Moving forward as a world-class investor in ‘food for the future’ following its SET listing
“NR Instant Produce Public Company Limited (NRF)”, leading manufacturer and exporter of food and condiments, advances its investment plan following the official listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) with the distinction of being the first listed Thai company in the field of plant-based food. At the same time, it is giving full attention to sustainable supply chain management to show responsibility to society. As the Company moves towards the goal of becoming a world leader among manufacturers of food for the future, it is determined to create products for a sustainable world.
Mr. Dan Pathomvanich, Chief Executive Officer, of NR Instant Produce Public Company Limited (NRF), the manufacturer, procurer and distributor of condiments, processed food, ingredients, vegan food without eggs and dairy ingredients, protein-based food, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat food and drinks in the forms of powder mix and liquid, as well as non-food consumer products contained in V-shape packages, announced that the Company began trading its shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 9 October 2020 in the Agricultural Industry & Food/Drink Industry category with the initials “NRF” for share transactions. “This is considered the first SET-listing of Thai shares of plant protein-based food products for the future,” he said. “The Company’s potential will help make NRF shares popular among investors.”
The Company has a long-term goal to become a producer of “food for the future” with emphasis on food innovations that will help create sustainability for the entire food industry ecosystem. This will be achieved by its policy to become a “purpose-led company” to leverage exponential growth. Sales are projected to total 3,000 million baht in 2024, or within five years from 2019, when sales totalled 1,111 million baht. NRF will concentrate on Thai food and ethnic food, plant-based food, and consumer-friendly functional products.
Following the listing on the SET, the Company plans to increase its outlay in 2020-2022 with no less than 1,068 million baht in investment, including 270 million baht in the ethnic food group. This will be achieved through increasing manufacturing capacity and improving the Company’s manufacturing processes. City Food will increase production by about 35 percent from 19,000 tons per year currently. The Company also plans to buy the remaining 85 percent shares in City Food Company Limited in which it has already invested 15 percent registered capital. This company has its manufacturing facilities in Nakhon Pathom and Ratchaburi provinces.
The investment in the plant-based food business group will involve about 408 million baht, comprising: construction of a plant-based food manufacturing plant in Thailand, and; procurement of plant-based manufacturing plants in the UK and the US through a joint venture with The Brecks Company Limited (Brecks) to set up Plant and Bean Limited in the UK. At present, NRF holds a 25 percent share in this venture which it plans to increase by another 25 percent in 2021 to 50 percent. The investment increases in Big Idea Venture and New Protein Fund 1 leverage the opportunity to access more customers by being the preferred co-packer for startups. It will also access the latest knowledge and technology in the industry. Investment in the second production line for konnyaku is expected to ramp up production in Q4/2020.
Another investment is in the functional product business group. This involves packaged non-food consumer products that are friendly to consumers and the environment (V-shape). Following the Company’s signing of a contract with Fluid Energy Group Limited, the innovation leader in environmentally-friendly chemicals to service V-shape machinery for the production of sanitization products, the plan is to co-invest 90 million baht in another five V-shape production line. The products will be sold in Canada, the United States and the Middle East. Another 300 million baht will be invested in E-Commerce platforms through a joint venture with Boosted ECommerce Inc. (Boosted). The investment will be in two areas: Boosted group of companies to manage the third-party sellers’ e-commerce businesses on the Amazon e-commerce platform and; a consumer package goods joint venture in food manufacturing (including pet food).
Ms Veena Lertnimitr, Executive Vice President Investment Banking Function, Siam Commercial Bank Plc, in the capacity of financial advisor and underwriter, said, “NRF is not only conducting its businesses for profit but also places great importance on sustainable supply chain, from the procurement process to production, storage, logistics and distribution. At the same time, the Company has significant upstream to downstream stakeholder groups helping it provide food products with superb taste that are also beneficial to health. Of utmost importance is environment-friendliness through the creation of products for a sustainable Earth by reducing animal meat consumption and replacing it with plant-based protein that can fulfil the lifestyle demand of the Millennial (Gen Me) generation with high purchasing power.”
As the first listed firm in Thailand to produce “plant-based food for the future” and boasting solid business foundations and clear identification of future growth opportunities, NRF has received a great response from both fund managers and individual investors during the IPO period.