Juice in Thailand

PROSPECTS

Juice consumption falls due to concerns over sugar content of products

Juice has traditionally been regarded as a healthy choice in Thailand. However, in recent years this perception has diminished as better education about health and nutrition has made consumers more aware that juice often contains levels of sugar as high or higher than those found in other types of soft drinks.

Coconut water gains popularity thanks to its healthy image

Coconut and other plant waters was by far the most dynamic juice category in Thailand in off-trade volume and current value growth terms in 2018. While this was partly due to its ongoing emergence from a low base, the category’s performance was also bolstered by the fact that it has a comparatively healthy image.

New launches likely to focus on health and convenience

Due to economic development and population ageing, the trend of rising health awareness is only likely to gain momentum in Thailand over the forecast period. At the same time, it is expected that Thai consumers will become increasingly well informed about nutrition thanks to rising internet usage and growing exposure to international health trends.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Coca-Cola maintains its lead but loses ground to local players

Coca-Cola continued to lead juice in off-trade value and volume terms in 2018 thanks to the dominant position of its Minute Maid brand in juice drinks. While its overall value share was down slightly on 2017, the company recorded a much larger decline in its off-trade volume share as health concerns and the sugar tax caused demand in the juice drinks category to fall sharply.

Malee Sampran Plc eyes regional expansion with LQSF acquisition

Amidst declining domestic consumption, leading local juice manufacturers in Thailand are increasing their focus on exports and expansion into regional markets. For example, early in 2018 Malee Sampran Plc announced it was to acquire a 65% stake in Vietnamese beverage producer Long Quan Safe Food JSC (LQSF).

Dominance of local players in juice set to increase

While Coca-Cola remained the leading player in juice in 2018, domestic companies continued to account for the lion’s share of off-trade volume and current value sales in the category. Given the extremely poor outlook for Coca-Cola’s core category of juice drinks, is expected that the overall dominance of domestic players will only increase over the forecast period.

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