Chia Meng Co, Thailand's leading fragrant rice processor and exporter, has launched a new marketing plan to expand its market base to cover younger customers.

The company yesterday teamed up with two strategic partners - the mobile market leader Advanced Info Service and cinema leader Major Cineplex - to promote sales, with a target of 1.7 billion baht in local sales this year, up from 1.4 billion last year.

"The continued hardship in rice export markets has turned more Thai rice exporters to the domestic front and such channels needs marketing and promotional campaigns in order to build brand awareness," said Sopan Manathanya, president of Chia Meng Marketing Co, the marketing arm of Chia Meng Rice Group.

Last year, Chia Meng introduced Hong Thong CI, rice with calcium and iron, for health-conscious customers. "This year, we want to capture customers aged between 20 and 30 years old, whose lifestyles include movies, mobile phones and eating rice," she said.

Chia Meng has been in the rice export business for 65 years but has only focused on the local market 13 years ago by promoting its packed fragrant rice under the Hong Thong (Golden Phoenix) brand, the same brand it uses in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The new marketing campaign features a free movie ticket, popcorn, or 1-2-Call top-up with any purchase of Golden Phoenix packed rice.

The company hopes the offers will help it improve the market shares of Chia Meng significantly, from 18-20% of the more than 10 billion baht in local packed rice sales annually.

Thailand consumes about 10 million tonnes of rice a year, about 6 million tonnes of which are sold in small packaging, mostly 5 kilogrammes.

Mrs Sopan said the company would also add more distribution centres, mostly in central and northeastern provinces, to cover more rural markets. Each centre, costing one million baht, would have at least two vehicles for delivery and logistics services.

Vallop Manathanya, the president of the Chia Meng group, said selling prices of packed rice this year would not rise as much as they did last year but would remain strong to about 190 to 210 baht per five-kilogramme pack.

Source: Bangkok Post