Local Coca-Cola unit to expand
Coca-Cola (Thailand) plans to invest Bt1.25 billion this year on a new bottling line at its plant and on a series of marketing campaigns for Minute Maid products.
The company is aiming for a 20-per-cent increase in revenue during the year.
Charnvit Chanrindhorn, senior vice president for new categories and new business development at ThaiNamthip, the local bottling partner of Coca-Cola (Thailand), said yesterday that construction of the Bt600-million Nitro-Hotfill bottling line should commence this year.
The investment will double production capacity at the plant from 600 |bottles per minute in preparation |for expansion of the Minute Maid portfolio.
Charnvit said the new line would initially be used for bottling Minute Maid Pulpy and Minute Maid Nutri-Boost, which were launched yesterday.
Rehan Khan, business development director of Coca-Cola (Thailand), said the company’s introduction of Nutri-Boost juicy milk drink in Thailand made it the fourth Asian country to sell the product, after Japan, China and Vietnam.
The company has earmarked Bt150 million for promoting the beverage throughout this year via an integrated marketing campaign called “The Perfect Match”.
It expects to achieve Bt1 billion in income from the new product in the next two years, Khan said.
Meanwhile, Charnvit said the company had enjoyed 20-per-cent revenue growth to more than Bt2 billion last year from two flagship products: Minute Maid Splash, a 15-per-cent orange-juice and lemonade drink, and Minute Maid Pulpy, a drink with real fruit juice and orange pulp.
It has therefore budgeted about Bt500 million for a marketing campaign to boost sales of the two products throughout this year.
With all these marketing efforts, Charnvit believes the company can enjoy a 20-per-cent surge in revenue from the Minute Maid range this year.
Minute Maid products are among best-selling non-carbonated beverages of Coca-Cola (Thailand). Non-carbonated drinks account for 25-30 per cent of the company’s sales, with the remainder coming from leading fizzy beverages such as Coke, Fanta and Sprite.
Though last year’s massive flooding hit several provinces, including Bangkok, Coke sales still managed to grow 3 per cent over the previous year, he added.
