TOKYO - The Japanese House Foods Group is doubling its production capacity for the popular vitamin beverage C-vitt in Thailand to benefit from the growing health awareness of local consumers.
House Foods will expand the plant of its local joint venture partner Osotspa from the coming fiscal year, which begins in April, to a new production line. Details, such as the specific investment amount, still need to be worked out.
House Foods and Osotspa, a major manufacturer of beverages and personal care products, founded the 2011 joint venture House Osotspa Foods.
"We have achieved a high transaction rate by leveraging Osotspa's distribution network for convenience stores and others," said Shigeru Natake, an international manager of House Foods.
Sales of House Foods in the Southeast Asian country performed well, led by C-vitt, which is similar to the C1000 vitamin beverage sold in Japan.
C-vitt is becoming a core product for House Foods' Southeast Asian business, and the company intends to step up its promotional activities for the product.
There are three flavors of C-Vitt - lemon, orange and pomegranate. C-vitt is a bit sweeter than C1000 and costs between 15 and 20 baht (48 to 64 cents) per bottle, slightly more than the prices for similar local drinks.
According to House Foods, a beverage product in Thailand is generally considered a hit when it sells around 50 million bottles a year. Sales of C-vitt have grown by 20-30% annually and are expected to exceed 80 million bottles in the current fiscal year.
The extension of Thailand's production of House Foods is taking place as part of a broader expansion of foreign business with a focus on curry products and tofu. Curry products are sold in other Asian markets, especially China, and tofu in the US. The company intends to make drinks a new pillar of its foreign business.
The overseas food group's sales in the past fiscal year increased more than 8% year-on-year to 20.1 billion yen (approximately $ 180 million at that time). The company expects overseas food revenue to reach 22.4 billion yen in the current fiscal year, supported by the popularity of Japanese foods in Asia and the United States.
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