Sausage producer eyes |setting up plants overseas
S Khon Kaen Foods, the leading producer of Thai-style sausages and dried shredded pork, is looking for opportunities to set up plants abroad.
"The firm started exporting in 1994. And now, we will play a bigger role in the global market with a variety of products. The world is our market and Asia will be the highlight of our company,’’ chief executive officer Charoen Rujirasopon said yesterday.
It is considering Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Especially in this region, Vietnam is a promising location. It not only has a sizeable population, but also is rich in raw materials such as fish for its fish-ball production. However, its plan will become clearer after the implementation of the Asean Economic Community, as now it faces a high tax hurdle in this market.
The firm will leave its overseas investment plan wide open to all forms of partnership, Charoen said.
Products are shipped to 30 nations worldwide from the firm’s four plants – two in Samut Sakhon and one each in Bang Phli and Nakhon Pathom. It has a production base in Poland under an agreement with a plant there to serve Asians living in Europe.
This year the firm will spend Bt150 million on its plants, of which Bt80 million will go to the seafood plant and the rest to pig farming and the processed-meat plant, he said.
In Asia, the firm has its own office in Hong Kong to distribute its local products, which are imported from Thailand. DKSH, a global trading firm, is in charge of distributing other products there. Exports now make up 15 per cent of the company’s total sales and that will increase to 20 per cent in the future, he said.
Its total sales are expected to go up 15 per cent this year from Bt1.65 billion last year. Exports will grow step by step. Domestically, the firm will focus more on promoting its meat-snack product under the Entree brand. It claims that it is the first company to make this kind of product here, starting with pork and chicken, with beef to follow.
The snack market is valued at Bt16 billion to Bt18 billion. It has been expanding 10-15 per cent during the past five years. The meat-snack market is worth Bt2.5 billion and Entree holds a share of 8 per cent.
This year, the firm expects its market share to increase to 12-15 per cent thanks to new product launches and also more aggressive marketing with a budget of Bt40 million.
