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Philippines' San Miguel Corp. expects to brew beer in Thailand within two years, a company executive said on March 11, according to Dow Jones. The Philippine company has confirmed that it is to set up its first brewery in Thailand, as part of a plan to spread its pilsner beers through the Asian market. The move is a part of its $100 million investment to start manufacturing and distributing all of San Miguel's product lines in Thailand, including beverage products, processed food and snacks and feed mill operations.

Following a report in the Bangkok Post earlier this week, saying that San Miguel will spend 3.7 billion baht (US$93.65m) on a new factory in Rayong, to the east of Bangkok, the company has confirmed the news. San Miguel will compete in Thailand with strong local producers such as Thai Beverages PCL, maker of the top-selling Chang Beer.

"We should be able to start a beer and hard liquor business in Thailand within two years," said Ramon Ang, the company's vice chairman. Ang said San Miguel will initially produce nonalcoholic beverage products at the Thai plants. Products the company plans to launch in Thailand initially include drinking water, juice, power drink and ice cream. Ang expects accumulated revenues for the Thai company over the next five years of $1 billion. The company is planning eventually to export half of its products from Thailand to neighboring countries and distribute the other half domestically.
Ang said San Miguel is open to opportunities to link up with local partners, but no specific deals have been concluded yet.

The new brewery is the next stage in San Miguel’s strategy to spend $100m in each of seven markets, namely Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Australia, China, and Vietnam.

Established in 1890 as a brewery, San Miguel, has overseas breweries in Hong Kong, China, Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam. The company is also seeking to push into Malaysia and Taiwan this year to propel growth.


12 March, 2004