November 8, 2010
Thai-Japanese joint-venture opens new US$16.9-million poultry factory
Surapon Nichiei Foods has opened a new THB500 million (US$16.9 million) factory in Prachin Buri's Kabin Buri district, to increase its domestic sales and expand exports into neighbouring Asian countries.
The Thai-Japanese joint-venture was formed in 1988 to produce and export frozen processed chicken. The new plant will add 5,000 tonnes of frozen, fried, and steamed chicken-based products, increasing the joint-venture's total annual capacity by 29.4% to 22,000 tonnes.
This will boost the sales of Surapon Foods to THB5.5 billion (US$185 million), an increase of 3%-5% over this year, of which 90% of the revenue are from exports and 10% from domesic sales, said Surapon Vongvadhanaroj, CEO of Surapon Foods.
"Within the next three years, we plan to double the revenue portion from domestic sales to 20%, driven by the changing consumer habits and significant growth in ready-to-eat and microwave foods," Vongvadhanaroj said.
"Out of this, 97% of our frozen food products are frozen processed chicken - battered, breaded, fried, glazed and fried chicken, which are exported to Japan and the rest to Europe," he said.
