To support the plan, the company plans to boost exports to EU countries such as France, Spain and Belgium, and to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in Asia, as well as launch a TV advertising campaign. The company spends an average of Bt100 million per year on global advertising.

"The CP brand will have the same image as global brands like Coca-Cola, meaning that we will go everywhere around the world. What we are doing is a pilot project to promote the image of Thai brands," said Pisit Ohmpornnuwat, president of CP Merchandising, CPF's marketing arm.

"Our products should become world No 1 or two or three, like CP Group ranks as the world's biggest animal-feed producer," he said.

Pisit said the company had managed to set up 20,000-30,000 points of sale worldwide, mainly in the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, with the focus on supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores.

In addition, it will use CPF offices in 10 countries overseas as marketing arms to penetrate the target market.

CPF especially wants to boost its chicken exports to the EU to 70,000 tonnes this year in response to an increased import quota. Under the EU's new annual quotas, Thailand can export a total of 160,033 tonnes of chicken products and 90,000 tonnes of salted chicken.

Pisit added that CPF was stepping up its long-term plan of first setting up packing houses in potential countries, then entering the food service sector, and finally achieving brand loyalty.

The company has already formed a joint venture with a British partner to set up repackaging centre near Cambridge, which will boost CPF's access to the UK retail market.

"We will export in bulk from Thailand, repack for retail in the UK under the CP brand and distribute to fast-food chains such as KFC and Burger King," said Pisit.

CPF is the biggest Thai chicken exporter to the UK, with a volume of 55,000 tonnes out its total EU exports of 60,000 tonnes last year.

Thailand's chicken exports to the EU reached about 120,000 tonnes last year, with the UK accounting for 60-70 per cent of the total. The Kingdom's chicken exports to the EU are forecast to reach 130,000-140,000 tonnes this year.

Thailand's chicken exports to the EU are predicted to reach the new quota limit of 160,033 tonnes within the next four years, Pisit said.

However, Thailand cannot utilise the export quota for salted chicken, which is considered as fresh chicken, because the EU has banned fresh-chicken imports from the Kingdom due to the bird-flu outbreak.

The successful negotiation of an EU-Asean free-trade agreement will also encourage the export of Thai chickens to the EU. Under the agreement, the import quota will be increased and the import tariff will be brought down from 10.9 to 8 per cent, Pisit added.

The company also plans to boost chicken exports to Japan from 25,000 tonnes last year to 35,000 tonnes this year. The marketing strategy is focused on promoting the CP brand.

Pisit said Russia was another interesting potential market for chicken, pork and shrimp. Russia's chicken demand has reached 1.2 million-1.5 million tonnes per year and pork 600,000-700,000 tonnes per year, while it is expected to import 3,500 tonnes of shrimp this year.

Other potential export markets include the Middle East and Africa.

Pisit said that CPF, which has a production capacity is 13 million chickens per week, plans to form an alliance with chicken farmers to create an outsourcing supply network. This will also strengthen the competitiveness of related small producers, including farms and slaughterhouses.

To ensure quality control, only selected farmers will participate in the project and the company will provide them with both know-how and equipment. The chicken supplied by these farmers will be tested at CPF's central quality control centre before being delivered to its production plants. This will ensure a double check on quality and that the chicken's origin is traceable, as per EU import requirements.

"The plan will encourage the company to become a specialised chicken supplier, where we undertake the risk of marketing and bear more costs on advertising," Pisit said.

Achara Pongvutitham

The Nation