BJC Big C Group reveals global ambition in five-year business plan

BJC Big C Group (BJC) unveiled its five-year business plan on March 28, aiming to be one of the leading businesses in the global market, driving strong sustainable growth, and ramping up Big C store expansion both domestically and internationally.
Aswin Techajareonvikul, Chief Executive Officer and President of Berli Jucker Plc and Big C Supercentre Plc, said the company has allocated an investment budget of 60-70 billion baht, or 12-14 billion baht per year, for a five-year business plan from 2022 to 2026.

He added that the company is focusing on shifting its business model from product-based to platform-based, establishing a sophisticated data network among customers and suppliers of BJC.
"Currently, BJC has strong potential in many industries and has the capacity to distribute products both locally and in the Asean region," he said.
"Moreover, its distribution network can be used as a platform to distribute products to support its business expansion to more than 236,000 branches in the region."
 

He added that the company is also committed to developing product research with partners to distribute products to the Asean region.
The company has strict and standardised hygiene measures, and has added channels to sell products online in a bid to gain confidence about Covid-19 safety among customers.
The company is also managing the cost pressures in the current economic environment, rising from energy and commodity price increases amid the Ukraine-Russia war by focusing on improving the efficiency of the production process as well as continuously managing the risks regarding the price of raw materials.
In its modern trade business, the company plans to expand its omni-channel to drive sales, improving the customer experience through both, online platforms and delivery services, to meet the lifestyle of new-generation customers through Big C Applications, Call for shop, Line chat shop, Drive-thru, express delivery within an hour, and through cooperating with selected leading partners.
The company is also driving Big C's private label product development and sales, aiming to position them at the top of customers’ minds in terms of product quality and value, and has set its private label sales target at 50 billion baht by 2026 for its private label brands such as We are fresh, Besico, Big C Happy Price, Big C Happy Price pro, etc.

The company plans to accelerate its store expansion to facilitate customers’ access to its stores with nationwide coverage by 2026.
In Thailand, the company is planning its Hypermarket store network to reach 160 stores from the present 153 stores, its Big C Mini store network to reach 2,853 stores from the present 1,352 stores, and the Big C supermarket and wholesale store network to reach 84 stores from the present 59 stores.
In Cambodia, the company plans to expand Big C Hypermarket store network to six stores from the present one, and Big C Mini store network to 276 stores from the current one store, whilst in Lao PDR its plan is to open two Big C Hypermarket stores, and to expand Big C Mini store network to 245 stores from the present 57 stores.
At the same time, the company plans to introduce new Big C Hypermarket concept under the name "Big C Place" in Bangkok, offering a shopping experience suitable for the lifestyle of the new generation in order to expand its customer base.
Over the 2022-2026 period, the company is planning to renovate a total of 90 Big C Hypermarkets nationwide with various renovation concepts to revitalise, develop and update its stores with a modern look.
The company aims to add well-known restaurants to its shopping mall areas to meet the needs of a wider range of customers, and to introduce co-working spaces and relaxation zones to make its stores a destination for the younger generation.
The company is developing its product range to meet the needs of the local communities as well as to support local farmers through direct purchases from local farmers.
The company is driving the use of technology with O2O (Online to Offline) business model, combining online and offline businesses to create competitive strengths for the future.
The company is also developing its store models to meet the diverse customer needs through models such as "Donjai" partnership model, providing traditional trade store owners an opportunity to modernise their stores through cooperation with the company, whilst still maintaining the full ownership of their stores.
As of March 18, 498 traditional trade stores have already joined the Donjai partnership model.
In the middle of 2021, the company opened its first new “MM Food Service” wholesale business model in Thailand at Palm Island and its second store at Soi Chokchai 4 in October 2021.
MM Food Service stores carry more than 6,000 items, mainly targeting hotel and restaurant customers looking to buy products in bulk. The company is currently developing the MM Food Service model and is considering its expansion plans for the future.
Furthermore, BJC is focusing on investing in customer and supplier data platforms to achieve its corporate data strategy:
▪️Customer data platform generates market insights to improve customer experience while optimising marketing expenses.
▪️Supplier data platform facilitates merchandise information for better stock management, and new product development.
BJC, meanwhile, plans to drive sustainable organisation growth to become the leader in packaging business in Asean, building on its current position as the leading glass packaging manufacturer in Asean. It has a production capacity of 4,000 billion bottles per year. It is the leading aluminium can packaging manufacturer in Thailand and Asean with a total production capacity of 5,430 million cans per year.
To increase its glass packaging manufacturing capacity, the company plans to open a new glass furnace production line in 2025.
The company is also utilising "C3leng" application, connecting users, waste collectors, and sellers of recyclable waste, and facilitating waste delivery to a recycling shop for recycling it into the recycling material.
Moreover, the company is working to expand into new business areas by using technology to strengthen its existing businesses that the company has expertise in, such as medical device business, to develop a platform for health and medical services to support an ageing society.
In addition, BJC is committed to be a good corporate citizen, striving to improve and help society and its environmental prosperity with its CSR projects focusing on four main areas: environment, public health, community, and education.
Some of the recent CSR projects include activities such as “Biggie recycle”, helping the public and private sectors, donating medical equipment, building a field hospital to act as a treatment centre for Covid-19 patients, supporting the Foundation for the Blind in Thailand, and helping schools in the rural communities, etc.
Moreover, the company has set a net-zero emission target by 2050, which it plans to achieve by improving production efficiency and using products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase storage and carbon absorption, etc.
"In 2021, BJC received various sustainability recognition such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices Silver Class distinction in 2022 Global Sustainability Yearbook in “Food & Staples Retailing” industry, included as a member of FTSE4Good Emerging Markets index, included in the Thailand Sustainability Investment Index for the second consecutive year in 2021, and included in the ESG100 Sustainable Investment Option list for the fourth year in a row, from 2018-2021," Aswin said.