The Malee Sampran Group is spending Bt100 million on a two-year rebranding of its Malee fruit juices.

It is aiming for a modern look after its share of the Bt5.2-billion fruit juice market fell 1 per cent to 7 per cent, which the group thinks was due to lack of marketing.

Suwanna Chokdee-anand, the group's senior vice president for branded business, said yesterday the company was aiming to target young people, particularly first-jobbers.

Strategies include new octagonal "Prisma" containers for its 100-per-cent fruit juice, a new product called Malee Self Plus and marketing activities throughout this year.

It yesterday launched Malee Self Plus featuring 60-per-cent fruit juice.

The product targets beauty-conscious young people with middle-income status.

Its concept is "beauty that you can drink". It has three flavours - strawberry mix with fruit juice, berries, and tomato mix with fruit juice. Each 200ml carton costs Bt16.

The marketing budget for the new product is Bt50 million. It is expected to contribute to sales growth of 14 to 15 per cent and increase Malee's market share to 9 per cent.

Suwanna said the new mid-range product would also balance its product portfolio. The company previously focused on 100-per cent fruit juice. Malee Self Plus would increase the proportion of its 40- to 60-per-cent juice to 20 per cent in terms of sales. It has two other juices in this category, Juice Mix and Malee Teen.

In the overall market, premium fruit juice represents Bt2.9 billion, the middle range is worth Bt400 million to Bt500 million and the remainder is composed of economy products.

Tipco has 27 per cent of the premium market, followed by Malee at 16 per cent and Unif at 15 per cent.

While the mid-range segment has experienced no growth, Suwanna expects Malee's active marketing strategy to help this market grow 15 per cent.

The economy fruit juice market has grown 18 per cent.