HappyFresh upbeat on growth

The Thai subsidiary of Jakarta-based HappyFresh early this year said it would invest over Bt200 million in Thailand to grow by more than 500 per cent. 
Benjamin Koellmann, managing director and co-founder of the HappyFresh group, said the Thai operation had a very successful first half and was meeting or exceeding almost all targets.
“We’re right on track to hit our full-year targets and expect the second half of 2017 to be even better than the first. 
“The investments of the first half of the year are really starting to pay off now, and we expect this strong growth trend to continue during the second half of the year and beyond,” he said.
The company’s mobile application and website allow people to shop a wide variety of grocery products from its local partners. HappyFresh will deliver them to their home within one hour. 
Its major local partners range from Gourmet Market of The Mall Group, Tesco Lotus and Big C Supercenter, to specialty retailers such as Bei Otto German Delicatessen, Food Glorious Food, The Accidental Butcher and Sunshine Market.
The company’s investment focuses on marketing, operations and human resources.
“Marketing is important since we still have to raise awareness of HappyFresh and educate the Thai consumers around the topic of online grocery,” Koellmann said.
“Operations are the backbone of our business, and a good customer experience is what makes our customers happy and keeps them coming back. 
“And finally, none of this can happen without a strong team, so we spend a lot of time and resources in order to attract the best local talent to help us transform this industry,” he said.
Thailand was already one of the largest online grocery markets in Southeast Asia, but the region was still quite nascent compared to Europe, the US or China.
“I’m convinced we will see a transformation of the retail landscape in Southeast Asia over the next five to 10 years, and HappyFresh will be at the forefront of this transformation. 
“The grocery sector is growing much faster online than it is offline, and this megatrend will only accelerate in the next few years,” he said.
“Online grocery currently represents less than 1 per cent off the total grocery market in Thailand. 
“We expect this figure to grow to 3-5 per cent in the next three years, and if Thailand follows the example of markets such as China or Korea, it could exceed 10 per cent shortly thereafter. 
“I am absolutely convinced that we are at the very beginning of a massive transformation in the grocery retail industry, and this change will also reach Thailand in the near future.”
HappyFresh is in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, where the subsidiary was launched in Bangkok in September 2015.
“We are exploring expansion options to other major markets in Thailand but for now remain focused on the large opportunity in the Greater Bangkok area. 
“There is still so much room to grow here in Bangkok that for now it makes sense to focus our efforts here. 
“That being said, I would not rule out a launch of HappyFresh elsewhere within the next six to nine months. It’s a fast-moving business and anything can happen,” he said.
As for jumping into the physical retail business, the company was closely monitoring the developments in the industry and was already working on future solutions with its partners.
“In the near future, HappyFresh might become much more than just an app or website on which you can order your groceries and get them delivered,” he said.
“Even if that doesn’t necessarily mean we will open our own stores or move ‘offline’ in the traditional sense, the idea is that HappyFresh will be present all along the grocery shopping journey, even if you decide to shop at the store. 
“We will work closely with our trusted partner retailers to enable a much better customer journey through our technology platform. The future indeed looks very |exciting!”