SELANGOR, 15th August 2020: In answering Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s call for ‘Spend for Malaysia’, Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Tesco) is putting the spotlight on its local suppliers through the ‘Buy Malaysian Products’ campaign at Selangor State Level with Tesco.
Tesco is no stranger to the ‘Buy Malaysian Products’ campaign and has been participating in the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA)’s economic empowerment initiative for many years. However, this year’s campaign is extra important given that the economy has been negatively affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is no secret that we at Tesco has long been a supporter of local products and suppliers. This support is reflected not only in our continuous participation in the ‘Buy Malaysian Products’ campaigns that have taken place over the years, but also of the over 600 local suppliers that are already supplying thousands of products to our network of 62 stores across the country,” said Tesco Chief Operating Officer, Sushmita Paul at the launch earlier today.
The launch was also attended by MDTCA Minister Yang Berhormat Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi, MDTCA Secretary-General Datuk Seri Haji Hasnol Zam Zam bin Haji Ahmad and various MDTCA representatives.
“We are pleased to share that 84 per cent of sales generated for Tesco Own Brand as of the end of our financial year 2019 was from products that are locally made. This tells us that there is an appetite for and trust in locally produced products that are on par or even better than the national brands. This trust and appetite for local brands are more important than ever now as we seek to help revive the local economy that has been severely hit by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” said Sushmita.
Tesco currently hosts over a hundred local small and medium enterprise (SME) suppliers in its stores with products ranging from ready-to-eat cooking paste, beauty products, household cleaning products and even confectionaries. On top of the inclusion of three new SMEs onto its shelves, today’s event also saw the retailer recognizing 15 of its existing high-performing SMEs.
“The three new SMEs that we are bringing in today as part of our Buy Malaysian Products campaign has gone through multiple levels of assessments and have proven that they stand on par in terms of quality to compete with well-known brands. We believe that with continuous improvement to product quality, packaging, and affordability, these brands will also one day be world-renowned,” said Sushmita.
The public is also invited to sample and purchase products from 20 featured SMEs of Program Citarasa Malaysia, held in conjunction with the ‘Buy Malaysian Products’ campaign at Tesco Extra Mutiara Damansara from 13th to 16th August.
SMEs play a significant part in the Malaysian economy as the segment constitutes 98.5 per cent of total business establishments in the country, according to the Mid-term Review of the 11th Malaysia Plan 2016-2020 report.
Bazar Bangkit Bersama
In line with entrepreneurial empowerment, Tesco is also hosting the Bazar Bangkit Bersama to celebrate the organizations that have gone above and beyond in their efforts in uplifting the less fortunate. The Bazar Bangkit Bersama is part of Tesco’s ongoing community outreach under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) division.
Held across three weekends, with the first starting on 15th and 16th August 2020 at Tesco Extra Mutiara Damansara, followed by Tesco Bukit Mertajam (22nd and 23rd August), and Tesco Bukit Indah (28th and 29th August), the public will be able to support these organizations through their purchases, which will be used to benefit the underprivileged. Some of the participating organizations are Caring Moms, Infinite Minds Academy, the Giving Bank and the National Cancer Society Malaysia.
