Fertiliser producer eyes growth in central region

Founder and managing director Juthathip Sooktavee, 52, said that although the company’s fertiliser faced strong competition from larger players, it had developed a marketing policy to expand its reach and customer base.
This includes providing a credit line of one to two months for customers, while also launching a special promotion whereby those buying five 5-kilogram bags will get a bottle of vegetable oil free.
Its main customers until this year have been in Suphan Buri, but now the company plans to expand to neighbouring provinces such as Ayutthaya, Nakhon Pathom, Sing Buri and Angthong, which should enable monthly sales to double by year-end.
To help finance its business expansion, Focus Inter Active was extended a Bt5-million loan by the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand, which will serve as capital to provide the credit line to buyers of its fertiliser. The loan is guaranteed by the Thailand Credit Guarantee Corporation.
“The keys to our success in competing with the big corporations are our product quality and the fact that our products are about 5 per cent cheaper than theirs, because we can save on logistics costs in delivering to customers. Moreover, most of our customers are as a result of word-of-mouth recommendation, and they have confidence in our products,” she said.
After graduating with a bachelor’s in law from Ramkhamhaeng University, Juthathip began her working life in the family business of raising livestock in Suphan Buri province, but the cattle business continued to face losses.
She therefore decided to train in how to grow rice, in Lop Buri province, in a move that inspired her to produce her own chemical fertiliser to serve farmers in the central part of the Kingdom, where rice is the main crop.
“I started to produce chemical fertiliser by joining with 25 farmers in setting up a community enterprise. I learned how to make fertiliser from the Agriculture Department of the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry. I used my savings worth Bt500,000 to establish the community enterprise in 2004, and sold the products solely to members of the community enterprise,” she explained.
However, two years later the members decided to withdraw from the community enterprise when they were able to get better prices from other fertiliser suppliers that offered special promotions to buyers.
Juthathip was left with no choice other than to shut down the enterprise, but had confidence in her products and her ability to run a business. She therefore established her own company, Focus Inter Active, with registered capital of Bt1 million in 2007 to produce chemical fertiliser under the A Banchuen brand.
The company now has registered capital of Bt5 million.
“I believed there was still growth potential in the chemical-fertiliser business, if we made quality products at reasonable prices that would generate the best return for customers, and for the business for the long term,” she said. At present, the business generates average monthly sales of Bt3 million under the company’s strategy to sell through the Marketing Organisation for Farmers, while also launching special promotions in order to compete with its rivals.
Sales are split 50:50 between the Marketing Organisation for Farmers channel and Focus Inter Active’s own distribution network.