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Published on December 15, 2007

Milk brand of ice-cream and milk products by opening kiosks in shopping malls, starting with four this year and another four next year.

Announcing the strategy at a press conference yesterday, CEO Choak Bulakul said the brand did not cater to the mass market but a limited group of middle- to high-end customers, mainly those who have visited the company's Farm Chokchai in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

He said the decor of the kiosks would remind these visitors about the dairy farm as they passed and prompt them to pick up some products to take home.

Started 15 years ago, Farm Chokchai later started offering tours with farm-based activities that have already drawn 2 million visitors, mostly local.

The four branches to be opened this year will be in the Market Place and J Avenue in Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Soi Thonglor), on Silom Road and in one of the Villa Market outlets, each at a cost of Bt1 million to Bt2 million. The Central Lat Phrao mall will be the location of one of the kiosks to be opened next year.

Choak said the locations had to support a good brand image. He also expects to open a major outlet where customers can sit and enjoy Umm!..Milk products, but the company has yet to choose a location. The kiosks will promote the sale of the company's ice cream, because it is easier to make and generates higher profit than pasteurised milk, whose price is controlled by the Commerce Ministry.

Choak said the company had no plans to open kiosks nationwide. Instead, it will focus on setting up in places from where many of the farm's visitors come.

He said the company's performance this year had been unaffected by the economic downturn and political uncertainty. It expects revenue to grow by 15 per cent from last year to Bt2 billion, and 12-per-cent growth in profits.

Nitida Asawanipont

 The Nation