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Published on November 10, 2007

 The company says it will fill a gap not fully reached by its Singha and Leo brands.

The brewer and beverage producer said the new, 4.7-per-cent-alcohol beer could capture a 3-per-cent slice of the Bt100-billion-a-year market.

Company marketing manager Chatchai Viratyosin said yesterday Singha was a favourite in Bangkok and other cities, while Leo was drunk by lower-income consumers in cities and in rural towns.

He said the new beer would entrench the company among all low-income drinkers, including those at the grass roots.

It goes on sale tomorrow and will cost Bt100 for three bottles. This is still more than its main competitor, Archa, from Thai Beverage. Archa has been selling for three years and costs Bt100 for five bottles. It is heavily promoted.

Chatchai said Isaan would not offer price promotions, because that could contravene marketing laws.

But he was confident Isaan could "certainly catch the attention of grass-roots drinkers in the Northeast". The name will grab brand loyalty, he added.

He said Northeast drinkers would want to try it at least once.

"Northeastern people are patriots. We've done surveys throughout the region and found that they are very proud of their dialect, culture and food, so we've applied that to beer. It's made in the Northeast for northeasterners," he said.

The beer is brewed at the company's Khon Kaen plant, and production capacity is 800 million litres per year. Chatchai said the company would soon increase that to one billion litres.

He said Singha was the only company with a brewery in the region and that this saved on costs. Tax revenue will also be poured back into the area, he said - another selling point.

Isaan is expected to boost total Singha sales in the Northeast by 3 per cent, reaching 30 per cent of total sales.

Initially, the brew will be sold in the Northeast only, but because Isaan people are resident all over the country, distribution will be expanded later.

Chatchai said Singha was the first brewer to introduce a purely regional brand, but he expected more to follow.

He said European brewers were extremely provincial, especially in Germany.

Nitida Asawanipont

 The Nation