Foremost producer to make Thailand Asean export hub

The company expects income from Asia to be contributing half of its total revenue globally within five years, chief executive officer Roelof Joosten said yesterday.
He said Thailand was well placed to serve the emerging growth of the Asean region, particularly in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Therefore, the company will focus its investment here and transfer know-how and expertise to local farmers.
“So far, about 40 per cent of the company’s total revenue has [come] from Asian markets. The firm will focus [on expanding its] business in the region and foresees Thailand as the hub of the dairy industry for milk and dairy-product exports in Asean and other Asian markets,” he said during a visit to Bangkok.
FrieslandCampina’s annual revenue amounted to 11.3 billion euros (Bt452 billion) last year, an increase of 6 per cent amid fluctuating milk prices.
For this year, the company expects 2-per-cent growth in its global revenue.
Joosten said the company would keep on investing in production, research and development, and marketing to make Thailand its Asean supply hub.
FrieslandCampina (Thailand) will invest Bt1 billion in each of the next five years on expanding its production line and on research, innovation and marketing, managing director Marco Bertacca said.
Last year, FrieslandCampina (Thailand) exported Bt2.3 billion worth of milk and other dairy products to Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and a few other markets.
From now on, the Thai unit will actively expand its footprint in Asean countries using Thailand for the production of dairy products of equal quality as in the Netherlands, highlighting Foremost’s position as the leading exporter of milk and other dairy products in the Asean markets.
Besides the parent company in the Netherlands, Thailand is FrieslandCampina’s largest supplier of ready-to-drink milk. The Thai unit purchases 360 tonnes of high-quality raw milk from 5,000 Thai farmers every day to supply its production line, and expects to increase those numbers under its strategy to use Thailand as its Asean export hub.
Bertacca said the Thai company earned 400 million euros last year and targeted 10-per-cent growth this year.
About 20 per cent of its income was contributed by exports to Asean markets. It expects to double the contribution from Asean market to 40 per cent within five years.
The company has also set the goal of a 50-per-cent share of the Thai dairy market in five years. Currently, it holds about 32 per cent of the market.
The Commerce Ministry reported last year that Thailand exported Bt6.6 billion worth of dairy products, up by 50 per cent from 2014. FrieslandCampina (Thailand) contributed a third of those exports.