"Quality is the most important factor we consider when we draw up our marketing strategies each year. If the quality doesn't measure up to our standards, we must slow down, in order to ensure that our customers consume premium standard," said director Ekapong Pholpipattanaphong.

As the Kingdom's leading honey-tangerine grower, the company yesterday launched a new safety technique that uses wrapping technology to take care of the fruit, a method aimed at reducing the use of chemicals and upgrading the quality of the tangerine.

The company has many brands of honey tangerines in its stable, including Honey Queen, Royal Bee, Sun, Bird and 24K. However, the Honey Queen brand focuses on the upper end of the market.

Ekapong said the company had applied the wrapping technology in its orchards in Chiang Mai from 2004-06, in order to ensure quality before launching the fruit.

The company is the first to employ the technique for commercial purposes at its orchards. Due to the special care that goes into it, wrapped tangerines cost 20-30 per cent more than those produced on normal farms. The paper bags used for wrapping the fruit are also imported.

However, the company also enjoys cost benefits, with savings of almost 30 per cent due to lower use of chemicals.

Ekapong said the wrapping technique allowed the company to reduce waxing on the fruit skin. Normally, edible wax used for coating the fruit is imported at high cost.

"With this wrapping technique, our production comes out with a clean skin that meets customer demand and international standards," he said.

Some of the cost savings is offset by the company's having to shoulder higher labour costs - the special technique requires more workers to wrap the fruit one by one, with one tangerine per bag. The minimum wage in Chiang Mai is Bt150 per day.

The company is open to teaching the technique to other farmers, in a bid to raise the image of honey tangerines in the country. Several years ago, the product's image was damaged, because growers wanted to make quick profits from its high price. They ignored quality control, so consumers shifted to other tangerine varieties. As a result, prices have dropped from Bt60 to Bt70 per kilogram to Bt10 to Bt20 now.

Ekapong said focusing more on quality production would allow growers to raise tangerine prices within a few years.

PP Food Supply also plans to launch a new type of tangerine next year, but Ekapong declined to disclose more details, saying the company had been trying to grow a small-sized tangerine for five years.

General manager Loppana Pholpipattanaphong said new marketing strategies would also be launched to promote the new products, including Honey Queen kiosks and caravan sales.

Achara Pongvutitham

The Nation