some kind of like, some ideas and initiatives and we work together. But I think that one thing that we can do is in terms of the product innovation. Okay, from the cage-free egg, so in that part we can start working for the bakery as well.
Speaker 2Okay, the beginning. We start with the product that is very functional and tangible that people can see it. I mean the dining as a meal, right, but for in terms of the pastry, if you use the cage-free, okay, that's one I For in terms of the pastry, if you use the cage-free, okay, that's one I think it's quite nice as well. It maybe gives you more different in terms of the tastier for the bakery part. So what I see in this year is that I will promote more in terms of the NPD again, new product development that is easier for customer to see, maybe some new menu that produced from the cage-free and show the visual and also the icon from the cage-free and show the visual and also the icon of the cage-free in the store.
Speaker 1Great. So, like in more of your baked goods, bakery items, having the cage-free eggs in those products, nice, okay, nice. And so a question we ask all of our guests is what is the best piece of life advice you've ever received? Not related necessarily to cage-free or sustainability, but the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Speaker 2Yeah actually, I have two things. The first one I think that all the jobs that I'm working somehow is very difficult to do, it's impossible. But I think that one thing that I believe is that breaking the boundary I can say that breaking the boundary is that something may be half limit, but if you don't have limit in your mind, you rethink the way how to overcome that and you can breaking the boundaries with the good attitude. I think, that one that make you success and be different from others. And another one that I think that is important for me is that don't count the day, because I'm working for long. Right, I don't count the day, but I want to make the days count, so I want to do something that is a legacy, and also that something to the world. So every day that I'm working is not just only making monies for the company, but doing some good things for others as well, maybe a little bit apart.
Speaker 2For example, I used to work for Sizzler brand in Thailand and they use a lot of salad and also it's the only country that use the rice as the garnish, because normally other countries use French fries and also baked potato, right, but Thai people eat rice, so I encourage to have the organic rice for Sizzler, so we help farmers to don't use hazardous things to the landfill and also it makes happier and also they can have the well-being in the farms with the organic rights. And also we're talking about the other things, like the coffee beans that we are working with the organic farm and also we do some good deeds for our people. I can say that for coffee club we use a signature from Australia beans I mean Australia and also we do the roasted in the Veneziano in Melbourne. However, we still have some parts for the dark roast that we produce from the north of Thailand Chiang Rai farmers, that one. We keep it to help the farmers in Thailand and we can grow together.
Speaker 2So I cannot do all of the beans to be Thai beans, you understand, because we are franchised, but we can do some good deeds in a little bit of parts that we can do it. So that's what I believe that, uh, everyone can make impact to the world. Okay, even a small part. So if we can continue to do it, I think that, uh, the world will be better. I have the kids, I want our kids in the better place, right, so it's good for our kids generations. Yes that, yes, I love that.
Coffee Club Thailand's Sustainability Efforts
Speaker 1I love those two pieces of advice, thank you, and I should be in Bangkok in the next couple months, so I'll definitely stop by one of your stores and check out the cage-free eggs and the meals that you have and all the communications you do. So I'm excited to be there and see that. And if somebody wants to read more about your sustainability animal welfare initiatives, where can they find that?
Speaker 2They can find in the Miner Food website yeah, in the Miner Food website it also have this one, and also they can go to the coffee club website in Thailand, and also they can go to the Facebook, the coffee club Thailand.
Speaker 1Okay, great, thank you, and I'll put some of those links in the episode notes as well so that the viewers and listeners can check those out, all right. Well, thank you for joining us today, job. This was a really nice conversation, and hearing about all that you're doing in Thailand and really the coffee club's leadership in this area Just doing it, getting cage-free eggs, finding out a way to do it, communicating it and telling the story, I think a lot of people and companies will be able to learn and use a lot of your advice to make progress on their own cage-free commitments. So, thank you for the conversation. To be notified of our latest episodes, don't forget to subscribe to the Sustainable Table Business Leaders Talk Welfare podcast. Wherever you get your podcasts, such as Apple Podcasts, spotify, youtube podcasts and more. See you soon, thank you.
