Sarawak pharmacies show interest in organic market
Diana Su, owner of Miracolo, added that pharmacies were also chosen over spa and beauty businesses as retailers due to its larger market reach from an extensive network.
Meanwhile, industry representatives conveyed much interest in the showcased organic products, remarking that their own customer bases have responded quite readily towards organic products. They expect this trend of healthier and ecofriendlier products to continue in the future.
“There has definitely been more awareness of the benefits of organic products in the wider public these days as some of our fastest moving product categories have shifted towards organic or natural products,” a representative from UMH Pharmacy (K) Sdn Bhd shared with The Borneo Post.
“Organic skin care in particular has been popular among our customers.”
Meanwhile, the demand for essential oils is on the rise in Kuching as local pharmacies are seeing increased sales in their carrier and essential oil products.
Christina Wong, chief pharmacist at SHiNE Pharmacy shared this sentiment following an increase in sales of carrier oils such as castor oils.
“Our best selling product at the moment is castor oil because it is a multipurpose carrier oil typically used to dilute essential oils or used by itself,” Wong explained, adding that essential oils cannot be used on its own.
SHiNE Pharmacy is currently the only retailer of castor oil in Kuching and the only pharmacy listed on its major website from the US.
Despite these efforts, there were still some concerns that the typical customers found in pharmacies would find the products’ price tag unattractive.
“The demand of products in Kuching is still rather conventional; locals still see pharmacies as places that retail pharmaceutical products exclusively and because of that, they don’t expect to purchase big ticket items at our outlets.
“While I believe that awareness and demand for organic products will only rise in the future, I think affordability is still an issue as it hinders many of our consumers to buy real organic products and instead opt for natural products instead,” shared another representative from a local pharmacy.
Nevertheless, Chye from VESB remained optimistic as he believed that their pricing guide has been kept fairly affordable to consumers and expects local perception f pharmacies to begin changing soon.
“In Kuala Lumpur, the scene of pharmacies has completely changed and most are now catering towards a higher demand of health and beauty products. I anticipate this trend to follow in Kuching soon as there the demand for organic products is starting to rise rapidly here too.”