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Published on April 14, 2008

The new health-concious trend also does not seem to help fish

snacks much. While most people realise fish is good for health, they still prefer to tuck into items like fried snacks.

The local snack-food market is worth more than Bt10 billion.

It is made up of several parts: the extruded segment, which accounts for 35 per cent of sales; potato chips with a 31-per-cent share; fish snacks with 15 per cent; crisp rice with 10 per cent; and bean snacks with 9 per cent.

The overall snack market is growing by an average of 4-5 per cent a year.

Potato chips and extruded

snacks grow at a faster pace of 8-10 per cent.

"Most locals still like to con-

sume fried food, hence fried

snacks gain much more than other types of snack," said Thanatat Chunchanawechanont, executive and marketing director of T-Holding, the manufacturer of Fisho fish snacks.

Many manufacturers have tried to boost the trend for healthy snacks by launching items that claim to have health benefits.

This type of snack creates excitement among consumers for a short period but once the trend dies down, consumers tend to go back to junk items.

With a constant attempt to attract health-minded consumers, Thanatat said the company had launched its Fisho iDee, which targets women.

Fisho iDee comes in two flavours: collagen combined with protein from soybean, and calcium combined with fibre.

The item claims to contain beauty benefits to women.

"Thai consumers know fish has health values but many still choose potato chips," he said.

He added that the Food and Drug Administration's measure to control snack products by asking producers to clearly identify ingredients was a boost for fish-snack makers.

Thanatat expects T-Holding to record 22-per-cent sales growth this year, driven by many new items.

The Nation