The investment budget will come from the company’s cash on hand, and it may increase its registered capital and sell new shares to the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank (SME Bank), which has a venture-capital fund for such purposes, he said.

“We are negotiating how much the bank will hold in our company and may finalise the deal in the second half of this year,” said Worawit, 45.

He established Hokkaido Morimoto Co in 2010 when he decided to go into business for himself.

“I worked at a factory that produced leather for fashion, and as a result I had to travel overseas, especially to Japan. I was interested in Hokkaido milk products and why they were popular with tourists and also famous overseas.

“I learned with my friend who lives in Hokkaido, Japan, about how to take care of dairy cows and produce quality milk. Then I decided to cooperate with his friend from Japan to contract with four dairy farms in Ratchaburi province, Thailand, to follow Hokkaido [feeding practices] and technology to produce quality fresh milk like Hokkaido milk,” he said.

After spending 2008 and 2009 contracting and training Thai farmers to feed cows following Hokkaido standards, Worawit spent Bt15 million of his savings to build a plant to produce sterilised milk to distribute in Thailand through five outlets in Bangkok under the Hokkaido Milk brand.

Quality product

“We succeeded in achieving sales worth Bt20 million in the first year of operation thanks to the quality of our milk,” he said.

Six years after opening the first branch in Bangkok, the company now has 46 branches nationwide, 15 of which are managed by franchisees, while it operates the rest itself.

The company generates average revenue of Bt120 million a year.

Hokkaido Morimoto Co plans to open 10 new branches this year, investing about Bt1 million in half of them, with the rest opened for franchisees.

Worawit said its franchisees needed a budget of Bt1.5 million for investment, Bt450,000 for the franchise fee including equipment and training, and the rest to set up and furnish the branch. The franchisees have to pay a marketing fee of 2 per cent and a royalty fee of 6 per cent of their sales revenue.

“Normally, they break even in no more than three years, when they generate enough income to cover their cost of investment,” he said.

He said the key to the success of the business was the quality of the milk, and current market trends – people nowadays are concerned enough about their health that they are willing to pay more for quality food. Hokkaido Milk costs about 10 per cent more than normal milk.

“When you have a product that faces high competition in the market, you need quality that differentiates it from your competitors. The key to our success is the quality of our products and strong confidence in Hokkaido Milk, which is well known in the market for its high quality. This has resulted in our business’ strong growth averaging 10 per cent a year,” he said.

The goal is for the joint venture to develop a master plan for sustainability development for business organisations based in the Asean Economic Community, said Dr Punyapon Tepprasit, chief executive officer of MVP Consultant, a five-year old Thai-based consulting agency.

An international branch of the joint venture will be set up in Singapore to be in charge of clients and developing business in international markets.

The plans tie in with the European Union’s strategic initiative, “EU Strategy 2020”, which promotes sustainable growth and environment-friendliness, he said.

“The sustainability-development [SD] concept is coming, and will be in use in accordance with the law. Businesses have to change and follow the SD concept. You’ll need to accept new change if you wish to survive under new rules,” Punyapon said.

“EU Strategy 2020” is aimed at building a more competitive low-carbon economy and environmental protection. It will allow Europe to achieve leadership in the development of new green technology and an efficient smart electricity grid.

The move will harness EU-scale networking and improve the business environment for SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] and enhance greater choice for consumers, he explained.

A large portion of Asean countries’ income is from exports, mainly to developed markets, especially in the automobile, electrical products, jewellery, and fruit and vegetable sectors, the CEO said, adding that major export markets included the EU, the US, Japan, China and Australia.

Meanwhile, about 60 per cent of Thailand’s gross domestic product is from the export sector.

“We [the business community] need to draw up a new vision so that they will sustain their business in the long term, for the next century. To achieve this, three major elements must be at the core: social friendliness, business transparency, and a zero-discharge environment, with re-use and recycling,” Punyapon said.

The aviation industry will be among the first sectors impacted by “EU Strategy 2020”, as it is seen as a non-tariff barrier often standing in the way of imported goods from Asean and other export markets around the world.

Moreover, airlines which release carbon emissions into the environment will be charged for being major contributors to the greenhouse effect, with the funds raised going towards the management of greenhouse-gas problems, he added.

Punyapon said MVP Consultant was also dealing with a property company, which plans to develop an ecology industrial park on 1,000 rai (160 hectares) near Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Products will be made and distributed at the estate under strict sustainability criteria, so that they can be exported to all markets, he stressed.

Natcha spent more than 10 years abroad before returning to Thailand to eventually set up a business and design her own products, even though her educational background attracted the attention of several well-known companies.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture and Design and completed a master’s degree in Industrial Design at the Academy of Art University, in San Francisco.

Before gaining a master’s, all students at the US university are assigned the task of designing an inspirational product or products for their thesis.

She decided to make her presentation on products for blind children because when she visited Thailand between semesters, she would go with her mother to donate goods at the Bangkok School for the Blind, as well as offering herself as a volunteer at the school.

“As a volunteer, I saw that blind children here do not participate with toys in the same way as others do, because they don’t know how to have fun playing with toys. I realised that toys did not stimulate their play, and that they should have play activities to help improve their motor skills, cognition and communication interaction. “At first, I planned to propose three product designs for my thesis, but I chose only one product – for blind children,” she explained.

Her professor in the US recommended that Natcha should focus on designing products involving the physical play of blind and partially sighted kids.

She therefore decided to return to Thailand again and spent a year with children at the Bangkok School for the Blind to learn about communications with and between such children.

“Outdoor playgrounds might not match their development, so I made a prototype of a lightweight block brick that was for an indoor playground. The base of the prototype is a square brick, as that shape offers a sense of security when it comes to touch. Children can then transform the block of bricks by using their imagination,” she said.

“I named the indoor playground brand and company BLIX POP, with BLIX derived from the word ‘brick’,” she added.

Her US teacher appreciated the BLIX POP prototype in her thesis and made recommendations on how to market the product and make it well known in the mass market.

“If I were an employee, my indoor-playground prototype would just be a thesis on paper, so I decided to use my professor’s advice to transform it into an actual product for children’s development, and especially for blind children,” Natcha said.

Last year, she initiated a “Can’t See Can Play” project on Facebook to raise funds of Bt500,000 to produce the first batch of 30 BLIX POP imaginative indoor playgrounds, with the objective of making them well-known in schools, and particularly in schools for the blind in Thailand.

The funds were raised within just two weeks of opening the Facebook page, well ahead of the target of achieving it within three months.

Natcha chose to promote BLIX POP via events and activities related to disabled persons, targeting her product among nursery schools and schools for the blind. Recently, she took part in the “Start-up Thailand Expo” to present BLIX POP to several tech-based start-ups.

“Participating in events gives me connections, and participating at the ‘Start-up Thailand Expo’ is just the beginning for BLIX POP in terms of knowing where the demand is for this product,” she said.

BLIX POP can in fact serve as both indoor furniture and indoor playground for young children in general, as well as for kids who are blind or severely visually impaired, she explained. BLIX POP will be distributed commercially soon, with Natcha targeting initial sales of 50 to 100 units.

After graduating from Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of architecture in 2004, Danupon started to learn how to produce home-made ice cream as a hobby. At that time, he worked as an interior designer for a private company.

“I recognised at that time that home-made ice cream could be a good business, as there were few competitors in the marketplace. Iberry was the only major player in the home-made ice-cream segment,” he said.

“I’m quite nationalistic and wish that Thai people [would support] Thai products. I reminded myself of the past when I was young and saw street carts selling coconut ice cream. I recognised that there were many people like me who would love to have street ice-cream carts. What I have to do is to raise this image to the upper-class level,” he said.

Danupon said the first “itim Lamoon” ice-cream kiosk opened in August 2014 at CentralPlaza shopping mall on Rama III Road in Bangkok, after more than a year of research and development to make its products different from rivals in the market, with the focus on taste and hygiene.

“There are many ice-cream products available in the lower-end market. However, few players are in the upper-class segment and there is room in this segment. However, we need to make ice cream that is familiar to individual consumers,” he said.

“Thai consumers can eat phad Thai, a traditional stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food and at casual local eateries in Thailand, every day. But they cannot eat spaghetti or Japanese foods on a daily basis,” he said.

Using its own investment, the company now has opened three itim Lamoon ice-cream kiosks, at CentralPlaza Rama III, Maharaj Pier and Mega Bangna. Meanwhile, two franchised outlets have also opened at Sathorn City and Crystal Market on Praditmanutham Road.

Danupon said he had tried to add emotional value to his ice-cream outlets at all touch points, such as the names of the menu items, flavours, toppings, and all the decoration items at the shops. Those elements would remind customers of when they were kids and enjoyed traditional coconut ice cream from street carts. This will help generate good feelings for customers when they visit the stores.

“My dream is to open itim Lamoon ice-cream outlets, whether kiosks or shops, at tourism destinations throughout the Kingdom, including Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hua Hin, Cha-am, Pattayaand Phuket. I [would] love to see itim Lamoon recognised by Thais as a cool brand,” Danupon said.

He said the company was in the process of requesting Food and Drug Administration and Good Manufacturing Practices certification so that the products can be exported to neighbouring markets, such as Malaysia.

“I’m negotiating with a potential joint-venture partner in Malaysia on the possibility of exporting ice cream or opening itim Lamoon outlets in Malaysia,” he said.

Danupon said he hoped that his ice-cream business would generate annual sales of Bt30 million within three years. Between 15 and 20 outlets will be opened during the period, of which 60 per cent will be franchised and the rest company-owned.

The company posted Bt8 million in sales last year.

The two friends launched the venture in February last year, foreseeing a great opportunity to go into business for themselves with little investment and low risk. They combined their love for animals and passion for designing to create lovely pet clothes to sell online.

Unlike other pet clothes, Petsionate’s designs feature a luxurious look. They also use special kinds of fabric such as silk and linen to make clothes that are uniquely lavish, while also ensuring pets’ comfort. Each of Petsionate’s creations is carefully handcrafted and original.

Chatyapha said she took great care designing and making the clothes as nowadays pet lovers like to dress them up and take them to parties, wedding ceremonies, and many other activities. Petsionate also designs and produces accessories for pet owners under the same concept.

The accessories include scarves, clutches and phone cases. All of these products are created to match the pet’s clothing collection, so the owners can enjoy using accessories that reflect the bond between them and their pets.

After more than a year in business, the company’s good designs are attracting the attention not only of Thai pet lovers, but also foreigners. Traders from several countries have contracted with the company as sales agents for its pet clothes in overseas markets.

Natphakan said that after a good response in the domestic market, the company aimed to penetrate overseas markets, focusing on Asean, mainly Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, and some countries in Europe such as France and Germany.

“Many pet lovers want to shop online and dress up their pets. We will always create new designs for |pet clothes, about two or three patterns every month, and change our collection to serve market demand,” she said. Petsionate now earns revenue of about Bt50,000-Bt60,000 per month from domestic orders. The company expects revenue of up to Bt100,000 a month soon as more foreigners order their products.

Prices of pet clothes start from Bt450.

Petsionate now has distribution channels through Facebook, Line, Instagram, and its own website:www.petsionate.com.

The company expects sales to increase by an average of 20 per cent a year from now on.

“Thais are living longer and Thailand has already become an ‘ageing’ country, but no one talks seriously about a second career after retirement. A second career is important for retirees who are able to work. I decided to found Ming Corporation by leveraging my experiences in the past to my second career,” said Anusorn Buranakanonda, CEO of Ming Corporation, operator of the Ming brand of essence of chicken drinks.

Essence of chicken drinks are a mass-market product with a total value of Bt8 billion a year, dominated by two major players in the Thai market.

Anusorn noticed, however, that as these major players were focused on consumers in the B+ and above segment, there were huge gaps for his company to offer essence of chicken to people in the B and C segments.

The economic slowdown has also opened up an opportunity for another brand – one that offers value for money, he said, adding that this was not only the case among Thai consumers, but also among people abroad seeking good value, especially in tough economic times.

Such a new brand can be compared to the success of the low-cost airlines, which now have higher cabin factors than premium airlines, he said.

As a mass-market product, distribution channels must also serve the masses, which is why Ming is being made available at leading supermarket and convenience-store chains.

These distribution channels also require ‘second brand’ products to offset the decline in sales from premium brands, he explained.

Ming essence of chicken drink retails for Bt45, against Bt55 for the established players’ products.

The company is currently talking with more modern trade and convenience-store businesses to bring Ming to their shelves.

However, access to funding is a barrier for the company’s expansion, as it is for other small businesses, because his company needs capital to increase its distribution channels and promote its products.

Ming Corporation presented its business plan to the Small and Medium Enterprise DevelopmentBank of Thailand (SME Bank), after the bank accepted the company under its venture-capital funding programme.

“We require funding of around Bt15 million-Bt20 million for this year and next, for expanding our distribution channels and promoting our products through online marketing,” Anusorn said. “The company needs to spend [to expand], as any small business needs to. We don’t have much money for promoting via above-the-line media at this stage. Once our products can be distributed nationwide, we will consider promotion using such media,” he added.

Ming essence of chicken drink is currently distributed in Bangkok and other major provinces, and its founder wants to establish a firm foundation before thinking about market expansion in other provinces, as well as in neighbouring countries.

Moreover, she is one of five young business-plan finalists in an awards competition run by the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank).

“I saw the amount of rubber waste from the process of producing bedding toppers at my family’s manufacturing business, and I thought to myself that the waste could be used to make something that was needed in the market,” said Yosita, who is still a student at Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School in Bangkok.

Inspired to take the idea further, she tested various potential end-uses for the waste rubber over a period of more than three months, and finally decided upon making rubber-foam pillows – as well as cushions – for health.

The waste rubber from the family bedding-topper business is recycled into grain latex foam, by cutting the rubber into small pieces, then mixing them together into a foam.

This results in material for a pillow that is good for one’s health, because 100 per cent natural latex foam conforms to the contours of the head, neck and spine for optimal orthopaedic support, she explained.

“Our first products were tested by members of the family, and my mother and father said they were better for them than normal pillows and cushions, so we decided to produce them for sale via my family’s distribution channel,” she said.

Meanwhile, she created her own brand – Mama Nata – for the product range. The brand name is taken from her mother’s name, Natakrita Ooyaree.

Yosita then wrote a business plan and submitted it to SME Bank for consideration under its “Young Business Plan Award” scheme, which commenced in the final quarter of last year.

She has since been named one of the five finalists under the programme, which means a further presentation will be made to the awards committee, before the overall winner is announced by the middle of the year.

Besides producing the business plan on her own, she plans to train more people living in the vicinity of her family manufacturing plant in the making of the Mama Nata pillows, she said. “We want to make our products as community products, creating more jobs and income for people living around our plant,” she added.

At present, she provides such employment to 10 families living close to the facility.

She also collaborates closely with the family rubber-bedding business in the distribution of her products via their own distribution channel.

Yosita’s business strategy has to date enabled her to sell an average of around Bt100,000 worth of her “smart” pillows and “smart” cushions domestically and abroad.

“The key to our success is the quality of our products, which meet our customers’ demand,” she said.

Currently, the company produces 300 cups of instant noodles per day, selling them for Bt45 per cup in souvenir shops for average income of Bt13,500 per day.

However, Ben Ben Food plans to distribute its products in modern trade outlets after an initial marketing success at CentralPlaza Ubonratchathani this year, said the company’s owner, Thanwarat Siriphantong.

“Now that we want to expand our market to the modern trade channel, we have to have enough production capacity to support it,” she said.

The investment budget will come from the company’s internal cash and a loan from the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank).

Thanwarat said that before producing instant Vietnamese noodles, her family produced moo yor processed pork under the brand Baan Moo Yor. Then she found out that Ubon Ratchathani University had successfully developed a way to produce instant Vietnamese noodles. This would appeal to lovers of Vietnamese noodles for when they travel.

“We asked the university if we could make this product to sell commercially. The university was OK with it and gave the production rights to |three companies in UbonRat-chathani province in the last quarter of last year,” she said.

After getting the licence, Ben Ben Food started production early this year and introduced the product at a food fair at CentralPlaza Ubonratchathani from February 26-28, selling Bt60,000 worth during the three-day event.

“Seeing strong demand for our product, we began distributing it in souvenir shops in Ubon Ratchathani province. We were able to sell an average of 300 cups a day, at Bt45 per cup,” Thanwarat said.

Meanwhile, the demand for instant Vietnamese noodles has continued to show strong growth, especially noodles with chicken. This inspired Thanwarat to invest in to expanding the company’s production capacity for distribution nationwide, with the potential to export the product as well.

The company’s owner Naricha Kulnanunth said in an interview with The Nation that it was negotiating with SME Bank on the plan, under which the bank would hold a 45-per-cent stake in the JV. The aim is to expand Fruit House’s production capacity from 350 tonnes a year to 1,000 tonnes within three years. The company needs Bt30 million in funding to expand its production capacity.

“We do not want a heavy debt burden, so we have written up our business plan and asked for SME Bank to hold up to a 45-per-cent stake in our company. This would provide enough capital to support our business expansion while keeping our debts low,” said Naricha, 55. Naricha and her husband Jirateep Patamayothin established Fruit House (Thailand) Co in 2001 to market dried fruits such as strawberry, pineapple, and longan that maintained their natural of colour and flavour.

She said it took her more than three years to set up the company. Once she did so, the company presented its products at a fair held by Chiang Mai University in 2001. They received positive feedback and sold out, netting about Bt100,000.

After the fair, she also sold the company’s products at coffee houses and food shops, again getting positive feedback and generating revenue of between Bt100,000 and Bt200,000 per month.

The management of Chiang Rai International Airport then asked Fruit House to open a shop at the airport.

“Our target customers are tourists, both locals and foreigners. As a result, we decided to open our first shop at Chiang Rai International Airport under the brand Baan Pollamai, which means Fruit House,” she said.

After opening the shop, the company began to export its products when some of its customers from mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia expressed interest.

The company also began distributing its products at The Emporium, Siam Paragon, and the EmQuartier after their operators saw the Fruit House display at the Thailand International Food Exhibition (THAIFEX) in 2003.

After this initial success, the company now produces 350 tonnes of dry fruits a year, half for export.

“The key to our business success is the quality of our products, which promote themselves through our customers by word of mouth. We select all of the products ourselves and also have quality control throughout the process from our manufacturing plant to delivery to our customers,” Naricha said.