Foremost marks 60 years as brand of ready-to-drink milk in Thailand
FrieslandCampina Thailand, the producer and distributor of Foremost dairy products, is celebrating its 60th anniversary in Thailand and has reaffirmed its commitment to provide 100-per-cent quality cow’s milk by ensuring development of milk quality from farm to consumer.
The company says it is enhancing its support for greater capabilities of Thai dairy farmers and development of the Thai dairy sector across the supply chain in preparation for the free-trade environment in 2025.
Over the next eight years dairy tariffs will drop to zero as a result of the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) and Thailand-New Zealand Comprehensive Economic Partnership (TNZCEP).
Foremost has also set aside more than Bt15 million to support development of Thai dairy farmers this year. The aim is to help increase quality dairy harvests from an average of 13 kilograms per cow per day to 18 kg. With this productivity target, farmers in Formost’s programme are expected collectively to enjoy more than Bt45 million of additional income per year.
Olarn Chowiwattana, corporate affairs director of FrieslandCampina (Thailand), said: “Growth continued in the dairy sector with global consumption rising 1.6 per cent year on year to 182.29 million tonnes in 2016. India recorded the highest consumption at 62.75 million tonnes, followed by the European Union at 34 million tonnes and the USA at 26.52 million tonnes.
“Among Asean countries, Indonesia topped the ranking with consumption of 3.42 million tonnes, followed by Vietnam at 1.83 million tonnes and Malaysia at 1.57 million tonnes.
“Thailand’s ready-to-drink milk consumption totalled 1.046 million tonnes last year with a growth projection of 1.67 per cent to 1.087 million tonnes this year. In other words, Thai people drink an average of only 18 litres of milk a year.”
