ThaiBev brewing up local draft sales

The move is aimed at tapping the increasing popularity of low-alcohol beer.

The company wants to double sales of Draft Chang to 20 per cent this year, said Charlie Jitcharoongphorn, deputy managing director.

He said Draft Chang, which averages 5-per-cent alcohol content and has been brewed mainly for export, took the gold in a recent US Beverage Testing Institute beer-judging event.

"The award guarantees Draft Chang's quality. We'll adjust the formula some to suit Thai consumers and promote it more heavily than we did last year, targeting young workers and other consumers aged 20-25," said Charlie.

He said light beer was becoming more of a trend among global beer-drinkers and that drinking culture was changing, with consumers spending more time in social gatherings. Lighter beverages are better suited to such an environment than are heavier ones.

Charlie said draft beer did not sell as well as more regular beers, which now account for 90 per cent of company sales, but that ThaiBev wanted to see stable growth in each segment.

He said Draft Chang was in the economy/standard beer segment. ThaiBev last year introduced its premium-beer segment with the launch of Federbrau.

This year's beer market should be better than last year's, because brewers are planning more marketing activities to stimulate consumption, said Charlie, adding that the market was expected to recover in the second quarter.

Thailand's beer market was worth Bt110 billion last year, down 3 per cent from 2007 due to the economic and political uncertainty.

Charlie said the company enjoyed a 45-per-cent share of the domestic beer market and expected Chang beer this year to outpace its rivals.