Ichitan Group Plc, the producer and marketer of Ichitan RTD green tea, is set to ramp up its carbonated drinks business despite challenging market condition in 2nd half 2022.
Ichitan’s Chief Executive Tan Passakornnatee said that despite the 1.4% and 2.1% decline in value and volume respectively for Thailand’s carbonated soft drink market in first half 2022, there is still a huge market opportunity for the massive Bt 45 billion (US$1.74 billion) segment.
Tan said the company will continue to focus on its ‘3N’ business strategy i.e. New product, New market, and New business.
As a start, new products scheduled for rollout in the 2nd half of 2022 include a plum-flavoured herbal tea called YenYen, Ichitan No Sugar, a healthy green tea drink with zero calories, and Tansansu carbonated beverages.
With regards to New Market, intensive campaigns are being run to welcome the reopening of several countries following the pandemic particularly in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Ichitan Indonesia also reported success with more than 100% increase in profit. The next big step for Ichitan Indonesia is to expand Thai tea to a new market in the Philippines through more than 1,300 Alfamart branches under the SM Group.
Under the New Business strategy, Ichitan will also ramp up its OEM business, with recent deals signed with 2 new customers – Acer Predator Shot Vitamin Drink by Acer Computer Co as well as Thaitanium Power Energy Drink.
Despite the challenges, Ichitan continues to record higher revenue with first quarter sales reached Bt 1.61 billion (US$62.2 million), an 8.3% growth from previous year.
