Lucky Union to concentrate more on Thai market
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LUCKY UNION Foods Co, a Thai processor and exporter of surimi-based products for more than 20 years, is revising its business strategy to focus more on domestic sales, as well as catering to nearby markets.
Managing director Vantanee Seang-U-Tai said the company had set a target to increase its domestic sales significantly from between Bt200 million and Bt300 million expected this year to about Bt400 million next year, and up to Bt1 billion within the next five years.
Exports will continue to contribute about 80 per cent of the company’s total sales revenue of about Bt1.8 billion this year. However, the sales contribution from the domestic market and exports will be equally balanced within the next three to five years, according to Vantanee.
She added that the company expected total sales revenue to reach about Bt2.2 billion next year, of which Bt400 million would be from the domestic market.
Founded in 1991 with a processing plant for surimi-based products in Samut Sakhon Industrial Estate, the company’s major shareholders include Thai Union Frozen Products (TUF), which holds a 25-per-cent stake; TUF’s executives, who hold 20 per cent; LG Corporation, which owns 30 per cent; and CJ Corp, a food and food-service company in South Korea, which holds 20 per cent.
Surimi is a paste made from fish or other meat that is an ingredient in many Asian dishes.
Vantanee said Lucky Union’s new domestic-focused sales policy was based on the high growth potential in the Thai market of about 20 per cent per year.
“Because of the [previous] strategy set by our shareholders, we have neglected the domestic market in Thailand for more than 20 years, and it is now time to come back to penetrate this potential market seriously under our own Lucky brand,” she said.
The company has been exporting its frozen surimi-based products from its plant in Samut Sakhon province to more than 50 markets around the world. It also set up a wholly owned processing plant in Poland in 2008 to be responsible for export of its chilled products to about 25 markets in Europe.
“We are planning to open our second overseas facility, occupying 50 rai of land, via a joint venture with a local partner,” said Vantanee. She declined to disclose the specific location, but said the expansion would allow the company to enjoy import-duty privileges. The expansion plan for this second overseas plant will be officially announced next year.
She said that in addition to Thailand, the company would focus on the expansion of its distribution networks in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. It has already appointed local distributors in Laos and Myanmar, and is in the process of selecting a distributor in Cambodia.
“We also set up a prototype Lucky Mart store, located in front of our plant in Samut Sakhon, in August. This will be our own retail outlet for selling all the group’s processed seafood products. A second Lucky Mart store opened in September in Vientiane, Laos.”
