November 8, 2005

CP Foods to strengthen seafood operations

Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) is planning to strengthen its seafood business-in line with its plan to become the food production base for Asia's population of three billion-and boost its total company sales by 10-15 percent annually to THB200 billion by 2010, according to CPF president and chief executive Adirek Sripratak.

Adirek said that sales from seafood products is likely to be the company's key revenue drivers in the next five years, as its chicken business is being threatened by the current bird flu outbreak.

Pointing out that Asia has high export potential as meat and seafood consumption is still low compared with that in developed countries, Adirek added that there is much room for the entire food market to grow.

Within the next five years, shrimp will become CPF's first priority. As it is, shrimp sales has skyrocketed by 300 per cent over the past several months. Shrimp also has fewer rivals than other foodstuffs in the export market.

CPF also expects that its pork products to rank second in total sales in the next three to five years; it has formed a joint venture with a Japanese partner to manufacture cooked pork products for export.