The Thai subsidiary of the American agricultural and food ingredient producer Cargill recently announced that it is investing in its ready-to-cook products with the aim of making Thailand a production hub for export to the Southeast Asian market.
According to Cargill Thailand’s Managing Director, the company developed a production facility in Thailand to export cooked chicken five years ago. Cargill is now ready to expand production of ready-to-cook chicken in Thailand, targeting the business-to-customer (B2C) channel.
The company launched the Sun Valley ready-to-cook chicken brand in 2019 and introduced the plant-based brand PlantEver in 2021, obtaining a positive response from the market.
According to Cargill, around three-fifths of chicken consumption in Thailand is represented by raw chicken, while ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook products represent one-quarter and 15%, respectively. Although the consumption of ready-to-cook chicken is still relatively low, the growth rate is at about 8% per year.
Importantly, per capita chicken consumption in Thailand increased from 12 kg per year in 2010 to 25 kg per year in 2021. Meanwhile, the consumption of plant-based products is predicted to rise to THB 45 billion (USD 1.2 billion) in 2024, from THB 28 billion (USD 745 million) in 2019.
(Source: Bangkok Post)
