Ichitan Group Plc, the producer of Ichitan RTD green tea, is ramping up its carbonated soft drink business to tap into strong consumer demand.
According to its Chief Executive, Tan Passakornnatee, the company is ready to resume its planned expansion into carbonated soft drinks in the 2nd half of 2022, after the 2-year delay caused by the pandemic.
Tan said, “We’re beefing up our carbonated soft drinks as the industry witnessed strong performance in the first quarter this year. Although demand for such drinks in 2021 contracted by 1.5%, the contraction rate remained much lower than functional drinks and fruit juice, which sharply declined during the quarter.”
Tan said Ichitan will produce its own carbonated soft drink to reduce the risk of reliance on only RTD green tea. In addition, it will also provide OEM services to other beverage players. Presently, it is engaged in OEM contracts with 2 companies including Asahi.
The move to diversify into carbonated drinks is part of the group’s 3N strategy which stands for ‘New Product, New Market, and New Business’ with the aim of boosting sales to Bt 10 billion (US$273 million) in 3 years, up from the current Bt 6.5 billion (US$177.5 million) in 2022.
Ichitan is also collaborating with several food and beverage brands to boost its sales in 2022. For example, it worked with Nestle to launch Nestle Ichitan Green Tea Honey Lemon Ice Cream.
It is also expanding its business overseas via both traditional and modern trade in Indonesia. In addition, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam will remain Ichitan’s strategic areas for expansion. Tan added, “We recently adjusted our product portfolio in Laos, both for tea and non-tea drinks, by launching Bireley’s beverages, while we plan to launch soon new Ichitan green tea products to tap Gen Z consumers in Cambodia.”
