PillayR Group’s Pascual healthy promotional campaign |16 January 2017

‘We want to see kids healthier by fighting obesity in Seychelles’

This was the message relayed by D.V Sharma, general manager of Pillay R Group, about the benefits of Pascual dairy products at a prize giving ceremony hosted at Docklands Supermarket.

The event was organised by PillayR Group to honour the seven winners of the Pascual healthy promotional campaign.

In attendance was Archana Nair from the Ministry of Health’s department of nutrition; Brigitte Labonte from the Ministry of Education; Georgie Cupidon, two-time Sportsman of the Year (2006 and 2007); the head teachers of Port Glaud and Anse Boileau primary schools; Christine Barbier, Miss Seychelles … Another World 2016 among other guests.

The winners were selected through an online campaign conducted by Pillay R Group and the Spanish dairy company, Calidad Pascual, over the space of six weeks – from October 3 to November 13, 2016.

The contest also ran in five other countries, namely Kuwait, Malta, Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago and Cyprus.

Every week contestants were encouraged to upload a photograph of themselves alongside any Pascual dairy product and the most creative entry of the week would win best photo.

The jury’s selections were based on these following criteria: original landscape, difficulty, artistic level and value.

The weekly winners were Tina Hoareau, Dolores Larue, Sekar Nagarajan, Kavya Sekar, Gertrude Pillay and Godwin Vimal.

They each received one IPod Shuffle 2GB and one carton of Pascual yogurt and lunchbox as prizes.

Aside from the six weekly winners, there was a special prize for the final best photo overall and this was awarded to Akila Sekar.

She received an IPhone 6s Plus 16GB as grand prize along with a carton of Pascual yoghurt and lunchbox.

“I like photography and I’m always buying Pascual yoghurts for my kids so when I learned about the contest I immediately wanted to participate,” Mrs Sekar said.

The objectives of the contest were to promote the sales of Pascual yoghurt in the Seychelles, build customer loyalty and test the grade effectiveness of this type of online activities for the market and consumers.

In his speech Mr Sharma explained that Pillay R Group’s vision was to help create a healthier society and reduce obesity level from its current 60% through the importation of quality and healthy goods.

Pillay R Group has been steadily working toward this goal since 2012 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health with the introduction of products such as Pascual non-fat/low fat yoghurts, YogiKids and Netto Cornflakes among others.

Mrs Labonte said the Ministry of Education encourages initiatives such as displayed by Pillay R Group to bring healthier products to the forefront as it encourages school tuck-shops to stock up on these products instead of providing children with unhealthier alternatives.

In the same vein Georgie Cupidon said, “I hope young people realise they are what they eat and that a healthy diet will help them in their mental and physical development.”

Pillay R Group also took this opportunity to launch the 100% natural KEO juices which, according to Mr Sharma, is a brand with no added sugar and preservatives that will be on the market as from this week.

The accompanying photos show the six weekly winners and grand prize winner (Indian lady) receiving their prizes.