InAsia

How to Sell an Avocado on Facebook

October 28, 2020 The Asia Foundation
InAsia
How to Sell an Avocado on Facebook
Show Notes Transcript

 The InAsia Podcast takes a field trip to northwestern Thailand, where a small farmer far from the big city learns about online marketing and how to tell the story of her unique avocados. 
Read the full blog: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/10/28/how-to-sell-an-avocado-on-facebook/ 

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (00:03):

Hi, my name is Arpaporn Winijkulchai. I am a Senior Program Officer of the Asia Foundation in Bangkok.

John Rieger (00:12):

Arpaporn Winijkulchai, welcome to InAsia.

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (00:14):

Thank you.

John Rieger (00:15):

A field trip to Northeastern Thailand this week on InAsia. I'm John Rieger.

Tracie Yang (00:19):

I'm Tracie Yang.

John Rieger (00:20):

There are avocados, there are pigs, and something called a volcano durian.

Tracie Yang (00:25):

First, this is a story about Go Digital ASEAN, which is the Asia Foundation's project to bring online business skills to small businesses in Southeast Asia. Early in October, the foundation inaugurated a new set of online video training materials for small businesses in Northeastern Thailand.

John Rieger (00:45):

Our guest today just happens to be the director of that project, Arpaporn Winijkulchai. Tell us a bit about Go Digital in Thailand.

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (00:52):

Well, our Go Digital ASEAN project in Thailand is basically about digital literacy for doing business. About 98% of businesses in Thailand, they are MSMEs.

John Rieger (01:05):

That means micro-, small, and medium enterprises?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (01:08):

Yes.

John Rieger (01:09):

So, 98% of Thai businesses are MSMEs.

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (01:13):

Yes, and this group of entrepreneurs, they need knowledge about online marketing. They lack skills and they don't have enough information about how to do online business.

Tracie Yang (01:26):

So, you traveled to Chiang Mai to try out these new videos with our local partners there, and you also showed them to an old friend of yours, Lakela, who has become a small farmer way out in the country. Can you tell us about your visit?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (01:40):

Sure. Just last week I went to the north, in Chiang Mai Province, Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai.

            It is about two hours and a half from the city of Chiang Mai. I met with Lakela and she grows avocados and sells her avocados on her Facebook page. I talked to her and I showed her the video of the project and she loved it - especially, the episode about guiding her to take good photos of a product.

John Rieger (02:11):

I'm surprised that they grow avocados in Thailand. It's a New World fruit, isn't it?

            How are Thai avocados?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (02:18):

It's less creamy, but it's... The taste is good.

John Rieger (02:22):

I certainly sympathize with Lakela, not knowing quite how to take a picture of an avocado, but I gathered that some of your training is Basics of Marketing?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (02:33):

Yes.

John Rieger (02:34):

You actually spoke to Lakela and you [crosstalk 00:02:37] [foreign language 00:02:37] made a recording of your conversation. I have it here and I wonder if you can explain the conversation to us?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (02:45):

The course, in the video, explained about how to promote a product and, in the video, she said something about a volcano durian in Sisaket Province.

John Rieger (02:55):

The durian is that very spiky fruit with the really unique aroma, right?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (03:01):

Oh, yes!

Tracie Yang (03:02):

Is there a difference between volcano durian and ordinary durian?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (03:07):

In Sisaket Province, they have volcano where nowhere in Thailand has. So, they use "volcano" with their durian to make it "volcano durian."

John Rieger (03:19):

As a marketing concept?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (03:21):

Yes.

            I asked Lakela and her friend, "you sell avocados. How would you promote your avocado?" and she came up with the Ping River.

John Rieger (03:34):

The Ping River?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (03:35):

Yes, her land is located nearby the beginning of the Ping River. So, she used that with her avocados. I feel like she has more confidence to think further about how to market, how to promote her avocado.

John Rieger (03:55):

It sounds like a pretty fun workshop.

            Tell us a little bit more about Lakela and her farm. Set the scene for us.

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (04:04):

Well, I've known Lakela for more than 10 years. Recently, I learned that she has become a full-time farmer in her home village. This location is far from the city of Chiang Mai, about two hours and a half, by car. This is the place that she grows her avocados and other fruits. She raises pigs, as well.

John Rieger (04:27):

You've included some pictures of the pigs in your blog post this week and they're lovely black pigs. They look like very nice pigs.

Tracie Yang (04:35):

Very cute.

John Rieger (04:37):

This is a very rural area?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (04:39):

Yes.

John Rieger (04:40):

Yet, it does have internet connectivity, at least via cell phone.

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (04:43):

Yes, she used the Facebook page every day and I encourage her to promote her avocados on her Facebook page. She said, before watching the video, she didn't know about storytelling and she didn't realize about how important it is to put a good photo to promote her products.

Tracie Yang (05:07):

This, again, it's a very rural area and she's using Facebook to promote her product. Is she promoting it to people outside in the bigger cities or what's the process exactly?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (05:19):

She sells her products through her friends' network, but we also have content about how to find, how to target, new clients.

Tracie Yang (05:31):

Arpaporn, just stepping back to the bigger picture of Thailand's Go Digital project, I know you're not just reaching out to small businesses. You're also assembling a group of local volunteers to help disseminate these videos about online marketing, about e-commerce, banking, online fraud, and so on. Why do you need local volunteers when you can reach your audience over the internet?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (05:57):

Well, the reason we have volunteers: we would like to create a group of local people who actually knows about marketing content. These volunteers could be a link between local entrepreneurs who know nothing about marketing to a group of marketing experts, or to work with our partner organizations in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

John Rieger (06:25):

You're really planting seeds, I guess. You're not just trying to train a certain number of people; you're trying to create, basically, a new culture of doing business online?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (06:35):

Yes.

John Rieger (06:36):

[crosstalk 00:06:36] [foreign language 00:06:36] Arpaporn, here you are with Lakela and her friend talking about another video from the product.

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (06:42):

In that video, we have how to promote your product: what you have, that others don't have, only you have it. Then, using that information to make a good storytelling.

John Rieger (06:59):

Storytelling?

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (07:00):

Yes, storytelling is an important part of marketing. Most Thai entrepreneurs, they don't explain, they don't give their story about the product - how they grow this thing, how they produce handicraft. This is something that entrepreneurs could put in the story of the product.

John Rieger (07:23):

This brings us to the avocados of the Ping River, grown at the source where it emerges from the ground.

            I think that Lakela has a natural gift for this. It just makes them sound delicious!

            Arpaporn Winijkulchai, thank you so much for joining us today.

Arpaporn Winijkulchai (07:42):

You're welcome. Thank you.

John Rieger (07:44):

I'm really looking forward to someday having one of those Ping River avocados.

Tracie Yang (07:49):

Yes, please, and volcano durian, that sounds very interesting.

John Rieger (07:53):

That's our show for this week. We have some lovely pictures of Lakela and her avocados in this week's blog.

Tracie Yang (07:59):

... and her pigs

John Rieger (08:00):

... and her adorable pigs. Until next time, I'm John Rieger.

Tracie Yang (08:04):

I'm Tracie Yang.

John Rieger (08:06):

Thanks for listening.