Bertram Chemical launches Siang Pure inhaler in Cambodia
AFTER more than 20 years of marketing pain-relief oils and balms in Cambodia, Bertram Chemical (1982) last week officially debuted an inhaler under the Siang Pure brand in that country.
Cambodia is the No 1 foreign market for Siang Pure products, said Bertram chief executive officer Suwanna Eiampikul.
The brand last year achieved a growth rate of 20 per cent in the country, she said.
Despite this rather firm base in Cambodia, the CEO admitted that the brand’s introduction of inhalers could be challenged by lower prices of local inhalers, with consumers being sensitive to prices.
“We use the principle of sincerity towards the Cambodian market and everywhere else,” she said. “We always go by a motto ‘what is good for us is good for them’.”
An advantage for Bertram is that it is allowed to conduct sales promotions for its products in Cambodia, unlike in Thailand, where they are registered as medical products and such activities are prohibited, she said.
Backed by the slogan “Refresh brain, relieve pain”, Siang Pure has a strategy to modernise its product research and development, as well as exploring new markets.
Siang Pure is promoting its inhaler to young Cambodians who have to keep up with work and studies simultaneously, with the main distribution channel remaining traditional trade.
The brand also plans to launch a pain-relief cream by midyear after introducing it in Thailand, she said.
While Siang Pure focuses on functionality, Bertram’s Peppermint Field brand is more on the emotional side, with planned package re-launching and brand-awareness campaigns in line with modern lifestyles, for example viral marketing and the opening of Peppermint Bike Park in Bangkok, Suwanna said.
Starting from Siem Reap, the company plans to create markets in six other Cambodian provinces including the capital Phnom Penh, she said, together with construction of a new factory outside Phnom Penh within five years with up to Bt500 million worth of investment.
The debut of a Cambodian factory is also part of Bertram’s plans to keep up with the recently opened Asean Economic Community, she said. Other plans include intensive personnel training, new product development, and restructuring of its information technology based on the Navision system.
Besides Cambodia, Suwanna said, the company has strongholds in Vietnam and Malaysia, with distribution in nine other markets – Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, the United States, Colombia and Germany. It also hopes to expand into either Japan or Taiwan this year.
Domestically and internationally, Bertram’s overall operations last year increased by 18 per cent.
Siang Pure sales grew by 17 per cent and Peppermint Field’s by 22 per cent.
This year, the company expects overall growth of 23 per cent, with Siang Pure to contribute 18 per cent and Peppermint Field 25 per cent, she said.
With more than Bt1 billion worth of income from foreign markets last year, Bertram expects to see Bt1.8 billion by 2020, she said.
Last year, Siang Pure contributed 70 per cent of Bertram’s sales revenue, with the rest from Peppermint Field. By category, Siang Pure Oil topped the sales volume at 60 per cent. Siang Pure inhalers, together with Peppermint Field inhalers, came second, contributing 25 per cent, while Siang Pure Balm placed third with 10 per cent, she said.
From the current 50:50 sales-volume ratio between domestic and international markets, Bertram is aiming for a 60-per-cent international contribution within five years, she added.
