Seasoning and beverage manufacturer Ajinomoto Sales (Thailand) Co Ltd plans to reduce the number of new products it launches this year following the economic slowdown.

 Managing director of Ajinomoto Sales, Phichien Koosmith, said the company planned to launch two or three new products instead of the usual five or six.

The company has not decided if it will launch the products in one of its current categories or create new categories.

The company yesterday launched its new product Soup Dee, a powder made from meat extracts, which comes in two flavours: chicken and pork.

 The new product is targeted at women aged 20 and above who are starting to cook for their families as well as those who have just married and are living away from their parents for the first time

Phichien said cooks just had to sprinkle Soup Dee into their soups - anything from general soups, noodle soups and sweet and sour soup - to gain the authentic taste of a home-made soup instead of toiling for hours making it from scratch.

The company has allocated Bt400 million for marketing and advertising on television and in newspapers and magazines. The budget will also cover cooking demonstrations at sales points, giving out product samples and taking part in food fairs.

The company has not decided when to launch its next product, as it is waiting for the suitable time.

Ajinomoto Sales' costs have increased by 20-30 per cent since last year. The company said it would not increase the prices of all its products this year. Instead of hiking prices it will try to adjust operating, production and logistics costs.

Phichien said the company still had an advantage in bargaining power with suppliers because it had 18 affiliated companies, which allowed Ajinomoto to order big lots of raw materials from suppliers.

Ajinomoto's sales in Thailand last year were Bt20 billion, an increase of almost 10 per cent from the year prior. One third of this was from sale of beverages, one third from its seasoning powder range, including monosodium glutamate, while the rest was made up from other products, according to Phichien.

The company expects a 10-per-cent growth in sales this year.

Phichien said the retail prices of its season powders had fallen 20 per cent.

The company currently has an 83-per-cent market share of the country's Bt3.1 billion monosodium glutamate market and expects to increase this to 85 per cent by the end of the year. Half of its customers are consumers and the other half are restaurants.

Last April, the company also started production at its new Bt1.3-billion plant in Saraburi province.

Production capacity is 38,000 tonnes per year - 35,000 tonnes for Ros Dee, 2,000 tonnes for Soup Dee, and 1,000 for the rest of the products, including Vono instant soup and instant noodles.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation