If you've ever sourced any basic kitchenware from Central, you may own something of Scanproducts and not even know it. Established 20 years ago as a premium Danish homeware company in Thailand, Scanproducts has in recent years come out with local brand that is more relatable to this country's middle class homemakers. We had a chat with the company's founder, Danish fellow Jens Viggo Bergsoe, to learn more about "local brand by Scanproducts", the climate surrounding home décor in Thailand and a bit of his personal life, which only furthers the Scandinavian reputation for being model people.
What exactly does your local brand offer?
In simple terms, it's anything that has to do with hot drinks - that is, cups, thermos or vacuum flasks. Very practical and basic things. We didn't ask designers to design them for us. We instead went to the factory and talked size, shape and colour because we wanted the products to be instantly recognised as what they are - a teacup, a coffee pot - and to make them accessible to a broader, more price-sensitive market than our Danish line.
Do you see the impact of your products on lifestyle here?
Ten years ago, Thai people didn't spend a lot of time decorating their house. However, now middle income earners are growing up, settling down and starting to actually decorate their homes. We realise that people are spending more time at home. They're starting to buy nicer things for their home and to even cook at home a little bit more. We're here to provide them with a few essentials for their kitchen. In fact, very often when there's a kitchen in soap operas or design magazines, we'll spot at least one, two or even three of our products.
Has appearing in soap operas boosted the popularity of your products in average households?
Not necessarily actually. The Danish brands we carry are very famous in Europe. People will recognise the brands even before the products. But in Thailand, you have brand awareness only for things like cars, jewellery, watches and bags. You don't really have brand awareness for kitchenware. Here, people encounter our products in the store and evaluate: is it nice, does it work, is it reasonably priced? If it is, they will buy it.
Why is it that in Europe people can remember the brand of kitchenware, but not here?
It's because there's a totally different heritage of home decoration. There, eating out has traditionally been expensive. So people spend a lot of time at home, cooking for themselves and for friends and thus place importance on what goes on their table. It's not the same thing here. For the most part, you don't have the space, you don't have the cooking facilities, while eating out is so affordable. So, kitchenware brands are still very blurred here.
Does it bother you that Thais don't have this kind of brand awareness?
Not really. Like I said, we aim to create something based on more value for money for a price-sensitive market, in order to get out to a wider audience and sell it all over the country, as we do now. If people like it and they buy it, we're happy.
Apart from running your company, we hear you bike a lot. How long have you been a bike enthusiast and to what extent are you one?
I've only been biking for the last three to four years. I used to play golf a lot, but I felt like I was spending a lot of time and money without getting better. So my friends and I just decided to buy bikes and we started riding. Then I bought another bike, was riding more and more and now, I participate in a few races. It's a great way to keep fit. You can eat and drink all you want. I try to bike 200-300 kilometres a week and I join in as many races as I can - sometimes multiple-day races.
You seem very content and well-balanced in life. What's the secret to managing it all?
I'm not very busy. Because I want to stay happy. I worked a lot when I was younger, but now I know I have to do other things as well, so I make sure not to get too busy. Of course, in my business, we want to have more and more clients, but it's not our aim to get big just for the sake of being big. We want to enjoy what we do and have time for other things. That's how I stay happy - by making sure I do the things I really like.
So what are the things you really like to do -- besides biking?
Spending time with my kids and reading. I read a lot of Danish books to keep my Danish up to date. The language has change in the last 10-20 years and I've been told that I speak an old kind of Danish.
Lastly, if you had to choose one of your homeware products to represent yourself, what would it be and why?
The double-walled stainless steel vacuum flask. It's strong, unbreakable and it's a product that I love and use a lot.
