Green tea : Oishi reduces production
Oishi Group Plc, the leader in the local bottled green tea market, will slow its production to 40-50 per cent of capacity this quarter due mainly to dampened consumer spending.
Managing director Tan Passakornnatee said the cut in output would follow the downward trend of its product sales. Last quarter, the company was running at 70-80 per cent of its production capacity. Oishi claims to control 73 per cent of the ready-to-drink green tea market. "Key negative factors, including the economic slowdown, rising oil prices and political turmoil, have translated into a slowdown in spending, which has directly affected the company's sales," Tan said. The company has tried to cope with the bearish environment by slashing unnecessary expenditures, but will still roll out new products - one this month and two more next quarter. Oishi might lower its sales target for the year of Bt5 billion. "The company will wait and see the feedback from customers to its new products before considering a revision to its sales target," he said. Some products have failed to catch on with consumers and were dropped from the line. The marketing plan for Singapore and Malaysia should be kicked off by the end of this year. In the US market, the company is likely to delay its entry from this month to next month, he said.
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