Govt aims for bigger share of China's dairy market

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mananya Thaiset, has ordered the Dairy Farming Promotion Organisation of Thailand (DPO) to study and survey China’s dairy market.
The DPO has found that the demand for dairy products had increased in China. Consumption from 2017 to 2022 in China is expected to average 38 litres per person annually, much higher than the yearly 18 litres per person of Thai people.
In 2016, China imported around 14.85 million tonnes of dairy products, including milk powder, whey, cheese, cream, fresh milk and yogurt. “However, the market share of Thai dairy products in China's imports was very low,” said Mananya. 
“In 2016, China imported around 151 tonnes of dairy products from Thailand valued at US$310,000 (Bt90 million)
“China is a market with high capacity in terms of population and consumption behaviour,” she added. 
“Thai dairy products should extend their market by improving products’ quality to meet the demands of foreign consumers.”
Under a Thai-Chinese agreement on sanitation certificate for Thai dairy products, Thailand was allowed to export products that used ingredients imported from those countries which were safe from foot and mouth disease. “Therefore, I hastened DPO's research to improve the products’ quality to meet Chinese regulations for export of Thai-Denmark products,” she added.
Exports of Thai-Denmark products have been growing continually. This year, the brand earned over Bt957 million and its main markets were in the Asean region, including neighbouring countries Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.
In 2020, the brand aims to expand its market share to Bt1.2 billion, by increasing its distributors in Myanmar and opening more markets in Vietnam and China. Also, the brand plans to increase 15 per cent expansion in foreign markets by 2021, while a proportion of revenue from the market should be 20 per cent.