Fresh Brown Rice Co expects to generate annual revenue of more than Bt2 billion within five years, thanks to the advantage of its patented "rice-stabilising" technology, which keeps brown rice fresh.

The company has only just started marketing its brown rice this year after being set up last year, when it received a US patent for its technology and also an award from Thailand's National Innovation Agency.

CEO Sontirat Sontijirawong said brown rice made up only 2 per cent of the Kingdom's annual rice consumption of about 8 million metric tonnes because consumers were not fond of the smell and taste.

However, with the difference in quality attained through its rice-stabilising technology, Fresh Brown Rice expects to achieve revenues of Bt360 million this year - Bt120 million from domestic sales and the rest from exports, Sontirat said.

The company already has export orders from the US, China, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Fresh Brown Rice will spend Bt12 million on domestic marketing this year, with health-conscious people as its target group.

It sells its products through retail outlets set up in selected areas. There are currently 20 such outlets and the company aims to have 100 by the end of this year, Sontirat said.

Fresh Brown Rice also plans to expand into milled rice in future, so its market will be much bigger than people might think, he said.

"We are positioning ourselves as a premium product by quoting a price considerably higher than general brown rice," Sontirat said.

However, the price would likely come down over time in order to expand the customer base, he added.

"We think that we will adjust our pricing policy after we invest in expanding our production capacity in the second phase," he said.

The company's current production capacity of 300 metric tonnes per month will be increased to 900 metric tonnes per month by the middle of this year, he said.

Chalida  Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation