98
SEP 2017
FOOD FOCUSTHAILAND
SCOOP
AmongThailand’smainexportmarkets,Chinahas themost significant
growthof 100.2% in thepast 5 years (2012-2016), due to thepopularityof
coconut milk drinks liked by Chinese. The prominent coconut export of
Thailand include instant coconut milk (75.1%), young coconut (14.5%),
driedcoconut (5.4%), freshcoconut (2.5%), andcoconut oil (2.4%).So far,
fresh coconut has seen the most significant growth at 178.9% largely
becauseof thedemand fromChina, followsby coconut oil whichexpands
60.4%.
Considering thegrowth rate, theOfficeofSmallandMediumEnterprises
Promotion (OSMEP), theNationalFood Institute (NFI),and theRajamangala
UniversityofTechnologyThanyaburi (RMUTT)havecollaborated tocreate
SMEsNetworkPromotion 2017Program. The program aims to create 25
networks of agricultural enterprises to increase planting areas of organic
coconut and Thai herbs, utilize technology to improve the products’ shelf
life, and develop cosmetics from the products to fit withmodern lifestyle.
At least 4,000 operators are expected to be benefited from this program.
Mrs.Salinee Wangtal, Director-General of OSMEP revealed that
OSMEP, incollaborationwithNFI,Ministryof Industry,andRMUTT,will run
the SMEs Network Promotion 2017with THB 60million budget to create
anetworkand improve the supply chain capacityof Thai SMEs in coconut
andherb industries. Thiswill includeapplyingknowledge from researches
todevelop theproducts tomeet withmarket demands inThailandand the
growing international market.
“The support for SMEs in the coconut industry will primarily focus on
upstream enterprises because current production yield is not enough for
themarket demand. Shortage of labor in the industry is another problem.
So far, we rely on the import of coconut from other countries. In 2017,
assessing from the capacity expansion of major players and increasing
numberofnewcomers,weexpect thatThailand’scoconutexportwill reach
THB 17,492million, expanding 20.3%. In long term, the industry also has
a good prospect due to healthy food trend. Thus, Thai SMEs should
accelerate their productions and develop their products to catch the
opportunities”.
Thiscluster projectwill emphasizeonenterpriseswhoproduce instant
coconutmilk,coconut juice,andcoconut-basedcosmetics.The3 industries
have shownhighgrowthpotential, despite facingmaterial shortages from
coconut yields. The OSMEP and NFI are going to cooperate with the
Department ofAgricultural Extensionandother relatedorganizations from
both the public and private sectors in order to boost coconut production.
Forexample, inChaturaphakPhimandistrict inRoiEt province, thecluster
CoconutandThai Herbs…
IndustrialCropsthat’s InDemand
In the past 5 years, theThai coconut industry has continuously grown.
In2016, particularly, the industry exportedTHB14,544million in value,
expanding11.6%.The threemainmarkets for the industryare theUnited
States of America with 30.3%market share, follows by the European
UnionandChina, with 28.3%and 10.9%market share, respectively.
will focus on spreading knowledge about the plantation and quality
coconut breed. InKohPha-NganofSuratThani province, itwill focus
on enhancing technology for Geographical Indication (GI). For
productionprocess, itwill focusonhow toextendshelf-lifeand reduce
coconut smell in cosmetics products.
Meanwhile, the herb cluster will focus on how to use herbs for
dietarysupplements, externalmedicine, andcosmetics. So far, there
isademand fororganicherbsand thereareenoughThaiherbsupplies
in themarket though theyarenotorganic.Here,RMUTTwillcollaborate
with theThai Herbal ProductsAssociation (THPA) to educateSMEs
across thecountry like inChiangMai,Phitsanulok,KhonKaen,Sakon
Nakhon, Phangnga, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Saraburi, and
Chanthaburi.Nonetheless, there is theneed for technological support
to decrease the moisture in the products, the certification process
fromFoodandDrugAdministration (FDA), andproduct development
tomeetmodern lifestylesuchas facialmaskand facialmineralwater
spray, to name a few.
OSMEPplans togather25networksof3,300potentiallyenhanced
coconut enterprises, and5networks of 700potentially boostedherb
enterprise. In total, it will support 4,000enterprises.
Mr.YongvutSaovapruk,PresidentofNationalFood Institute (NFI),
Ministryof Industry, stated that theNFI is taskedwithduty to support
SMEscluster incoconut industry.Thecluster has5-month timeframe
fromMay toSeptember 2017. The cluster is opening for registration
toseek for3,300 interestedparticipants to takepart in25 targetclusters
inorder tocreateno less than70ClusterDevelopmentAgents (CDA).
TheNFI will invite specialists and scholars toengage in the capacity
development trainings for the selectedenterprises. The trainingswill
be divided in groups such as product development, production
standard, productivity enhancement, and cluster development to
optimize forshort term (1year),medium term (3years),and long term
(5 years) clusters. Moreover, marketing and creative brand
management trainingsandworkshops for leadingcoconutenterprises
will be arranged aswell.
Additionally, there will be a promotion through offline channels
such as bringing selected products to international trade fair or
arranging for domestic businessmatching. At the same time, online
channelssuchasE-marketplacepromotionviaLazada/Tarad/Truemart
will also be conducted for one year for all 25 clusters. Websites for
eachclusterwillalsohope tobecreated toexpanddistributionchannel
andset up intoCoconutPavilion tocreatedomesticand international
networkmodel.
Mr.PongpitchTuanpusa,DeputyDirectorAdministrativeofRMUTT,
said that RMUTT is assigned towork on supportingThai herbSMEs
todevelopupstreamenterprises(herbgrowers),midstreamenterprises
(herbal cosmetic producers, herbal medicine producers, herbal food
and beverage producers), and downstream enterprises
(retailersandwholesalers).Theprogramdesires toestablish
5 networks in 2017 and improve 700 enterprises using
innovation and knowledge in many aspects, as well as
develop 10 CDAs to be the leaders in each development
aspect.Meetingsand trainingswillbearranged for interested
enterprises in various provinces of every regionof Thailand
- Northern region (Chiang Mai, Phitsanulok), Northeastern
region (Khon Kaen, Sakon Nakhon), Southern region
(Phangnga, Nakhon Si Thammarat), and Central region
(Saraburi, Chanthaburi).
