Top seafood producers expect strong sales growth

Poj Aramwatananont, president of Sea Value, the producer of the Super C Chef brand and a major exporter of tuna products, said the company expected sales to increase 10 per cent this year to Bt30 billion from Bt27 billion in 2014 on high demand from overseas markets, despite lower prices per unit of seafood products.
In volume terms, he said sales would experience even stronger expansion, by 20-25 per cent, because of higher demand in many markets.
Unlike other products, despite the sluggish global economy, seafood, particularly tuna, is in high demand in many markets as it is a high-nutrition food but less expensive than other sources of protein, Poj said.
He said people in many emerging economies were consuming more seafood as they have higher incomes, while many kinds of seafood, mainly tuna, are affordable to middle-income people.
Sea Value will pursue more sales in Asean markets, focusing on Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
He said sales to Asean markets would grow in the next few years under the regional integration. However, sales to European markets dropped gradually over the past year as the weaker euro caused difficulties for Thai exporters.
Amornphan Aramwatananont, senior vice president of Sea Value, said the company was considering spending about US$10 million to $15 million (Bt335 million to Bt500 million) this year to expand its presence abroad.
Indonesia is one of the investment targets, as it has a supply of raw materials. However, for finished products, the firm will maintain production in Thailand and export to other countries, as this country is in a strategic location.
Meanwhile, Prantalay Marketing, a leading producer of frozen foods, expects its sales to increase by 10-15 per cent from Bt1.3 billion last year to more than Bt1.5 billion this year.
With the regional integration, this company also expects more sales to Asean countries as tariffs are lowered and regulations eased, said Anurat Khokasai, Prantalay’s chief marketing and operating officer.
Currently, about 97 per cent of the company’s sales are domestic, and only 3 per cent exports. However, after the Asean Economic Community is fully realised, overseas sales should see a significant increase.
Anurat said the firm was seeking partners and local distributors in Asean countries. If it can find the right partner in each market, Prantalay will in the second half of this year focus its marketing plan on penetrating each Asean country. Primarily, the company aims to export to Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore.
In anticipation of stronger sales, the company will invest about Bt200 million to equip its plant with more sophisticated machinery, and invest in food innovation to serve the varied demands of consumers, Anurat added.