Nguan Soon Group MD Visit Limprana displays his products at the Thailand Business Centre in Bahrain. The firm is also planning road shows to introduce its wares to European and African chefs.

The Nguan Soon Group, one of Thailand's major spice manufacturers and exporters, plans to boost its exports to account for half of its business within five years by developing ready-to-mix products to satisfy different tastebuds across the world.

The group's managing director Visit Limprana said the export market had been growing significantly as a result of the growing popularity of Thai food overseas.

While cooks around the world are interested in mastering Thai cuisine within their homes, they regularly struggle to find authentic Thai ingredients. All too often attempts to use substitute products undermine the authentic taste of the original dish, Visit said.

"We have seen the problem and believe it offers us a fine business opportunity to develop Thai ingredients that are ready-to-mix to meet the demand for authentic Thai dishes around the world," he said.

Nguan Soon started the development of its tasty mixes two years ago and began to export the products last year, generating an income of around Bt70 million.

The first export markets to open up for the company were the United Kingdom and Germany.

In response to positive feedback from customers in northern Europe, the company has devised an aggressive marketing plan to boost exports this year to Bt200 million, against its estimated total revenue of Bt600 million.

Last year's sales reached about Bt500 million.

Visit said the firm was starting to promote its products in the Middle East, Africa, Scandinavia and Spain.

To whet Middle Eastern palates, the company displayed its goods in an exhibition that opened last week at the Thailand Business Centre in Manama, capital of the Gulf state of Bahrain.

The company also plans to hold continent-wide road shows to introduce its products to European and African chefs.

Nguan Soon is digging deep into its coffers to boost the spread of its products around the world's kitchens.

The company increased its marketing budget from Bt2 million for 2005 to about Bt10 million for this year.

A research and development budget of Bt10 million has also been set aside to devise new ready-to-mix products to fit in with different nations' culinary preferences.

The company currently concentrates on the sale of raw ingredients like chilli peppers, spices and seasonings to the domestic market.

Most of its exports are ready-to-mix products such as the ingredients for Thai culinary favourites like pad thai, tom yam and larb under the name "Hand Brand Number One".

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation

Manama