King Stella Group, a 60-year-old manufacturer and marketer of consumer products, is preparing to set up new enterprises in India, the Philippines and Indonesia as a part of efforts to double its overseas and domestic sales to reach 2 billion baht within 2025.
Chutiphon Kittikasamsak, the company's chief empowerment officer, said after the company conducted a feasibility study about market opportunities in the pet food market in India, it saw a huge market potential to expand its business there. The country is a huge market with a population of 1.4 billion population, while Indian people also love Thai products, he said.
King Stella is preparing to set up a new firm near Mumbai within the second quarter of this year.
In the Philippines, where several King Stella products have already been imported and sold, Mr Chutiphon said King Stella plans to set up its own company in the country in the fourth quarter, which would focus on car care and air care.
In addition, the company is carrying out a market survey in Indonesia to find out which product categories should be the focus of its efforts. It expects to set up a company in Indonesia early next year.
Saudi Arabia is another location in the company's pipeline due to high spending power among consumers, he said, adding that with all its business plans the company expects the proportion of sales from international business to double, rising from 15% in 2022 to 30% in 2025.
"The economy is improving this year after the tourism business has rapidly recovered. This will deliver a positive impact to the overall consumer product industry,'' he said.
To cash in on improving domestic market sentiment, the company will also launch up to 60 new products to the market via five categories including premium pet food. It plans to open its car care shops next year.
According to Mr Chutiphon, the company needs to spend 150 million baht during 2023-2025 to support its expansion plans in both domestic and international markets. Of the total, 100 million baht would be used to expand the pet care business including the installation of new machines to increase the production capacity of its pet care operations from 1 tonne to 10 tonnes per day.
The pet food market is estimated to be worth over 40 billion baht. Of the total, 80% belongs to pet food and the remaining 20% covers pet accessories and shampoo.
The other 50 million baht would be used to develop new products and expand distribution in overseas markets.