Thailand: Thai beer market expected to grow at rate surpassing country’s projected GDP

The Thai beer market is expected to grow at a rate surpassing the country's projected GDP growth in 2025, supported by government stimulus measures, a robust tourism sector and a wave of new product launches, says Chang International.

The National Economic and Social Development Council projects Thailand's economy to grow by between 2.3% and 3.3% in 2025, with a midpoint estimate of 2.8%.

Thai beer consumption is anticipated to exceed 2 billion litres next year, said Songwit Sritham, chief executive of Thailand beer business at Chang International Co Ltd.

He said the mainstream beer segment, priced from 55-60 baht per 490-millilitre can, accounts for 60-70% of total market value.

"For the mass market, we expect Thai mainstream beer sales to grow slightly faster than the country's GDP growth," said Mr Songwit.

The company also anticipates its mass beer business will outpace industry growth.

The "mainstream plus" segment, with an average price of more than 60 baht per bottle, accounts for about 20% of the market. It is projected to achieve double-digit growth next year, according to Chang.

The company knows consumers have different preferences and are shifting towards more premium beer options, driving the robust growth of the mainstream plus segment, while the mainstream segment has not grown dramatically.

He said mainstream plus represents a single-digit proportion of the company's portfolio, but Chang wants to expand this share.

"We want to grow more than the market and increase the proportion of this segment in our portfolio," said Mr Songwit, without specifying a timeline.

The economy beer segment, priced cheaper than the mainstream segment, continues to decline, accounting for less than 5% of the total market, compared with 10% 15 years ago.

The remaining market share is held by foreign beer or speciality beer.

To tap the premium trend, the company introduced "Chang Unpasteurized Screw-top Aluminum Bottle" two years ago in select markets such as Chiang Mai.

Starting Dec 19, Chang plans to begin distributing this product at 10,000 branches of 7-Eleven convenience stores nationwide.

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