Thailand's Food Industry: Food Market Exchange - B2B e-marketplace for the food industry

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Thailand's Food Industry

But does small mean unimportant? Consider the records that Thailand currently holds, all collected within two decades of growth :

* One of the few net producers in the world for a wide range of agricultural and fishery products
* Second most significant food exporter in Asia, next to China
* The number one Asian exporter of processed food
* World's top exporter of frozen shrimps
* Largest exporter in the world of canned pineapples, pineapple juice and concentrates
* World's leading exporter of frozen chicken
* Second largest exporter of all types of seafood
* Most significant manufacturing country for canned tuna
* One of the top five global exporters for rice and sugar
* Main exporter of baby corn and tropical fruits to various parts of the globe

Consider, too, the resilience of the industry. The agriculture and agro-industrial sectors not only survived the baht float but came out the stronger for it .Food exports, both raw and processed continue to bring in significant revenue for Thailand and reach numerous countries globally . Agriculture's GDP registered positive change in 1999, one of the few sectors of the economy to do so.Because of an amazing 29% increase in agricultural exports during the first quarter of 2000,Thailand's Ministry of Commerce revised its predictions from 6% to 12% export growth for the country for this year. In short, Thai food companies are perceived as the standard-bearers for the march out of the economic recession.

Top10 Importing Countries of Agro-Industrial
Products from Thailand in 1999

Top10 Importing Countries of Agricultural
Products from Thailand in 1998

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

Source : National Economic & Social Development Board

sector (%change)	1996	1997	1998
Total	4598288	4675463	4608387
Agriculture	353837	363111	408436
	10.6	2.6	12.5
Fishing	87800	91941	106575
	5.7	4.7	15.9
Manufacturing	1371474	1458480	1479479
	10.5	6.3	1.4
Construction	340959	283438	189023
	12.1	-16.9	-33.3
Hotels/Rest	247739	245855	249283
	12.6	-0.8	1.4
Finance	330295	328999	203248
	11.	-0.4	-38.2
Real Estate	152180	153514	143799
	8.2	-0.9	-6.3
Education	147507	159533	181097
	7.9	8.2	13.5

unit : billion baht

THAILAND'S FOOD COMPANIES

An Overview

Food Factories	Total 6,937
Small	946
Medium	1,234
Large	4,757

Beverage Factories	Total 365
Small	122
Medium	50
Large	193

These do not include cottage industries

49 food companies are publicly listed on the SET of which

25 are	under Agribusiness
22	Food & Beverages
2	Rehabilitation

FOOD SERVICES covers restaurants, fast food franchises hospital, schools, catering, street stalls estimates of these are close to 150,000 establishments

FOOD RETAILERS pertains to groceries, supermarkets, wholesalers, price clubs

FOOD MARKETERS refer to importers and distributors

AUXILIARY COMPANIES include manufactures of packaging, machinery, ingredients and service providesrs

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