Blackmores Thailand, the distributor and marketer of the branded vitamin and nutritional supplements, has expanded its portfolio to skincare and beauty drinks in an effort to boost sales.
Pussadee Suchitchon, the company's country manager, said Blackmores drink and skincare products had a soft launch in the Thai market in August, their second entry point in Asean after Malaysia.
The company wants to explore business opportunities from new customer groups, hoping to increase sales this year to meet the target 8-9% growth, she said.
Ms Pussadee said before 2012, sales of nutritional supplements in Thailand enjoyed double-digit growth because people were health conscious. Spending in the segment, especially at drugstores, has been declining over the past six years because of Thailand's heavy floods in 2011, political tensions and an economic downturn over the period, she said.
Market competition and an influx of new players, many of whom produce substandard food supplements, have jeopardised the entire industry, according to TMB Analytics.
The research house said there were over 6,300 food supplement companies registered with the Commerce Ministry in 2017, reporting sales of 87 billion baht in sales through all channels including direct sales and via physical stores.
TMB Analytics expects food supplements to grow 3-5% this year, much lower than in the past years thanks to substandard goods in the market. Consumer confidence in buying the product also dropped until early this year, when the Commerce Ministry put strict controls on the production and distribution of food supplements.
Food supplements that are sold via pharmaceutical stores are estimated to be worth about 2.5 billion baht with an average growth of 4-5% each year. Blackmores has a 30% market share in the 2.5-billion-baht market, she said.
Ms Pussadee said sales for Blackmores in Thailand has been above industry growth every year because of strong brand awareness and the addition of new product lines, including beauty drinks and skincare products.
"Thailand's skincare market is very big and continues to grow every year regardless of whether economy is good or bad," Ms Pussadee said.
