Market Update

First printed in Checkout Magazine   

Top Thai store serves up international style

Thailand’s largest supermarket group, Central Food Retail (CFR), has opened a 40,000sq ft store in Bangkok with a product range and layout that is claimed to offer a food experience for shoppers.

Central Food Hall: destination for food lovers with Thai street food

Based in the Central Chidlom area of Bangkok, the flagship store, Central Food Hall, has been designed by the UK consultancy Fitch and caters for an audience comprising 80% local residents and 20% ex-pats.

It features an international range of food and wine brands, many of which are exclusive to the region, plus local produce delivered to the store each day.

The store layout creates the feel of a busy market including fishmongers, butchers and cheesemongers.

Designed in zones, it includes an area called The Street in the heart of the fresh food displays. Here, authentic Thai street food is cooked on the spot from two large circular units. In another section of the store, Fitch has created an Asian Corner featuring an 80-seat in-store seating area plus an outdoor veranda serving Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese dishes.

There is also a health and beauty zone with wider aisles and low curved display units to promote browsing.

Fixtures and fittings include white marble-effect counter tops and gondola ends and long, curved glass showcases for delicatessen. Elsewhere, Fitch has used colour accents and Thai artwork on large, circular columns to create different moods around the store.

Ian Pye, president of CFR, said: “We set out to create the best food store in Asia and I believe we have succeeded – there is not another food hall quite like it, anywhere in the world, with fresh food, ingredients, and a body zone all on the same floor.”

Tim Greenhalgh, managing creative director of Fitch, added: “There’s nothing else like this in Asia – it’s true destination shopping for food lovers which sets a new standard for food retailing in the region.”

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