Bangkok--24 Oct--Pr Solution With an expected growth of more than 50% in 2008, CPF is now launching Smart Meal, a new ready-to-eat frozen meal, with a selling point of authentic Thai cuisine for all health conscious. Appeared in the package are also nutrition facts, providing useful information for daily intake. Smart Meal not only contains less fat, sugar and sodium, but also is approved by Nutrition Institute of Mahidol University and certified by the Public Health Ministry’s Food and Drug Administration. Therefore consumers can be assured of the food safety that Smart Meal has to offer. Besides, CPF is planning to develop more ready-to-eat products as well as expand to international market. The company expects to gain total revenue of 2,000 million baht in the year 2008. Mr. Sukhawat Dansermsuk, Managing Director of CPF Food Products Co., Ltd., one of the CPF Group’s subsidiaries, said that CPF’s ready-to-eat frozen meals have been received positive feedback from Thai customers, for instance, CP Meal, BK Meal and Ezy Go, thanks to the high quality of the products in terms of taste and hygiene. The launch of Smart Meal, a new ready-to-eat healthy frozen meal for health conscious is regarded as an innovative move made by CPF as it is the first of kind in the country with the slogan ‘Eat Smart Live Smart’ which is derived from Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont who has always focused on food development as he recognizes the importance of daily food intake. Not only exercise is vital for everyday lives but also appropriate and healthy consumption consumes have. Moreover, CPF has invested millions of baht in research and development by inviting honorable advisors to help develop new Low-Fat /Low-Cholesterol /No Preservative /No MSG Added / No Sugar Added and Fiber products with the company’s R&D team, not to mention the high standard of preparation process the company has. As a result, CPF is regarded as the first company in Thailand that offers ready-to-eat healthy frozen meal with nutrition amount per serving provided to demonstrate how much fiber, fat, sugar as well as other food nutrition available in one single pack. Meanwhile harmful substances such as food preservation or MSG ARE NOT USED as the ingredients. Smart Meal products can be categorized into 3 different main menus such curry using whey as ingredient, stir-fried meals with brown and whole grain Hom Mali rice with a total of six different meals as followed; Chicken Green Curry with Brown Hom Mali Rice Tap Tim Fish Yellow Curry with Whole Grain Hom Mali Rice Chicken Spicy Curry with Whole Grain Hom Mali Rice Spicy Chicken with Basil and Brown Hom Mali Rice Spicy Pork with Basil and Whole Grain Hom Mali Rice and Garlic Pork with Whole Grain Hom Mali Rice With serving size of 280 g. and 300 g., each tray provides the amount of calories between 300-450 kilocalories per serving. In addition all six Smart Meal menus are already approved by the Nutrition Institute of Mahidol University and certified by the Public Health Ministry’s Food and Drug Administration. Thus the company is confident that Smart Meal will meet consumers’ satisfaction in terms of the products’ high quality as well as the availability as Smart Meal is now available at supermarkets, hypermarkets nationwide, and CP Fresh Marts across Bangkok and its vicinity. Mr. Sukhawat also added that according to the survey conducted 2-3 years ago, consumers especially those who are living in the city have dramatically changed their consumption behavior. Despite the sign of economic slowdown, the food business which is regarded as one of the four important factors for human beings is still doing well. On top of that, with the ever-changing consumption behavior, ready-to-eat frozen meal has played an important role in new generation’s daily lives as either they do not know how to cook or are bored eating out due to limited choices of food available at nearby food stalls. Furthermore ready-to-eat frozen meal helps reduce food preparation and washing-up time. Meanwhile CPF has determined to continue developing ready-to-eat frozen food especially for those who are health conscious. Although Smart Meal is a new product which has yet no significant market share in Thailand, it has potential to grow. And the company expects to gain total revenue of 2,000 million baht which can be divided into the proportion of 40% domestic market and 60% international markets including the US, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and many of European countries. Since new generation consumers are becoming more and more cautious on daily nutrition intake, not to mention high quality, hygiene and convenience which are also their main concern. Hence CPF is interested in tapping into this new market segment by introducing new products to meet consumers’ requirement under the concept of ‘Healthy Food that Fits Modern Lifestyle’ for example, Smart Diet/ Smart Health/Smart Veggie and Smart Soup as well as expanding to international market. In terms of marketing strategy, CPF has allocated a budget of 30 million baht to conduct ‘Above - Below the Line’ marketing campaign in order to promote consumers’ perception of brand as well as boost sale volume by using on-location advertising, public relations in newspapers and magazines and outdoor booths set-up at various locations such as leading hospitals, office buildings, shopping malls and modern trade stores. CPF is confident that Smart Meal will be one of the company’s leading brands in ready-to-eat healthy frozen meal with expected revenue of 800 million baht in the ready-to-eat frozen meal industry in Thailand. The company also aims to become No.1 for both in the domestic and internal market places for the ready-to-eat healthy frozen meal market. Mr. Sukhawat concluded. For more information please contact: Pr Solution Tel. 0-2656-8059 www.prsolution.co.th Khun Prapas Chornsarum Khun Chitruthai Thadsareewiboon Khun Sittikorn Rattanasettree Tel. 0-81827-7354 Tel. 0-81613-1865 Tel. 0-89155-5095