Brewery hikes production of Cheers and Tiger
With consumption of premium beer having slowed along with the economy, Thai Asia Pacific Brewery Co Ltd will keep production of Heineken at last year's level while increasing output of its standard and economy brews - Tiger and Cheers.
"We will however focus on the production of all three beer products - Heineken, Tiger and Cheers. It all depends on our sales situation and demand from the market," technical manager Donald Otten said yesterday. The brewer has set a target of increasing its total production by 15-20 per cent this year. Its plant located on a 140-rai site at Bangbuathong-Suphan Buri Road in Nonthaburi is now running at only half of its 200-million-litre annual capacity, after its size was doubled in 2004 at a cost of Bt2.9 billion. The brewery last year produced 87 million litres of Heineken - good for 5 per cent of the brand's worldwide production - and 6 million litres of Tiger. Production of Cheers is still modest as it was only launched in October. More than 300 people work for the local arm of the Singapore-based company, mostly at the Bangkok office and Nonthaburi plant. Economic issues such as the oil and political crises have seriously dented demand for premium beer, with imbibers trading down to standard and economy suds to save money. While premium-beer consumption has been flat so far this year, standard and economy beers have enjoyed growth of 5 per cent and 10 per cent respectively over the same period last year. The Bt7.4-billion premium-beer segment declined 3 per cent last year, while the Bt9.8-billion standard-beer segment was up 3 per cent. Heineken and Boonrawd Brewery's Singha beer monopolise their respective segments with a similar share - 95 per cent. The huge Bt65-billion economy-beer segment went nowhere last year. Chang of Thai Beverage Plc led the competition with 66 per cent, followed by Boonrawd Brewery's Leo with 32 per cent. "We have seen good growth in both Tiger and Cheers, while Heineken is growing slowly this year," Otten said. Phromson Ayanaputra, marketing manager of Cheers, said the brew was recently fine-tuned for the local market. "We have conducted regular surveys among Cheers drinkers so that we can further strengthen the flavour to appeal to a broader range of Thai consumers. We recently introduced a new enhanced flavour of Cheers that is easier to drink, allowing consumers to enjoy its smooth taste and flavour," he said. Cheers is expected to end the year with 2 per cent of the economy beer segment, he added. Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn The Nation
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