Charoen Pokphand Foods future lies in pork and seafood

THAILAND - Bird flu takes bite out of chicken sales, but Asia wide open for shrimp, red meat products. Mention Charoen Pokphand Foods and most people think immediately of the country’s largest chicken breeder and processor.

But over five years the agribusiness giant will gradually shift its core business to seafood, in line with a plan to become the food production base for Asia’s population of three billion.

The company has drawn up a five-year plan under which annual growth is targeted to average 10-15 per cent and total sales reach Bt200 billion by 2010.

The plan is designed to cope with both tougher global competition and changes in consumer behaviour.

The company has established its manufacturing base not only in this country but also in the whole Asian region. The main manufacturing bases outside Thailand focus on different products to serve each market.

For ex-ample, China and India concentrate on shrimp and fish, Turkey on livestock, Malaysia and Vietnam on both marine products and livestock.

CP Food’s president and chief executive, Adirek Sripratak, says Asia has high export potential as people’s consumption of meat and marine products is still low compared with that in developed countries. Consequently the entire food market has ample room to grow.

Source: TheNation