Thai Dairy Industry Co, distributor of Mali sweetened condensed milk, has joined hands with Snow, Japan's leading dairy company, to market Snow baby milk powder in Thailand by the end of the year.
Deputy chairman Pinit Puapan said Thai Dairy Industry has discussed collaborating with Hokkaido-based Snow to expand its dairy business in Thailand.
The Thai firm has brought in products to test market response, before they are introduced to the market at the end of the year.
The cooperation is part of Thai Dairy Industry goal to have products for consumers in all age brackets.
"We want to extend our dairy product line to cover all customer age ranges. Apart from baby milk powder, we also plan to branch out into powder milk for elderly people," Mr Pinit said.
The plans for further cooperation include manufacturing Snow dairy goods locally, implementation of which is in early stages.
Thai Dairy Industry is expanding its product portfolio to cover baby milk powder in order to offset the falling performance of sweetened condensed milk as people eat fewer sweets for health, and market competition becomes stiffer every year thanks to more new players in the market.
The sweetened condensed milk market grows only 2-3% annually, and introducing more product lines will help the company create more sustainable operations, said the company.
Thailand's sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk was estimated to be worth 8-10 billion baht last year. Mali is the market leader in sweetened condensed milk, with a market share of 70-80%.
Mr Pinit said that Mali Group 1962 Co Ltd, the producer of Mali milk has been designated as the distributor of Snow baby powder milk in Thailand.
Snow powder milk entered the Thai market previously, but withdrew from the market a few years ago due to fierce competition.
Snow may also help market Mali milk products in Japan.
Sales of all Mali dairy products was about 3.5 billion baht last year, with net profit of around 200 million baht.
Of the total, about 80% came from the domestic market and the remaining 20% from the export market in neighbouring countries, Hong Kong and South Africa. Mali sweetened milk is being exported to South America this year.
Mr Pinit believes that there is still strong opportunity for sweetened condensed milk in Thailand due to the growing consumption of coffee and the rise of bakeries.
Coffee and bakery segments in Thailand are worth 60 billion baht and are expected to increase to reach 100 billion baht over the next 4-5 years.
The company yesterday also launched Mali sweetened condensed milk in a tube last month. It has plans to spend 140 million baht on promoting this new product and has hired actor Chantavit Dhanasevi as a brand ambassador.
The company expects sales this year to be on par with last year's level, at 3.5 billion baht.