Thailand: Largest Thai brewer concerned by the red-shirt rally’s impact on beer consumption

Thai Beverage, the producer of Chang beer, has raised concern about the impact of the red-shirt rally, which it said was denting beer consumption, The Nation posted on March, 19.

"The rally has impacted the industry, as people are spending less time on out-of-home activities. They prefer to stay home during this time of demonstration," said Charlie Jitcharoongphorn, deputy managing director of Thai Beverage Marketing.

"Consumers do not care about the promotions they can get at this time, but pay most attention to their own security," he said.

He said the rally had caused a huge decline in beer drinking at many pubs and restaurants.

"Beer consumption has slowed significantly at this time. However, we believe the problem will only be short term," he said.

According to Mr. Jitcharoongphorn, the overall beer industry had dropped by between 10 and 11 per cent in volume last year. But market value was flat at nearly Bt100 billion due to an average 10-per-cent increase in retail prices by brewers.

"However, we saw the overall beer market improve significantly in the first two months of this year, with value growing by between 6 and 7 per cent compared to the same period last year," he said.

The deputy managing director said Thai Beverage would invest Bt800 million this year on continuous marketing activities under the "Khon Thai Hua Jai Deaw Gan" theme, designed to promote brand recognition of its Chang beer.

He said the company had relaunched Chang beer last October, classifying it into three major labels: Chang Classic, Chang Light and Chang Draught.

Chang beer had gained up to 4 percentage points in the local beer market in the first two months of the year, taking its share to more than 40 per cent, Mr. Jitcharoongphorn claimed.

19 March, 2010