The ongoing pandemic has prompted Thai President Foods Plc (TFMAMA), the manufacturer of Mama instant noodles, to revise its overseas business expansion plans.
Pojjana Paniangvait, the company's director, said the prolonged Covid-19 outbreaks have resulted in difficulties in international travel, disrupted global supply chains, and led to changes to some countries' import regulations.
Under the revised plans, the company will open fewer than 4-5 new markets a year over the next five years from at least 4-5 new markets a year in its original plan.
The company will also invest more as a strategic partner in some of its existing foreign distributors. This should allow Thai President to strengthen its overseas operations and help build up business collaborations, she said.
"Covid-19 is unpredictable and could possibly last a long time, so the company has embraced digital business as a key marketing and sales strategy," said Ms Pojjana. "In 2021, the company is selling a range of products on Amazon.com in the US through the Mama store. The company has also started to sell online in various markets including Asia, Australia, Europe and South America."
Currently, Mama products are exported to 68 countries, with the biggest export markets including Asean, North America and Europe. The company also exports its products to South and Central America, Africa, South and East Asia.
The company started exporting to new markets this year such as Ukraine, Trinidad and Tobago, and Costa Rica. It is in the process of adding Egypt to its export markets.
TFMAMA's total sales revenue tallied 23.6 billion baht in 2020, down 1.74% from a year before, with a net profit of 4.09 billion baht, up by 3.73%.
Of the total, 30% came from export markets and the remaining 70% from the domestic market.
For the first half of this year, the company reported total revenue of 11.55 billion baht, down 4.46% from the same period last year.
Net profit was 1.72 billion baht for the first half, down by 19.8% year-on-year.
Pun Paniangvait, manager of the company's President Office, said that despite rising Covid-19 infections in the country, demand for Mama instant noodles had grown slightly in the first seven months of 2021.
"Consumers are not panicking, as happened during the first wave. We expect our overall sales to grow by 3-5% this year," said Mr Pun. "We don't have a plan for major investment this year because we are worried about the economic slowdown."
Last year, the company allocated a budget of 800 million baht to expand the production capacity of packed noodles at its factory in Lamphun province and cup noodles at its factory in Rayong to cope with rising demand overseas.