Soft drink distributor, Suntory PepsiCo Beverage Thailand Co (SPB) remains upbeat on its sales prospects despite a weaker soft drink market during the first half of 2020.
Somchai Ketchaikosol, Chief Marketing Officer of SPB said the company will double its marketing and investment budget to Bt 200 million (US$6.33 million) this year mainly to promote the Mirinda brand’s mainstream flavours which include orange, strawberry and green cream.
Somchai said about 60% of the marketing budget will be geared towards digital media, with development of a digital platform to reach out to Generation Z customers and inspire them to try Mirinda. The company also aims to strengthen its product portfolio by developing products in response to customer requirements in terms of flavours and packaging.
SPB has also recently redesigned and refreshed the Mirinda packaging to make it more appealing to Gen Z. It has also introduced new flavours, Mixed Berry and Watermelon, to stimulate consumption of flavoured drinks and attract a new consumer base.
Omer Malik, General Manager of SPB said that the company’s sales in the first 4 months of 2020 were slightly better than the overall industry, which were down 20 to 30% in March and April.
Nielsen reported that the overall liquid refreshment market in Thailand shrunk by 7.3% in the first 5 months of 2020 compared to a year ago due to the pandemic. Sales of sports drinks and RTD tea, which made up 3% and 8% of the market respectively last year, saw a sharp decline in sales of 13?ch in the first 5 months, followed by drinking water (-12%), RTD coffee (-7%), energy drinks (-6%) and carbonated soft drinks (-2.5%). The drop was partly due to lockdown which resulted in the closure of eateries etc which accounted for 18% of sales.
Somchai however expects Thailand’s carbonated soft drink market to recover in the 2nd half of 2020 as most businesses can now resume operations as usual with limited restrictions.
Thailand’s overall soft drink market grew 9% to reach Bt 155 billion (US$4.9 billion) in value in 2019. According to Nielsen, the carbonated soft drink industry in Thailand grew 12% to reach Bt 56 billion (US$1.78 billion) in 2019, with cola drinks commanding 71% share followed by flavored drinks (23%) and lemon-lime category (6%).
