Loxley Public Co is tapping into the hemp market after inking deals with NR Instant Produce Pcl and Golden Triangle Health Co Ltd (GTH) to become their terpene flavour distributors.
Suroj Lamsam, Loxley's president and chief executive, said under the agreement, GTH will be responsible for product procurement, including terpene flavours and products that contain terpene flavour as an ingredient.
Loxley's chemical business will distribute these products and look to sell them to business-to-business (B2B) firms such as manufacturers from various industries.
Loxley Trading will begin the distribution of ready-to-consume goods such as snacks or skincare products with terpene flavour via its distribution network across the country in order to reach consumers.
At the same time, NRF will develop its own products with terpene flavours, which Loxley Trading will also help to distribute. The company is expecting to launch a terpene water product in the market this year.
To ensure it has a sufficient supply, Julpas Kruesopon, founder of Golden Triangle Health Co, said that NRF -- the parent company of GTH -- will also take part in a joint venture with True Terpenes from the US by the end of this month and start supplying terpene flavours to customers across Asia, including Thailand.
True Terpenes is a leading supplier of terpene and currently offers over 30,000 terpene flavour formulas that can be used in various kinds of foods such as beverages, snacks, seasoning products, instant noodles and shampoo.
At present, True Terpenes provides terpene flavours to customers in 50 countries.
After the government gave companies the green light to use hemp for commercial purposes at the end of last year, demand for hemp-based products has surged.
However, manufacturers have to wait until there is a definite condition for using CBD in products and, therefore, terpene flavour has become an alternative because it can be legally used in products.
Dan Pathomvanich, chief executive officer of NRF, said terpene flavour is a top-five food trend. Its market value was over US$200 billion (6.2 trillion baht) per year, while global demand grew 10% every year.
Mr Dan said if revenue from terpene flavours in Thailand reaches 100 million baht, the company will allocate 50 million baht to set up a new factory to produce terpene flavour.
He said the company has set a target revenue of 3 billion baht this year, mostly driven by products with terpene flavours.
Terpenes are aromatic compounds found in plants such as cannabis which contains a high concentration of them.