Thai beverage industry to grow on tourism recovery, says KResearch

The centre expects the non-alcohol beverage market to expand by 3.3% compared to the previous year. However, this year’s growth would slow down due to rising cost of living.

Entrepreneurs still have to face rising production costs due to sugary tax and intense competition from domestic manufacturers and importers, especially those importing beverages from China, the centre said.

Thailand would be able to export non-alcohol beverages worth US$1.70 billion (58.53 billion baht), up 2.1% year on year. CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam) are still major markets for Thai non-alcohol beverage exports, with over 67% of the total export share, the centre said.

KResearch expects the Thai energy drink market to gain positive sentiment from 113 million workers in Thailand, in which 63% of them came from CLMV countries.

Despite manufacturers’ efforts in promoting energy drinks among new generations like office workers and esport players, the growth speculation would slow down due to a decline in purchasing power among workers from CLMV countries.

For alcohol beverages, KResearch expects Thai manufacturers’ production capacity to increase by 3.5-4.5% annually until 2027.

Alcohol beverage market would gain positive sentiment from the recovery of tourism and social activities, causing manufacturers to increase production capacity to serve the demand, the centre said, adding that improvement in taste and recipe would attract other groups of consumers.

However, the centre warned that alcohol beverage manufacturers should be ready for a change in rules and taxation, as well as supply limitation due to extreme weather, such as sugarcane and rice.

Consumers’ reduction of alcohol consumption due to concerns over their health would affect manufacturers as well, the centre added.