Despite persistent Covid-19 outbreaks and a war in Eastern Europe, consumer goods producer Berli Jucker Plc (BJC) announced yesterday a budget of about 15 billion baht to expand its business and develop new retail models this year.
Of the total budget, 70% will gear towards the expansion of new Big C stores and renovating existing stores, said Aswin Techajaroenvikul, chief executive of BJC.
The remaining 30% will be used to expand other businesses.
BJC plans to open 2-3 new Big C hypermarkets, five Big C Foodplace supermarkets, 150-300 Big C Mini stores in Thailand and 50 Big C Mini stores in Cambodia. Seven Pure drugstores are planned for Thailand this year.
In 2021, the company opened two Big C hypermarkets, 155 Big C Mini stores and two Pure drugstores, bringing total retail stores in all formats to more than 1,700 stores across the country.
"The Russia-Ukraine crisis has had a negative impact on consumer confidence and spending since February," said Mr Aswin. "An impact on our company, particularly from rising energy costs, is likely by the end of March or in the second quarter of this year."
According to Rami Piirainen, BJC's vice-president for group strategy and investor relations, the company also plans to open new retail models this year.
The company wants to launch more Donjai stores, a new retail model introduced in the middle of last year.
Donjai provides traditional store owners with the opportunity to modernise their stores through cooperation with BJC, while allowing the owners to maintain full ownership of their stores.
Small store owners who join the Donjai model are required to buy most of their products from Big C.
They receive support from Big C in terms of updating the store layout and a wider range of products.
Currently 326 traditional trade stores have joined the Donjai model.
"The Donjai model is still evolving. As Thailand has hundreds of thousands of traditional trade stores, we see an opportunity to significantly grow the Donjai model in the future," he said.
Moreover, BJC plans to open two new SiriPharma stores this year.
The pilot store of SiriPharma, a new pharmacy format, was introduced in the Prannok in November last year, targeting professional customers in both wholesales and retail shops. SiriPharma stores offer a complete assortment of medicines and a full range of healthcare equipment.
In addition, the company recently introduced MM Food Service, a new wholesale format, targeting hotel, restaurant and catering customers. MM Food Service stores sell 6,000 items of fresh food and dry food. There are two MM Food Service stores in Bangkok, both converted from Big C Market Stores.
According to Mr Piirainen, sales in 2021 tallied 138 billion baht, down 4.3% from 2020. Net profit across all businesses was 3.58 billion baht, down 10.4% from 2020.