Chok Yuen Yong Industry Co, a Nakhon Ratchasima-based manufacturer of tapioca starch, has diversified into health drinks to cash in on rising demand driven by the pandemic.
Through a wholly owned subsidiary, Tera Food & Beverage Co, the company recently introduced a preservative-free health drink under the QminC brand.
"This is the right time to launch our product because people are concerned about their health and immunity as a result of the pandemic," said Thanthit Yuenyongtechahiran, president of Tera Food & Beverage. "Curcumin drinks are still blue ocean as a market in Thailand compared with other health drink sectors. The group has worked in the agricultural field for three decades and hopes the new business unit will become the group's second business pillar."
According to Mr Thanthit, the group invested 150 million baht to buy a 10-rai plot in Nakhon Ratchasima and build a factory to produce QminC drink, targeting customers aged between 25-45.
QminC drink is made with curcumin extracted from the rootstalk of turmeric plants. It is available at more than 15,000 modern trade retail outlets such as Lotus hypermarkets and 7-Eleven outlets, along with almost 500,000 mom-and-pop stores nationwide.
The drink is also available via e-commerce platforms such as Lazada and Shopee.
He said about 6 million bottles of QminC have been sold and he expects to reach close to a million bottles a month by the end of this year.
Mr Thanthit said the company plans to export its health drink products to Southeast Asia and the Middle East once the pandemic subsides. Prior to the pandemic, the company tried exporting QminC drink to Laos and Cambodia, but Covid-19 put those plans on hold.
"Curcumin drinks are very popular in Japan and Europe. The properties of curcumin are beneficial to health and it has been used to heal and prevent diseases for 5,000 years. Curcumin can return strength to the liver and bolster the immune system," he said.
"We believe there is promise for QminC in markets both at home and abroad."
Mr Thanthit said in addition to producing QminC, the company is interested in manufacturing other functional drinks.
With sales of more than 2.6 billion baht in 2019, Chok Yuen Yong Industry supplies tapioca starch to various industries, with 50% of its sales coming from exports, mainly within Asia.