FrieslandCampina Thailand, the country’s largest dairy producer, has unveiled plan to increase its market share in the UHT milk market in Thailand to 50% within 3 years.
The move comes 13 months after the company suspended production and distribution of pasteurised milk in Thailand as part of a strategic plan to focus on its Foremost Omega 369 brand of children’s UHT milk, which it said has greater growth potential.
Supasita Kraisri, Director of Marketing said, “The growth is due to consumers viewing UHT milk as nutritious and convenient for children. Mothers’ attitudes towards milk for their children are very positive because they have been well-educated about the benefits of milk, particularly during early childhood.”
The UHT milk market has been growing at a steady rate of about 5% per year annually for the past few years due to an increase in demand from parents looking for affordable nutritional supplements to help their children grow. FrieslandCampina’s core products include UHT milk for children and Foremost Omega 369, the latter of which has a 41.2% share of the market in 2022.
Thailand’s UHT milk market was valued at Bt 29 billion (US$818 million) in 2022, according to Thailand’s National Food Institute.
The huge popularity of ‘Foremost Omega 369’ ready-to-drink milk for children is attributed to its nutritional contents, enriched with a variety of nutrients and dietary fibre that aids cognitive development, physical growth, and immune support. To maintain its leading position, FrieslandCampina has also just launched a premium version of Foremost Omega 369 to meet the growing demand of mothers who want to supplement the development of their children’s brains.
FrieslandCampina is also planning to expand its distribution network to cover the entire country so that its products can be found in most 2nd and 3rd tier cities in line with its goal of ‘broadening access to nutrition’ in the country.
