Lion to expand product line

Lion Corp, the Japanese-based manufacturer of personal-care and household products, yesterday announced plans to make functional foods and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs in Thailand.

President Sadayoshi Fujishige said the plan would be carried out within the next year by setting up a new  manufacturing plant and using existing production facilities owned by the Saha Group.

Lion (Thailand) managing director Boonyarith Mahamontri said company sales amounted to Bt7.7 billion last year, with Bt700 million of that from exports.

"We expect our exports to reach at least Bt1 billion this year. Exports will account for 30 per cent of our sales revenue in the next three years," he said.

Boonyarith said the company would spend Bt200 million this year to expand its production capacity and upgrade its manufacturing process for better efficiency.

Lion (Thailand) was set up jointly by the Saha Group and Lion Japan in 1969.

Fujishige yesterday presided over the opening of a new Bt200-million detergent-drying tower at the company's Saha Industrial Park plant in Chon Buri's Sri Racha district. The tower will double the current production capacity of detergent powder to about 150,000 tonnes per annum.

"Today, I would like to emphasise that our business in Thailand will not stay only in the household and personal-care categories, but will expand with investment in new diversified businesses, such as functional foods and OTC drugs, which have been initiated in Japan over the past two years," Fujishige said.

He said Lion's new business mission was to be No-1 company in the "new comfortable-life industry" by providing products for better living, particularly in key categories like household items, personal-care products, OTC drugs and functional foods.

Lion now ranks third in the Japanese market for OTC drugs. Its products include Bufferin aspirin for pain and fever.

Lion has also developed functional-food products under the Kenbisoken umbrella brand, which offer benefits like sound sleep, fatigue relief and skin elasticity, such as Gussumin, Gromont, Gronsan Study and Kyupurun.

OTC drugs and functional foods account for 14.5 per cent of Lion's sales in Japan.

Fujishige said Lion had developed a key business direction in Thailand based on a closer partnership with the Saha Group. It will continue to invest in household and personal-care products, especially laundry detergents and oral care products, but also in new businesses, especially functional foods and OTC drugs.

Lion will also expand exports from Thailand to other potential markets in Asia, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Burma and Cambodia, he said.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation