Drink in Trend: Thailand

Ready to drink tea ?In the past 1 to 2 years, ready to drink tea market seem declining. But in the first half of 2008, ready to drink tea market grew 16% in market value and 13% in quantity while the entire beverage market grew 5% only. This is the result of intensive marketing activities in the market. ?Consumers perceive that green tea is for health and wellness whereas black tea is for refreshment Source: Pepsi Co Trading Co. , Ltd Source: Oishi Source: T. C. Pharmaceutical. Total market value: Bt.

3,600 million Lipton?

Lipton is the market leader of black tea segment (with 80% market share0 ? In the first half of 2008, Lipton ready to drink tea grew 30%. ?Lipton launched Lipton 9 to create an image of Lipton as the expert in tea products. 3-4 years ago, Lipton Wave green tea was not succeed and withdrew from the market. ?The selling point of Lipton 9 is new green tea product with 9 kinds of herbs. Asian believe these herbs are good for health.

Get quality help now

WriterBelle

Verified writer

Proficient in: Beverages

4.7 (657)

“ Really polite, and a great writer! Task done as described and better, responded to all my questions promptly too! ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

?Thailand is the first market that for Lipton 9 ?Target group: female aged 20-39 years / with health and beauty conscious.

?A Bt20 million marketing budget has injected to build awareness of the new product with product trial road shows for 900,000 consumers, advertising through major media channels and photo contests on www. lipton9. com. ?Sermsuk expects Lipton 9 to carve out 4-5% of the green tea market this year ? Product price of Lipton 9: can Bt. 14 and PET bottle Bt. 18 ? Key person: Mr. Isaress Sundravorakul, marketing manager of Serm Suk Ms. Ratchada, non carbonated drink director, Pepsi Co Oishi.

?In order to tap the functional drink trend, Oishi launched green tea product with chlorophyll – substance in green plant which helps to improve body’s blood circulation and increase oxygen level. ?Marketing budget for launching Oishi green tea - chlorophyll: Bt. 10 m ? Key person: Tan Paskornnatee, managing director Puriku ?Puriku’s mixed berry flavor not only creates a big success for the brand but also a new trend and category for ready to drink tea market: tea + fruit juice. Even Oishi, the market leader, has to follow and launched Oishi green tea mixed berry flavored at the same size 350 ml.

?Puriku fruit white tea is positioned as refreshment drink for teenagers aged 12-17 years instead of functional drink for adult. It is because functional tea drink consumed time to educate consumer; and adult with health conscious prefers drinking water and fruit juice. Moreover, teenagers love the sweet and sour taste of fruit tea. ?Other than sell in 500 ml bottle and priced Bt. 20 as other brands, Puriku put its fruit white tea in smaller bottle 350 ml and sells Bt. 12 a bottle. It gets a well response from teenagers whom live in other provinces and has limited pocket money.

?Strengthen the brand image by adapting famous duo boy band “Golf , Mike” as presenter ? Puriku will launch new flavor every year. Currently Puriku has 4 flavors. ?Key person: Suwandee Chaivaroot, marketing manager Zenya ?Zenya has released two functional green tea products:

1. Zenya light plus fiber (same taste as original flavor but amount of calories reduced by 50%) and
2. Zenya C 100 plus (added 100 mg of vitamin c)

Functional Drink ?Even functional drink’s market value grow double every year but it is still not very popular in Thailand market because: Thais do not accept the product yet.It has to take longer time to educate the consumer. For examples, I Firm from Unif and Alive from Coca Cola, which entered the market too early, has been withdrawn already. Strong advertising restriction. Even the product has got Thailand’s FDA approval; it cannot advertise all its benefit to consumer. Now only B-ing of Singha Corporation is still active in this market. It has just launched the 4th formula “B-ing Relax” into the market in May 2008. o4 formulas:

1. B-ing Fine (provide vitamins for immune system) ;
2. B-ing Boost (provide amino for burning fat and energy);
3. B-ing Comfort (provide fiber for digestive system); and
4. B-ing Relax (for reduce stress)

Unlike other brands which have only one formula with different flavors, B-ing has up to four formulas. This strategy helps to build confidence to consumer and can fulfill needs of different target group.

Market Value of Functional Drink Year

Million Baht 2006500 20071,000 20082,000 Beauty Drink ?A category of functional drink which is blooming ? Collagen is the most popular ingredient in this category ? Sappe ?Market leader and the first brand of functional drink that use beauty as a selling point ? Launched in December 2006 by Saap Anan?

Distribution channel: in first 5 months, it was distributed in 7- eleven only. Target group: female 20-45 years ?Keys of success: oAdvertorial in TVC program and P. O. P. (no above the line activity) oBeauti Drink’s formula: fruit juice + beauty ingredients in 365 ml bottle. It can be drink more often than milk and 100% fruit juice because it contains only 12% fruit juice. So other than beauty purpose, Sappe can fulfill the thirsty purpose as well. ?Product: oBeauti Drink Collagen 1000 mg oBeauti Drink Co Q10 oBeauti Shot Collagen 3000 mg + Fiber 2500 mg oBeauti Shot Co Q10 + Grape seed extract Meiji Beauti ?Launched in 2007 by CP-Meiji.

?Product strategy: beauty yogurt ?In order to compete with Dutch Mill which gains 90% market share of yogurt market, CP-Meiji build a new segment. Beauty yogurt is differentiated from fruit yogurt of Dutch Mill. ?Marketing budget: 50 million baht ?Marketing activity: above the line and below the line activities (movie preview and sampling). ?After conducted a consumer research, CP-Meiji found that the brand image of CP-Meiji is not young. So the packaging has been redesigned. ?Product: oBeauti Detoey – with honey and lemon for detoxify oBeauti Bright – with collagen for good skin oBeauti Miracle – with apple cider and honey for well being ?

Key person: oDr. Kinggard Pattarathamas, assistant to marketing director oPaisan Chonbanyatcharoen, managing director CP-Meiji’s shares in different markets Market Total Market Value Share of CP-Meiji Pasteurized milk 3,500 million baht 51% Drinking yogurt1,500 million baht7-8% Yogurt (in cup)2,500 million baht10% Healthy Drink ?In the past, the target audience for healthy drink is sportsman aged around 20 years and 40-50 years. Nowadays, health conscious trend is expanding the consumer base. People whom do not play sports also drink healthy drink ? Market value: 1,000 – 2,000 million Baht.

(estimated by Sahaphattanapiboon) i-Healti ?Launched in May 2007 by Sahaphattanapiboon ?Product strategy: added Co Q10 (substance which is important for good health and skin) ? Marketing budget: 70 Bt. ?Major distribution channel: 7-eleven and member system ?Packaging: oFirstly there was a lady image on the label to avoid Thai FDA restriction on healthy drink.

But later on the lady image has been removed in order to capture male consumers. oRed color is selected because it is a powerful color ?Keys of success oUsed skin doctor as presenter at the beginning and now use Miss Thailand oBoth above and below the line activities (ie.road show) oSmall bottle: 100 ml / bottle. Less quantity makes consumers perceive that it is effective and 100 ml can be drink for refreshment as well. oAffordable price: Bt. 25 / bottle. Consumer can drink everyday. ?

Product: oi-Healti Q10 oi-Healti Q10 Lite (actually it is a sugar free formula but Thai FDA did not permit to put “sugar free” on label so i-Healti Q10 Lite put “Low Calorie” instead. ) ? Key person: Pennapa Tanasarasin, director Peptein ?Launched in Jan 2008 by Osotspa ?Product strategy: added soy peptide (substance for good brain performance) ? Imported soy peptide from Japan?

Marketing budget: 400 million baht ?Sales target 2008: 300 million baht ?Osotspa had set up a new unit called “marketing department for health and functional beverage”. Each year it plans to launch one new product. ?Major distribution channel: 7-eleven ?Product: oPeptein 4000 oLaunched in Jan 2008 oSell at Bt. 38 / bottle (100 ml) oTarget group: teenager, young adult, and first jobber oPeptein 8000 oLaunched in Feb 2008 oSell at Bt. 68 / bottle (150 ml) oTarget group: adult aged 40 years old up oKey person: Prathan Chaiprasit, senior deputy director Brane Fit ?Launched by Ajinomoto.

?Product strategy: positioning as brain food (Brane Fit) and skin food (Skinn Fit) ? Healthy food and drink will be a new business unit of Ajinomoto. And it will launch at least one product a year. ?The strength of Ajinomoto is the know-how in healthy drink from mother company in Japan ? Major marketing activity: sampling ?Target group: student and worker ?Product: oBrane Fit oSkinn Fit ?Key person: Pichit Kusamit, managing director Trend # 1: Sugar-free ?Sugar-free soft drink category is blooming while the overall soft drink market does not grow in the first half of 2008.

Consumers become more health conscious and the taste has been improved to be similar to classic formula. Source: Coca Cola Thailand ?Coca-Cola (Thailand) Co has spent 50 million baht for its Genzero campaign, aiming at strengthening its leadership in the sugar-free carbonated beverage segment. The campaign was designed to strengthen the success of Coca-Cola Zero by appealing to the emerging trend among teenagers and young adults to break free from stereotypes. Coke Zero was launched in May 2007 and now has a 43% share in Thailand's sugar-free carbonated beverage segment, estimated to be worth two billion baht.?

Key person: Chuenhathai Vuntanadit, regional marketing director (Coca Cola) Trend # 2: Sesame Soy milk market share by brands Vitamilk50% Lactasoy35% DNA 12% Others 3% Source: Vitamilk ?The intensive marketing activities of hi-calcium milk Anlene and Calcimex in the past few years has created a bone health conscious among Thai consumers. Soy milk companies catch the trend by adding black sesame, which is rich with calcium, into their products. And this soy milk’s category is now in full blossom. DNA ?DNA soy milk was introduced into the market 4-5 years ago by Dutch Mill.

?In order to compete with other two major players in the market: Vitamilk and Lactasoy, DNA is positioning as “hi-calcium soy milk” with black sesame. Now DNA is the market leader of this segment. V-Soy ?Vitamilk launched V-Soy in 2006 ?Positioned as hi-calcium soy milk and targeted at male consumer. ?Three flavor: double black sesame, white sesame, and no sugar Vitamilk ?Sales of Vitamilk original formula dropped in the first half of this year. It is because 1) glass bottle was short of supply; 2) retail price of Vitamilk UHT 250 ml increased 2 baht to Bt. 12 but rival, Lactasoy, remained price at Bt. 10 and added quantity to 300 ml.

Vitamilk flights back with Vitamilk to Go in Black 300 ml (glass bottle) and 330 ml (UHT). The 330 ml pack sells at Bt. 10 / box until end of this year. ?Key person: Chanid Suwanprim, marketing manager of Greenspot Foremost Hi-5 ?Foremost launched the cereal flavor soy milk in end of 2005. ?Unlike other products on the market, Foremost Hi-5 contains black sesame, brown rice, barely and wheat germ. Anlene ?Anlene also launched soy milk with black sesame. ?Key person: Lalana Boonngamsri, marketing manager of Fonterra Brands (a subsidiary of Fonterra, the world leader in milk and dairy products and the world’s largest milk exporter.

Fonterra is headquartered in New Zealand and operates a network of consumer dairy businesses in 40 countries worldwide. ) Trend # 3: Smaller size Recently several brands of beverage introduced small pack into the market with different reasons: Refresh drink ?Decrease in purchasing power. Small pack is cheaper. ?Able to finish the whole bottle in one time ?Can drink several kinds of beverage Samples: oPuriku green tea - 350 ml oOishi green tea - 350 ml oZeny green tea – paper box oSplash (orange juice of Coca Cola) - 180 ml (sells Bt. 10 a bottle / target: kids) oTropicana (orange juice of Pepsi Co) – 250 ml in glass bottle (sells Bt.10 a bottle) oCoke - mini can (sells at Bt. 10) oRed Bull Cola – 325 ml (sells at Bt. 10).

Functional drink ?Consumer perceive that small bottle is more effective than the big one. Samples: oBeauti Shot - 50 ml oi-Healti Q10 - 100 ml oSt. Anna – 100 ml oPeptein 4000 – 100 ml and Peptein 8000 – 150 ml oBrane Fit 100 ml Hi calcium milk ?Anlene launched the concentrate formula, which contains 4 times the calcium of regular milk in 110 ml UHT box. ?Target consumer whom get calcium tablet. ?It is very successful. Anlene’s market share jumped from 17% to 38%with in 6 months.

The total market values of hi calcium milk is 1,000 million baht. Samples: oBeauti Shot - 50 ml Others Fruit Fit For Fun orange juice: ?15% orange juice drink launched by TC Pharmaceutical for economical and super economical markets. ?Unlike 100% fruit juice which sell in modern trade channels only, Fruit Fit For Fun is applying the same distribution network of Red Bull, Sponsor, and Puriku. ?Ranked no. 3 in 7-eleven after Splash and Tropicana but its share in traditional channel is still far away from DeeDo, the market leader. DeeDo sells at Bt. 10 a bottle (500ml) while Fruit Fit For Fun sells at Bt. 13 a bottle.