'End of pandemic will boost F&B industry'
Published on: Monday, May 16, 2022
By: Vanessa James
BoozeFest Kuala Lumpur allows brand owners, distributors and wholesalers to boost their brands' visibility and widen their customer base.
Kuala Lumpur: The local food and beverage (F&B) industry continues to move forward to boost Malaysia's financial fortune following the country's move to endemicity despite struggles including supply chain disruptions, cost inflation and manpower shortages.
In the effort, the alcohol industry is most likely to experience a slow growth owing to the closure of entertainment outlets and limited on-trade channels amid a global pandemic.
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Eatcosy's inaugural F&B event launching, BoozeFest Kuala Lumpur, was held at the Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur Hotel on May 12-14.
Speaking to the media during the lauching, Eatcosys Founder and Group Chairman Tham Lih Chung stated that this would be a pleasant platform for brand owners, distributors, as well as wholesalers to increase brand visibility and also broaden their customer base.
"BoozeFest Kuala Lumpur would be a pleasant platform for brand owners, distributors and wholesalers to boost their brands' visibility and widen their customer base as well as offer a value-for-money experience to pandemic-fatigued customers," he said.
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He went on to say that the event would be run in collaboration with local spirit brand owners, distributors and local restaurants and cafes from brands such as Singleton, Dewar's, Bombay Sapphire, The Crane Puteh and many more.
The rise of the F&B industry has given a new hope to the alcohol ambassadors upon transitioning to endemicity last month despite the rough battle during the Covid-19 recovery phase.
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Martell Brand Ambassador Bastien Michaud shared that after the pandemic, he witnessed many smiling faces during the festival.
"Everything is picking up and really back to life again. We really want to make the customers happy. Champagne is meant to be shared, and should be drunk with your loved ones," he said.
In this regard, Hennessy Brand Ambassador Chong Wai Keng told Daily Express that the pandemic has been challenging for his company but somehow he managed to come up with alternative ways to run his business which kept it moving forward.
He explained that he was glad with the government's move to relax the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as a result of the transition to endemicity through various efforts including the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to curb the spread of coronavirus in the community.
"The pandemic started two years ago and in the first few months of the pandemic, the business went really slow due to the lockdown but somehow we needed to survive. So, we came up with many ways to run our business, especially on-trade. After that, we ventured into digital marketing where people started to purchase online and enjoy our products with families. Since then, our business almost came back in position.
"But we are happy that the government has relaxed the standard operating procedure (SOP) which would eventually boost the business and bring back stability," he said.
Adding to that, he said that people are also playing the role by still following the stipulated SOP imposed even though the government has loosened the restrictions.
"A lot of consumers are more vigilant about the virus. I'm still seeing a lot of Malaysians wearing masks. They know how to protect themselves,” he said.
Bacardi Martini Customer Marketing Manager Timothy Benjamin T.Gomez stated that the pandemic is over and it is time for people to move on.
"We want to put our consumers at heart. First thing is we want to convince them, we want to convert them and of course we want to make them funable by going out as drinking is safe. It's about time to move on", he added.
"The festival is aligned with the Eatcosys mission to reinvigorate the F&B sector post-pandemic while building a robust ecosystem to uplift our communities and stakeholders," Tham shared.
BoozeFest allowed attendees to enjoy unlimited tastings of over 30 brands of alcohol besides taking part in fun activities.
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