Cerebos upbeat despite hurdles
Cerebos Pacific Co sees both opportunities and stiff competition emerging under the Asean Economic Community starting in 2015, according to Lakana Leelayuthyothin, chief executive officer of Cerebos' health food supplements division.
The strong baht is a negative factor for exports of the firm’s Brand and Vita food supplements, especially to the US and Australia, which also means higher costs for foreign business partners. However, the main export markets – Asean nations – are unaffected by the strong baht. The company exports food-supplement products to 17 countries worldwide.
Despite the impact on consumers’ purchasing power of the government’s first-car policy, sales of Cerebos products continue to grow as today’s consumers are becoming increasingly health-conscious and tend to have strong brand loyalty, Lakana said.
Cerebos posted growth of 12-15 per cent for the first quarter of this year, and targets 15-to-20-per-cent growth for next year. Essence of Chicken accounted for 60 per cent of the company’s income, followed by bird’s-nest extract at 30 per cent and Vita products at 10 per cent, Lakana said.
To push its Vita Berry Eye Power food supplement product, Cerebos has hired popular local TV and movie celebrity Nadech Kugimiya as its brand ambassador to expand its customer base to male office workers who work long hours in front of computer monitors.
Cerebos hopes this promotional campaign can raise the percentage of men who buy concentrated fruit extract beverages from 35 per cent to 45-50 per cent.
Women currently account for 65 per cent of sales in the concentrated fruit extract beverage market, which was worth Bt2 billion last year. Brand Vita Prune and Vita Berry accounted for a total of 80 per cent of the market. Cerebos hopes the promotional campaign will expand the market by 15 per cent.
