From a small home operation to an exporter to 30 countries, Simple Foods has helped popularise almond milk in Thailand and plans to boost production next year with the opening of a new production facility.
The company has seen exponential growth selling almond milk through its 137 Degrees brand since starting five years ago and now offers a wide range of nut milk products such as cashew, pistachio and walnut milk.
Simple Foods was started five years ago by Arisa Kulpiyavaja, a data scientist and financier, who wanted to see more dietary options for people like herself who are lactose-intolerant. At the time, almond milk had barely penetrated the Thai market, so she made small batches for herself in her home kitchen and eventually started to sell small quantities to shops.
"I started selling to local stores, but the milk would not last long because there were no chemical preservatives," Ms Arisa said. "I wanted to preserve it without using chemicals, so I had to jump from home cooking to production in a facility that really grew my business."
She eventually started selling to larger supermarkets and convenience stores, and the brand now enjoys almost complete market penetration in the segment.
Almond milk is still a relatively small market in Thailand, making up just 1% of the plant-based milk segment dominated by soy milk.
Simple Foods is expanding into sales to hotel chains and has a sales team to get the products stocked in mom-and-pop stores. Exports account for about half of sales, with other Southeast Asian countries making up a large market segment.
The company will open a new facility next year capable of producing 500,000 litres per day of assorted nut-based milk, as well as launching new products.
Simple Foods is sitting on unfulfilled orders, lacking the production capability to meet current demand, but with the new facility it should be able to start catching up.
Almonds cannot grow in Thailand and must be imported from California. Some cashews are produced in Thailand. Simple Foods competes with a few local brands, notably Vitamilk, Hooray and Malee.
Ms Arisa expects the recent tax on sugary drinks to push consumers towards healthier options. Her products are unaffected by the tax, which targets drinks with over 6 grammes of sugar per 100ml; the flagship 137 Degrees almond milk has zero sugar, instead sweetened by coconut flower nectar.
"The coconut flower nectar helps farmers get some extra revenue, as it used to be seen as a waste byproduct," Ms Arisa said. "I went to explore materials to sweeten the product and initially looked at coconut water, but stumbled across this instead."
Simple Foods is vying to expand from a nut-based milk maker to a lactose-free lifestyle brand with the publication of a new cookbook featuring various dairy-free, nut-filled recipes.
"Dairy was only introduced to Thai cooking relatively recently," Ms Arisa said. "A lot of consumers are starting to get much more health-conscious, but many Thai people don't even know they are lactose-intolerant."
Even for those without dairy allergies, dairy alternatives are still an attractive food choice because they are low in calories and carbs but high in calcium and other nutrients. Almonds, cashews and walnuts are also a good alternative to peanuts, a common allergen.
"Next year is going to be a big leap for our company with the new facility and products," Ms Arisa said. "We are seeing increased consumer awareness and demand for almond milk in Thailand and a willingness to spend on premium healthy products."