KUALA LUMPUR, 17 June 2021: Lotuss Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Lotus’s Malaysia), formerly known as Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd today launched its second and third flagship stores, Lotus’s Penang E-Gate (Penang) and Lotus’s Desa Tebrau (Johor).
Following the successful launch of its first flagship store, Lotus’s Kepong back in March, Lotus’s Penang E-Gate will now take the lead in bringing forward the Lotus’s brand within the Northern region while Lotus’s Desa Tebrau would take on the same role within the Southern region.
The flagship stores serve as the first touchstone to the Lotus’s brand experience for customers; whereby each store have been refitted completely with the vibrant colours of Lotus’s green and yellow signifying the dynamic direction that Lotus’s Malaysia intends to go on, repackaged Lotus’s Own Brand products, as well as an enlarged variation of sister company’s offering, CP Food’s ready-to-eat meals.
On the back of the launches and in line with the Malaysian government’s Roadmap to Zero Single-Use Plastics 2018-2030, which envisions a cleaner and environmentally sustainable Malaysia by 2030, Lotus’s has also stopped offering single-use plastic bags at its checkout counters.
With the message, ‘Bring Home Change’ or ‘Bawa Pulang Perubahan’, Lotus’s shows that a simple act of just reusing one’s bag can bring a big sustainable impact to the environment.
This initiative has already started with Lotus’s Penang E-Gate on 15 June, followed by Lotus’s Desa Tebrau today and eventually to the remaining 60 Lotus’s stores nationwide starting 1 July.
Lotus’s Penang E-Gate was chosen to be the starting point of this journey in recognition of the Penang State’s progressive initiative to phase out single-use plastic bags as early as 2009, thus helping to accelerate the green effort in the country.
Penang Chief Minister Yang Amat Berhormat Tuan Chow Kon Yeow believes that this initiative by Lotus’s to remove single-use plastic bags at its checkout counters will be a game-changer on how the retail industry, as a whole, manages the sustainability of plastic use in the supply chain.
“While plastic is convenient and relatively cheap to be used, we have become over-reliant on single-use or disposable plastic with severe environmental consequences. These unsustainable patterns generate a vast amount of waste, much of it eventually becoming marine litter, which has choked our oceans and waterways. This is also why the Penang state government had made it compulsory for households to segregate waste at source before disposing them and banning the use of plastic straws while encouraging paper ones,” said Chow.
“In our ongoing efforts to achieve a sustainable future for all, we need leaders in the retail industry to lead the way. Lotus’s with its network of 62 stores nationwide, is the largest retailer in the country to embark on this initiative and we hope that other retailers, big or small, will take notice and make a change just like Lotus’s,” he continued.
Lotus’s President Kenneth Chuah said that this initiative is very much aligned with Lotus’s Malaysia’s parent company, Charoen Pokphand Group (C.P Group) sustainability business principles.
“As part of the C.P Group, we recognize the importance and necessity of solving the problem of plastic waste. Our initiative to no longer offer single-use plastic bags at our checkout counters aligns with the Group’s own sustainable business principles. Together, we are committed to promoting and conserving the quality of the environment, educating and fostering engagement in consumer behavioural change for sustainable development,” he said.
“This is one of the initiatives that we are taking which is in full support of the state government’s Roadmap to Zero Single-Use Plastics 2018-2030. On top of this, we are relooking at the packaging recyclability of our Own Brand products, which is still being developed.”
Besides doing their part in saving the environment, customers who use their own reusable bags will earn eight (8) Clubcard points for each bag. Points accumulated can then be converted into cash vouchers which can be used in Lotus’s stores.
Customers may bring their own bags to shop or purchase Lotus’s reusable bags that come in four variants with prices ranging from 50sen to RM9.90.
