Goat milk in Thailand is viewed as a niche category, with marginal value sales compared to cow’s milk and soy milk. Nonetheless, it posted current value growth of 17% in 2013, the strongest performance in the wider drinking milk products category. This can be attributed to a superior taste and claims of immune system benefits.
The rise in cost of raw materials alongside the hike in minimum wage drove brand players to raise the prices of their drinking milk products in 2012 and 2013. Players eyed the launch of premium drinking milk products to protect their margins given the limited scope to raise prices of standard drinking milk products due to stiff competition.
In Thailand, the government continued to offer a free milk scheme to students to solve the oversupply of milk products from Thai agriculturists and to support nutrition for students in over 40,000 schools nationwide. The impact of the free milk scheme on retail sales of drinking milk products was deemed considerable in terms of volume. However, the Office of Agricultural Economics in Thailand revealed that per capita consumption of drinking milk in Thailand is still below the average of 60 litres in ASEAN countries. In other words, demand for packaged drinking milk products can be spurred further by the joint efforts of players to encourage an increase in consumption over the forecast period.