Bangkok--30 Aug--JWT Public Relations
‘K & U Enterprise,’ a joint venture between ‘UFP,’ Thailand’s leading exporter of frozen food and ‘Kyokuyo,’ a Japanese food conglomerate, is ready to launch its production of traditional Japanese sushi menu to hit both local and international markets. The company, stressing on its strength in sourcing quality seafood to feed the international consumers, strong competence in Japanese food and international standard manufactures, expects to make 20% growth during the first 3 years of the operations and Bt3 billion sales revenues after 5 years.
Mr. Thongchai Tawanapong, Chief Executive Officer of The Union Frozen Company Limited or UFP, reveals that “K & U Enterprise Company Limited” is a joint venture between UFP and Kyokuyo Co., Ltd. partnered to produce original Japanese dishes for both local and international markets. The joint venture now has begun its operations with products including Sushi Topping and Frozen Sushi. The company expects to produce about 50 million pieces per month or about 350 tons per month or about 4,000 tons per year during the first year operations. The projection of the first year’s total sales is Bt1.5 billion with Bt1.35 billion of that amount to be export sales and the rest Bt150 million local sales. In the next 3 years, the company plans to grow about 20% annually and expects to sell about 8,000 tons of products worth about Bt3 billion after 5 years operations.
‘K & U Enterprise’ was established in 2005 with initial registered capital of Bt120 million. The company has finished a Bt400-million, 11,400-square-metre Japanese food factory within the area of The Union Frozen Products Co., Ltd. in Samutsakhorn province. The company has a 50:50 ratio investment with co-management scheme between the Thai and Japanese partners in producing various Japanese dishes of high quality and original tastes to meet the demands of the global consumers.
The company plans to sell 90% of its export products through distribution channels of Kyokuyo Co., Ltd. of Japan and The Union Frozen Products Co., Ltd. The company plans to mainly penetrate into the Japanese market, hoping to make the 70% of the expected export sales through the Japanese restaurant chains, take-away sushi kiosks and convenient stores. Another 20% of the export sales will be made in the US market, mainly through supermarkets and restaurant chains while the rest will be in Canada and Europe. The sales in Thailand, expected to be at 10% of the company’s total sales, will be placed through channels of Pran Talay Marketing Co., Ltd. who has 140 modern trade-style kiosks throughout the country with plans to increase the number to 200 within the end of this year.
Mr. Thongchai continues that “The distinguished quality of K & U’s products lies in the integrated ability to source out the world’s best raw materials of Thailand’s UFP and Kyokuyo, a leading and comprehensive Japanese food manufacturer with continuous product developments. We are thus confident that the consumers around the world will have a chance to enjoy our delicious original Japanese dishes.”
Mr. Kiyokazu Fukui, president of Kyokuyo Co., Ltd., says that “Currently, the global consumption of Japanese food is on the rise because the cuisine is considered healthy. For the Japanese market, the company will focus on manufacturing value-added products which are easy to eat. K & U’s products will be high-quality products manufactured with modern technologies specifically applied to produce high quality Japanese food such as frozen sushi and various kinds of sushi topping such as ika (cuttlefish,squid), shrimp and salmon etc.
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JWT Public Relations, JWT (Thailand)
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