29
FEB2017 FOOD FOCUS THAILAND
SPECIAL
REPORT
Themarket of readymeal is expected togrow further at theaverageof 7.4%per year with
thehighmarket valueof10billionbaht. In2020,a lotofnewcomers in themarketareconsidered
as a positive factor, especially BoonRawd Brewery Co., Ltd., themajor company in food and
beverage industry that has entered into themarket with “Star Chefs” brand for consumers in
Thailandandneighboring countriesand “That’sAsia” for consumersabroad. BetagroPCL. has
alsoexpanded its investment into the readymealmarketand theseare justexamples.However,
increasing health-concern of Thai consumers is themajor threat for the growth of ready-meal
industry. Moreover, delivery service of street food venders and restaurants has also filled the
gap of consumer conveniencewhile their freshness is the key competitive advantage that can
make ready-meal market face sluggishgrowthunlike in their recent years.
Readymeal isavailable invarietiesofdishes, including
maindish,a lacarte, refreshmentandconfectionery.Many
kinds of foods are also left on the lists from Chinese,
Vegetarian, Thai, Halal and Western foods to response
with the needs of different groups of consumers.
Nowadays, since Thailand is heading to aging society,
where people are more concerns on their health.
Companieshavedeveloped theproducts that can satisfy
their needs by producing digestive foods with the right
amount of nutrition for their ages.
CharoenPokphandFoodsPCL. is themarket leader
for readymeal foodwith43%ofmarket share thatmakes
it gain a competitive advantage in term of selling and
distributionchannels,whichcancovermarketsnationwide.
Consumers can find its products easily on shelves.
Moreover, a lot of menus have been created with the
differentiation strategies of launching new products from
time to timeandmakingsalepromotion, especiallygiving
a discount to accelerate purchase volumes during
economic recession period.
PrantalayMarketingCo., Ltd. hasbeen rankedas the
second largest companywithamarket shareof 15%and
differentiation strategies of dividing the product lines
according to the different meals of the day as well as
offeringdifferent serving sizes betweenmaleand female
consumers.Besides, thiscompany is thepioneer in ready
meal market, which consumers have known well and
gained product trustworthy. Meanwhile, S&P Syndicate
PCL. is the thirdmarket leader with themarket share of
7%. It isoneof themarketpioneers in readymeal industry
of Thailand. S&P has gained strong reputation on taste
andquality from consumers. The rest 35%are sharedby
other companies, including Oishi Group, Hi-Q Food
ProductsCo.,Ltd.andSuraponFoodsPCL., forexample.
For the future trend, it was expected that the ready
mealmarket inThailandwouldhavea valueof 7.4billion
bahtat theendof2016,9.9% increasing from theprevious
year (2015) because it can respondwell to the consumer
needs in term of quick, convenience, clean, healthy and
affordableprice, as compare to the foods innormal curry
and riceshops.Varietiesofproductshavemadeavailable
together with an advance production technology that
makes quality of ready-meal remain unchanged.
Moreover, its quality has been improved further to the
closest level of a newly cooked dish in term of taste,
freshnessand foodmoistureeven ithasbeenmicrowavable
and that make consumers prefer to take good, easy,
healthy, and ready to eat meals.
