Functional drinks have been crowding out adult milk products, but F&N Dairies (Thailand) expects the overall market to pick up by about 10 per cent this half on improving political and economic situations.
"The adult milk market was flat in the first six months of this year as consumers have more choices of health beverages to consume," Somsak Chayapong, country manager of the manufacturer and distributor of low-fat milk products under the "Bear Brand Gold" brand, said yesterday.
Besides the key players in the high-calcium and low-fat adult milk segment, such as Foremost Calcimex and Anlene Concentrate, the company has been also challenged by over 100 brands of indirect competitors in the functional drink segment, he said.
However, the company expects its Bear Brand Gold adult milk to achieve significant growth of 10-20 per cent to about Bt700 million for the whole year.
The company's strategy was to launch a greater variety of products to fill diversified consumer needs on different occasions.
Magnolia Good Morning and Magnolia Good Night, F&N's new functional drink products, would be launched in a couple of months targeting working men and women, respectively, by boosting energy in the morning and relaxation at night.
"We acquired the Bear Brand dairy products from Nestle in 2007. The company two years ago launched its first advertising campaign, called 'Seven Days Seven Benefits', with well-known actress Ann Thongprasom as presenter. We were able to double the market share of our flagship brand - Bear Brand Gold - in Thailand's Bt2.5-billion adult milk market to 30 per cent," Somsak said.
The company yesterday unveiled a Bt100-million TV commercial campaign, again using Ann Thongprasom as the presenter, called "The Challenge". Created under the concept of "Through the barrier with seven beneficial nutrients of your Bear Brand Gold", the spot will run for three years.
"We expect to increase the market share of Bear Brand Gold to 35 per cent in the first 12 months of the new commercial campaign and to over 40 per cent in the second year," he said