First Sri Lanka featured mall opens in Kiev in Ukraine
The world’s first Sri Lanka-featured mall has reportedly been opened in Kiev in the Ukraine, which provides unrivalled Ceylon tea shopping facilities and experience.
The initiative has taken place following discussions between the Sri Lanka Tea Board and Fozzy Group, one of the largest trade industrial groups in the Ukraine and one of the leading Ukrainian retailers, with over 500 outlets.
Slipo has been established in 1998 and the Fozzy Group sells food and household products via its Silpo supermarkets chain and Le Silpo.
A Sri Lanka Tea Board delegation had met Silpo Food LLC during the official visit to Ukraine last year and the Silpo supermarket chain of Fozzy Group had proposed this novel concept to promote Ceylon Tea by setting-up a Sri Lankan featured shopping outlet in greater Kiev under the Silpo supermarket chain.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board has further established a separate zone for Ceylon Tea at Silpo – Sri Lanka mall, offering tea tasting, details of the diversification of the Ceylon Tea and lion logo, Ceylon Tea face masks, etc.
According to reports, the Silpo – Sri Lanka mall offers customers a wide variety of Ceylon Tea signature brands packed in Sri Lanka with the lion logo such as JAF Tea, Basilur, Dilmah, Akbar, English Tea Shop and Hayleys.
Reports further state that Sri Lanka Tea Board is also planning to conduct promotional and branding activities for Ceylon Tea at the Sri Lankan featured mall and some of the identified outlets of Silpo Supermarket Chain such as degustation, category branding and placement for Ceylon Tea brands, shelf-talkers with lion logo, educational programs about Ceylon Tea, tea ceremonies, and Ceylon Tea competitions, with the prize being visits to Ceylon Tea lands in Sri Lanka.
The Tea Board is reportedly coordinating with Silpo Food LLC in Kiev Import Manager Olesia Oliinyk for all operational activities.
Sri Lanka Tea Board Director Promotion Pavithri Peiris has been quoted as saying in the local media that degustation sessions and educational programmes would be started in 2021 due to the pandemic situation in Ukraine.
She has added that the Sri Lanka Tea Board was planning to roll out the Ukrainian Ceylon Tea promotional campaign by early next year and the promotions would be conducted three ways, targeting Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), public relations and search engine optimisation.
OSL take:
The opening of a Sri Lanka featured mall in the Ukraine is indicative of a new potential business/investment opportunity for a foreign retail business. Retail businesses in other foreign countries could also look at setting up Sri Lankan kiosks at their establishments given that Sri Lankan products like tea, spices, herbal and food products are widely exported to many foreign countries. Given all these, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in promoting Sri Lankan commodities.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/29102020/Z_4 |