The investment will be allocated to marketing and new product development, while scaling up production capacity for both personal-care and household products with a new factory complex and warehouse.

Suthidej Thakolsri, president and chief executive officer of Neo Corporate Co, said it aimed this year to enhance domestic-market growth and enlarge its international market by 30 per cent.

Within Thailand, the company will strive to increase market share in the existing segments and launch new products as well as creating new segments.

It will also strive to penetrate new international markets while creating more demand in existing markets including Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam. It is also active in Middle East markets such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Iraq as well as such Asian countries as the Philippines, Brunei, Maldives and Pakistan.

Its Fineline, D-nee and BeNice brands are popular abroad.

The company was renamed from Bio Consumer after a shareholding restructuring.

“Of the Bt2.5-billion investment, the company plans to invest Bt300 million in a research and development centre, while the new plants will enable the company to increase its production capacity significantly because of surging demand for consumer goods,” Suthidej said.

“Our target is to enlarge sales volume to between Bt8 billion and Bt10 billion within three to five years, growing by 15-20 per cent annually.

“In 2016, we plan to launch new product lines in new and existing segments to cover personal care and household products.

“We are confident that demand for consumer goods will increase even though there was some deceleration in the past year. But our strength lies in our reputation that we have built over the years – we are committed to providing consumers a better life.

“Our research and development play a critical role in the innovation process. It’s essentially an investment in future capabilities, which is transformed into new products, processes and services.

“Each year we conduct more than 100 researches, including market research and consumer insight, as well as continuously developing materials, packaging, and production technology by joining with global partnerships to ensure high-quality products that respond to consumer demands in various aspects.”

Last year, Neo Corporate posted sales revenue of Bt5.1 billion, consisting 40 per cent of personal-care products and 60 per cent household products.

“Last year we built a new warehouse and added a distribution channel by engaging a trade partner to help distribute our products aside from modern and traditional trade, which are overseen by our company,” Suthidej said.

He said the company expected 54 per cent of sales to be contributed from modern trade, 38 per cent from traditional trade and 8 per cent from export markets.

“Currently our distribution coverage is more than 60 per cent of the country,” he added.

“Expanding to international markets and entering the AEC [Asean Economic Community] era have broadened our perspective for business-growing opportunities. Geography no longer stands in the way; however, it also no longer serves to protect local market share.

“In order to reach the full potential the AEC and other markets offer, business-growth strategies need to be built around a global vision where quality, pricing, service, distribution etc must be globally competitive.

“We must keep up the pace or even go beyond the consumer trends and their lifestyles as well as be ready to custom-tailor to meet local requirements and market conditions.

“These key success factors have led Neo Corporate to be one of the top 10 leading manufacturers and distributors in Thailand, which are mostly multinational companies,” he said.