Central Food Retail (CFR) is launching a B2B e-commerce platform for restaurants and other food retailers to buy raw ingredients from Thai or international suppliers.
Chef Yim is a web and mobile app that will provide access to fresh ingredients from Thailand and abroad to local restaurants, cafes, hotels and caterers.
"The company has become aware of the problems facing catering businesses," said Jirasak Chirathivat, head of business-to-business platforms at CFR. "These involve sourcing ingredients both domestically and overseas while controlling product quality and transport, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic."
The app will source ingredients from a network of over 1,000 suppliers nationwide, as well as top-grade ingredients from abroad, and provide deliveries through CFR's transport network.
CFR hopes to integrate Chef Yim into its existing developed technologies.
Central Tech, the e-commerce technology arm under Central Group, previously developed an omnichannel e-commerce platform alongside The1, a digital loyalty programme in Thailand. Central JD Money, a subsidiary of fintech developer Central JD Fintech Holding, introduced the Dolfin e-wallet.
CFR has a plan to develop the system further and offer more convenience for restaurateurs in the future, integrating the Chef Yim system with restaurants' point-of-sale terminals to make product orders even more accurate.
"We looked at B2B channels in the food market, which market research provider Euromonitor International has valued at over 900 billion baht for all food services," Mr Jirasak said. "The result was the creation of the Chef Yim app under the slogan Quality, Value and Satisfaction, conceived as a tool to take on the B2B market for food."
The app is being developed for compatibility with iOS and Android devices and will let users search in various product categories.
Users of Chef Yim can order products like fresh food, produce, meats, dry groceries, drinks and imported goods.
The selection is based on the stock of CFR, which boasts more than 140,000 product lines.
CFR is offering a special promotion for the launch of Chef Yim, including 5-10% discounts for new customers, from Sept 17 to Dec 31.
"The goal of Chef Yim is to enable our customers and partners to achieve sustainable success with us," Mr Jirasak said. "We are confident that the potential of CFR can meet the needs of food business operators for convenience, efficiency and greater success."