Our Story
KONKRUA Story from the Stuttgarter Zeitung
Article by Michael Weier (2019)
Since she studied strategic marketing, she approached with an impressive sense of purpose. The whole project is perfectly thought out, from the website to the video cooking instructions to the presentation. And always remained in one hand. "I did everything myself." She filmed the videos herself, tried out all the recipes and travelled around.
Above all, she has not shied away from entering various competitions with her concept. "I took part in a lot of things," she says, and she also won a lot of things. In the end, she also got into the state's funding programme, which enabled her to build up her company even more consistently. And above all, she was able to turn down investors with thanks, because there were also offers that someone financially strong could step in. But Pim Ampikitpanich quickly put on the brakes, investors want returns, possibly spend less on packaging or use a cheaper coconut milk. "No, that was out of the question for me, I insist on the best coconut milk for my dishes."
The credo is: Better grow slowly, but stay true to yourself. Otherwise the product is no longer "authentic". And that is precisely the key for her.
Every single ingredient has to meet the strictest requirements. "For example, it was not easy at all to find a soy sauce without preservatives."
And the farmer from whom she gets her rice, "I know him personally".
Many people in Germany would think of junk food when they think of Thai cuisine, but she is now working against that. It has been an uphill struggle to get all the ingredients according to her philosophy. Palm sugar, which is softer and less sweet than what is available in Europe.
A chilli paste, spices. Everything is without preservatives and glutamate, the pure taste of Thai cuisine is in the foreground. "My wish is that if someone wants Thai food, they reach out for KONKRUA." She says this not out of business sense, but out of faith.
This is matched by the nice packaging, which makes the product a bit more expensive. But here, too, Pim Ampikitpanich does not like to make any concessions. Buying the boxes will support older women in structurally weak areas in Thailand. The small boxes and bags are all woven by hand.
And there are already a lot of them. At the beginning of the year, she filled 5500 box sets, and in three months they were all sold out. In the meantime, it has made it into the assortment at some Rewe supermarkets, and also at Edeka. The highlight is now the cooperation with Feinkost Böhm in Stuttgart city centre. On the 4th and 5th of October, it will be in the store and customers will be able to see KONKRUA, Pim Ampikitpanich, and above all the quality of Thai cuisine for themselves.
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