The 8-billion-baht market for utensils and kitchenware is expected to stay flat for a second straight year because of weaker-than-expected consumer spending.
Aroon Ruengcharungpong, chief executive of Thai Stainless Steel Co, the marketer of Seagull utensils and kitchenware products, said overall kitchenware sales in Thailand were flat in 2017 and the first-half performance this year did not live up to expectations.
Consumers typically will take a year or two to repurchase utensils and kitchenware to replace existing ones, but such items are non-essential given the current economic situation. More importantly, young people are choosing to dine out more often.
"We still saw some hiccups in consumer spending power in the first half of this year," Mr Aroon said. "People remain cautious in their spending, as indicated by our flat sales for the period."
He said Seagull sales totalled roughly 600 million baht in the first half. The company had forecast sales growth of 10%.
Nonetheless, Thai Stainless Steel remains confident that sales will buck the industry trend and deliver 10% full-year growth to 1.65 billion baht.
Of total sales, 80% stem from domestic business and 20% from exports, mainly to the US.
To achieve the sales goal, the company will launch a marketing strategy in the second half targeting small and medium-sized companies in the restaurant business.
According to Mr Aroon, the number of stand-alone restaurants is rising nationwide because of consumers' evolving lifestyle habits and digital disruption.
Although the company's products have good access to customers in the modern trade channel, the sales proportion to small and medium-sized restaurants is relatively low.
Thai Stainless Steel hopes to expand its business to stand-alone restaurants owned and operated by young entrepreneurs.
As a first step, the company will join forces with 47 food entrepreneurs, ultimately expanding to 200.
"We've seen a bright future for small and medium-sized restaurants," Mr Aroon said. "Such restaurants generally apply technology to expand their food delivery."
Thai Stainless Steel plans to promote its products using digital marketing to reach a broader base of prospective customers.
The company has also hired actor Chuntawit "Ter" Thanasewee as brand ambassador to persuade customers to cook at home more.
In addition, the company has extended its sales networks via e-commerce partners and its own e-commerce channel.
