Marketing / Cargill Meats

Marketing/ investment

Editorial Team

Cargill intensifies Thai ready to cook market competition with two brands launch “Sun Valley” and “PlantEver”

Cargill Meats (Thailand) Co., Ltd, part of US-based Cargill Group, launches two ready-to-cook product brands ‘Sun Valley’, fresh and cooked chicken products, and ‘PlantEver’, plant-based meals , a move to cash in on the continuous expansion of ready to cook chicken in Thailand.

The products produced at its Thailand’s production base in Saraburi and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces are initially sold in Thailand and later will be exported to ASEAN. ’Sun Valley’’ cooked chicken brand was launched since 2019 and ‘’PlantEver’’ plant-based products was introduced in 2021. Especially Sun Valley, the firm claimed that market response is very impressive from consumers.

Thiti Tuangsithtanon, managing director of Cargill Meats (Thailand) Co., Ltd, said that the trend of poultry industry and consumer behavior for poultry meat consumption in Thailand has continued to grow. After COVID-19, consumers are more conscious of their dietary choices, pay more attention to what they eat and carefully select food that can offer them the quality, safety and most importantly, delicious taste. Consequently, there is an increasing demand for ready-to-cook chicken. Consumers are also looking for products that can assure them of convenience and meet the lifestyle of all family members.

Chicken consumption in Thailand is valued about 233 billion baht per year. However, the ready-to-cook chicken consumption remains low, when compared to raw chicken and ready to eat chicken but its growth rate is more attractive with 7-8% annually. Thailand’s chicken consumption per capital rose to 25 kilogram in average in 2021, up from 12 kilograms in 2010. The data also showed that 73% of Thai consumer have chicken 3-4 times per week.

In the global food market, alternative protein trend is on the rise. There is increasing number of health conscious consumers who care more for their health and sustainability. With these factors, it will have an impressive growth rate for plant based products in Thailand in the next 3-5 years. Clearly, PlantEver offers the taste, texture, and nutritional value that health-conscious consumers expect. Also, they are environmentally conscious, and comes in 100% recyclable packaging.

For Thai plant-based food market, it offers a business opportunity because the consumption of plant- based products is projected to rise to 45 billion baht in 2024, up from 28 billion baht in 2019.

“Being a leading global food company, Cargill has closely monitored global trends and seen high potential in these trends. One of our key strategies is getting closer to consumers by using our experience in the food and agriculture to enter both chicken and plant-based protein markets in Thailand. With the launch of these two product brands, we are bringing consumers, both meat lovers and plant-based food consumers the choice of food products they want to consume,” he added.

Currently, Cargill Meats Thailand exports cooked chicken to 17 countries in Asean, Europe and North America.