Nestle Thai Ltd expects sales of Milo products in Thailand to grow at twice the rate of the country's GDP over the next four years after securing the sponsorship of FC Barcelona.
The partnership between one of the world's biggest food makers and a leading football club in Spain was announced recently. It marks the first time Nestle's Milo has teamed up with a major football club.
Chaiyong Sakulborrirug, business director for dairy and adult nutrition at Nestle Thai, said the company believes that through sport, children can gain the necessary tools to lead an active lifestyle.
The partnership with FC Barcelona aims to make a difference for millions of kids in Thailand and around the world.
The company plans to spend at least 100 million baht to launch its sport marketing campaigns and activities to stimulate the consumption of its tonic drinks over the next four years.
Last year proved challenging for the tonic drink segment, which registered a slight decline.
"We believe competition in Thailand's tonic drink market will become fiercer this year because we no longer vie with just direct competitors, but also indirect players," Mr Chaiyong said.
Today's customers have various beverage choices and changing lifestyles, so Nestle has to do more to convince them to consume its products.
He said a series of sport programmes and activities for Milo in Thailand are being developed. Set to be launched in the third quarter of this year, they aim to give kids aged 7-12 opportunities to receive professional training from the world's best football coaches. Children will also be selected to train at Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona.
Thailand's tonic drink market is estimated to be worth 7-8 billion baht. The market has been flat for the past several years.
The penetration of tonic drinks in Thai households is about 70%. Consumption of tonic drinks in Thailand averages 25 cups a year per person, compared with 200 cups in Malaysia.
"There is huge potential to grow our tonic drink in Thailand in the future," Mr Chaiyong said. "With our FC Barcelona partnership, we hope Milo sales will double over the next four years, growing twice as fast as GDP and narrowing the gap between Milo's market share and that of its competitors."