After four months of research, the 43-year-old academic-turned-entrepreneur came up with her first product, PARRI, an Italian soda beverage with sparkling water that is 100 per cent naturally sourced from Suan Phueng district, in Ratchaburi province, as the major component in the production process.

“I know natural mineral water is good for health. So, I made the drink because I want Thai people to drink more mineral water,” she said.

The main selling point is the use of minerals from natural sources as the central ingredient. The water is then sweetened with pure sugar cane, and the finest-grade imported syrup and the sweet aroma of a processed gas gives added freshness, she explained.

The target group is people of all ages who are in-trend, like a little sweetness, and want to be refreshed and healthy.

Parida has registered the PARRI trade mark as a patented product.

There are many health-drink brands these days, but she said the key factor which made PARRI different from other brands was the taste.

“As the weather in Thailand is humid, we need drinks that make us fresh. Who doesn’t like a fizzy healthy drink that quenches thirst? Its honey-lemon flavour will soothe and refresh just about anyone,” she said.

PARRI’s original flavour is honey lemon, which is sold in Thailand at Bt35 for a 330-millilitre bottle.

Despite only launching the product last November, many international traders have made enquiries to export her beverage to neighbouring countries and the Middle East.

She initially has plans to export PARRI in a number of flavours – raspberry, blue-sky orange, blackcurrant, kiwi and mixed berry – to China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brunei.

“I think it is a good start. The AEC [Asean Economic Community] has now made distribution even more plausible, as the [import] levy is no longer the show-stopper,” she said.

Graduating with a doctorate degree in international communications from Thammasat University 10 years ago, Parida pursued her dream as a university lecturer, but decided to leave her career three months ago to formally start her business after undergoing around a year of preparatory work following PARRI Intertrade’s establishment.

She carried out all the processes by herself. It first took her four months to find the right sweet-drink formula, and a factory to produce her beverage.

The next step was requesting halal certification from the Food and Drug Administration, which took another three to four months.

This was followed by a period of going from place to place contacting modern-trade supermarket operators, and setting up a logistics and transportation system.

The lecturer-turned-entrepreneur said it was hard to say what had made her leave her full-time job and invest in a business for the very first time.

“I’d say many people do this to prove that if they are capable, they can do anything – and so did I,” she said.

A challenge, but great fun

Parida believes her change of direction has been both a challenge and great fun in terms of fully running a business from scratch.

“Well, I’m an academic person, who was teaching for a living. However, there were opportunities [to go into business] here and there. I had never run a business before. It might be risky, but I worked hard and have enjoyed every step along the way,” she said.

She is convinced her product will be recognised as a great product because of the extensive R&D she conducted throughout the development phase.

“Finally, I have the dream product, where all my requirements are met. It is both healthy and delicious, and that is what makes my product different from others in the market,” she added.