1.2 Thai Market Overview
Baby corn for domestic and foreign consumption has become a significant contributor to the Thai economy. Baby corn fresh, frozen and canned becomes more and more popular both in Thailand and abroad. Also, there are few pests to attack the plant. Moreover, parts of baby corn trees after harvest can be used as animal feed, especially for meat and milk cows.
In the global trade, Thailand is estimated to account for 80 percent of the world trade volume of baby corn. During 2002-2004, Thailand exported fresh baby corn to approximately 30 countries, and preserved baby corn products to almost 100 countries. Thailand dominates the world baby corn trade with both fresh and canned products, thus having earned about 1,700 million Baht each year (Table 1). Among the two products, canned baby corn was exported at a higher volume than fresh baby corn during the last three years. Thailand manufactures canned baby corn products in various package sizes, but a 1.5-kilogram can size conforms to industry standards, and is prevalently popular among food processors and the food-service industry. As for fresh baby corn markets, Malaysia is the biggest importing countries with the share of around 51% of the export volume.