Many of you must have been familiar with the face of a kind-looking mustached uncle with a green scarf around his neck these days. His face, after all, appears at several shopping malls or on top of Facebook as the mascot of Jones’ Salad. The brand’s founder Mr. Ariya “Klong” Kumpilo, has embraced social media and new business concept in creating not just brand awareness but also customer engagement.

Turning Point in Life behind Business Idea

Not long after his graduation, Mr. Ariya needed urgent surgery to remove an orange-sized tumor. Although it was not malignant, it marked a turning point in his life.

“I started becoming health-conscious,” he recounted, “Because eight or nine years ago, it was not at all easy to find organic vegetables. I wanted to start offering healthy choices to consumers myself.”

His idea became clearer after his girlfriend went to Australia to further her studies and talked about her uncle-in-law Uncle Jones’ tasty salad dressings. “I even flew to Australia to learn how to make dressings from Uncle Jones. While there, I realized that healthy food had already been a growing trend among Australians at that time. So, I came back to Thailand and applied what I had learnt from Australia,” Mr. Ariya continued.

Attention to Customers’ Voice, Focus on Quality, Promoting Engagement

Jones’ Salad opened its first outlet in 2012, around the time health trends started catching on in Thai society. In a bid to win Thai customers’ hearts, Mr. Ariya created Thai flavors of dressings such as seafood dressing and holy basil dressing.

“I want to present something that consumers can enjoy every day.  There are 15 dressing choices at Jones’ Salad today. While our signature dressings are always available, our new dressings may stay on or be cancelled. It depends on customers’ feedback,” Mr. Ariya explained.

At present, Jones’ Salad has 16 branches in Bangkok and adjacent provinces. Its target groups are city people who care about their health, control their calorie intake, and go to gyms regularly.

“The most important thing about a food brand is consistency. Every dish must have the same standard. To uphold the standard, we need to train our staff well and strictly procure chemical-free ingredients,” Mr. Ariya added.

In addition to listening to customers’ feedback, Jones’ Salad has also delivered health content and promotions to customers via its mascot and Facebook page.

“During the first two years, I did everything on my own to get close to customers,” Mr. Ariya revealed, “Via our social-media page, consumers can have Jones’ Salad experiences even though they have not yet come to our outlet. Facebook has raised our brand awareness and recognition. After consumers notice us on social media, there is a higher chance they will try our product if they see our outlet.”

Thinking Partner for Together Growth

“Many customers sent us a message on Facebook to inform us that they bought our products every day but felt guilty about all the plastic boxes that contained our salads/dressings. Because of their feedback, we reconsidered paper packaging – something we initially thought too expensive,” Mr. Ariya disclosed.

“After SCGP listened to our requirements, it has created very impressive packages for us. They are exactly what Jones’ Salad wants. Each box has the right height, with a cup to hold dressings.

Veggies still look nice in these boxes, which can also be stacked on top of each other. Such durable packaging is perfect for deliveries too. Most important of all, such packaging is friendly to the environment. After we switched to SCGP packaging, our customers are happy,” he continued.

“I am also happy because SCGP delivers really good services and solutions. We intend to seek SCGP support in the future, as we are looking for more types/sizes of packaging including round boxes,” Mr. Ariya concluded.

A good provider of packaging solutions must fully understand the needs of customers and keep improving to deliver increasingly better results, just like SCGP.