ThaiBev eyes Asean with new white spirit brand 

The group also said capital expenditure for fiscal year 2018 (October this year to September next year) would reach Bt7.4 billion, up from Bt5.2 billion allocated for fiscal 2017. The investment would be used to build a new bottling line for drinking water as well as improve overall production efficiency for its beverage products.
The exploratory launch of the white spirit product in the Asean market is in line with the group’s 2020 vision of building a stable and sustainable food and beverage leader throughout the Asean Community, said Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, president and CEO of ThaiBev.
He said the group is now on track towards achieving its 2020 vision in transforming the business from being predominantly an alcohol beverage firm in Thailand, to a leading Asean beverage and food company.
“We have changed ourselves from a company with a highly centralised functional structure into a product-group structure with proactive centralised human capital, finance, and supply chain management support,” said Thapana, who has been involved in the transition as the group CEO since January 2008.
He said that Jinro, a white spirit brand from South Korea known as “soju” by Korean people, has the world’s biggest sales in terms of volume. Tequila has also been quite successful at raising its stature worldwide after growing beyond Mexico some 30-40 years ago. “What we want is to create a spirit brand for Asian people,” said Thapana.
Thapana said the Thai government’s September 16 announcement of a new tax structure for liquor products is not the first time that the company has endured “short-term” impacts, but sales would again climb as people adjust to the changed price. “We will, however, manage ourselves effectively to reflect the needs of the situation and limitations at any period of time,” he said. 
Prapakon Thongtheppairot, CEO of the company’s spirit group, said that the Ruang Khao white spirit is the group’s flagship brand with a strong history of more than 200 years.
He said the new Ruang Khao Silver has been produced by the Red Bull distillery plant in Samut Sakhon, and will start selling in Thailand in November at a retail price of Bt168 for a 700-millilitre bottle. The new white spirit product will have a level of 35 degrees of alcohol, lower than the traditional Ruang Khao white spirit, which has 40 degrees of alcohol. In Thailand, the new Ruang Khao Silver will target the premium segment of the market, as well as existing white spirit drinkers, who would consume the product through on-premise channels, such as restaurants.
He said the white spirit brand would be launched in Vietnam, as the first overseas market in Asean, at the beginning of next year. The product would also be rolled out in other potential markets in North Asia, including Japan and South Korea, by the end of next year.
The spirit business contributes 56 per cent of total sales to ThaiBev, as well as 88 per cent of profit.
ThaiBev posted Bt142.4 billion in sales revenue in the first nine months of fiscal year 2017, ending June this year, down 6 per cent compared to the same nine-month period of fiscal 2016. The group achieved a 3.1-per-cent increase in net profit to Bt21.1 billion in the first nine months of this fiscal year. The group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation also increased by 0.9 per cent in the first nine months of this fiscal year to Bt29.04 billion.