Koh-Kae foods maker targets 10% growth

       Peanut snack-maker Mae Ruay targets 10-per-cent growth in the local market.
       Mae-Ruay Snack Food Factory, the manufacturer of Koh-Kae brand peanut snacks, targets domestic sales revenue growth of 10 per cent this year over last year's Bt900 million.
       The company's domestic sales include the Koh-Kae line and Nelly brand potato crackers, deputy managing director Kitsada Ruayjaroensap said.
       Mae-Ruay Snack Food Factory sells 80 per cent of its Koh-Kae products in Thailand and exports the rest to 70 countries.
       The growth forecast reflects Mae-Ruay's aggressive push into the high-end health-conscious consumer segment with the re-launch of its premium product, Koh-Kae Plus, in a new-look package in the middle of this year.
       For two years before the repackaging, the company's efforts to build consumer awareness of Koh-Kae Plus as a premium product had little success, with consumers failing to notice the difference between regular Koh-Kae products and Koh-Kae Plus, Kitsada said.
       Each Koh-Kae Plus package includes almonds, cashew nuts and pistachios. Regular Koh-Kae packages include only peanuts.
       Now, thanks to the repackaging, Kitsada said, "Consumers are able to tell the mass-market product from the premium product."
       The firm hopes the re-launch of the premium product will boost domestic sales growth, he said.
       Last year, Thailand's regular peanut snack market was worth Bt600 million, while the premium peanut snack market was worth Bt300 million. Koh-Kae claims to be the leader in the regular peanut snack market with an 80-per-cent share by value.
       Kitsada said the company has set a sales target of Bt15 million for Koh-Kae Plus this year.
       Mae-Ruay plans to create a new snack market segment with the launch of a new product in the fourth quarter, Kitsada said, but he declined to disclose details of the plan.
       Launched last year, the Nelly potato cracker product now contributes 20 per cent of Mae-Ruay Snack Food Factory's total sales revenue.