Dubai Chocolate Hits 'April Bakery' Accelerates Production, Pushing Sales to 1,000 Million
Dubai Chocolate Hits 'April Bakery' Accelerates Production of 70,000 Pieces per Day, Ready to Study Entering the US Market, Not Afraid of High Costs, Turning to Growing Its Own Chocolate, in Order to Push Sales to 1,000 Million by 2027
Ms. Kanokkan Mathuraporn, President and CEO of Singha Foods Industries (Thailand) Co., Ltd., or known as the brand "April Bakery", said that the overall bakery market in Thailand is worth around 60 billion baht, with the main supporting factor being the popularity of consumers consuming desserts, which help increase energy and refreshment.
However, the factor that hinders the growth of the business is the rising cost of raw materials, such as the price of sugar and chocolate, which has increased by 400%, as well as the minimum wage increase to 400 baht.
Ms. Kanokkan Mathuraphon
In 2024, April Bakery has been working with 7-Eleven convenience stores for 5 years. At the beginning of the year, sales decreased due to lower consumer purchasing power. However, sales recovered towards the end of the year due to the launch of a new product, "Dubai Chocolate" in December.
Normally, the company produces around 50,000-70,000 pieces of products for 7-Eleven per day. However, when Dubai Chocolate became a trend on social media, 7-Eleven increased its demand for the product to 260,000 pieces per day. However, the company was only able to produce 70,000 pieces of Dubai Chocolate per day, resulting in the company's total sales of almost 700 million baht, an increase of 11%.
April Bakery currently has 1,400 branches nationwide, with 80% of sales through 7-Eleven, 15% through its own stores, and 5% online. The company has 1,200 employees and invested 50 million baht in a new factory, 20 million baht in machinery, and 30 million baht in factory extensions last year.
The company delivers 18 SKUs of snacks to 7-Eleven, with the most popular product being Dubai Chocolate, ranked second, Salted Egg Pia Lava, and smashed cake.
For the 2025 business plan, the company is studying opportunities to distribute products in Costco department stores in the United States, a major retailer in the United States known for selling quality products at reasonable prices. Expanding the market to Costco will help increase consumer access in the US market and strengthen the April Bakery brand internationally.
The company has currently grown and expanded its branches to over 40 branches nationwide, such as in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. It aims to continuously grow by 20% per year and expects to generate over 1 billion baht in revenue by 2027.
In addition, it has set up booths to introduce products at various trade fairs and is preparing to export frozen mooncakes to test markets abroad, such as Singapore and Hong Kong. It is also preparing to develop products to be certified by Halal, ISO, and BRC (The British Retail Consortium).
Or the UK Retailers Association, which is a food safety standard that comes from the grouping of large retail organizations to reach new customer groups more.
This year's strategy will focus on capturing fashionable products and marketing both online and offline. The company currently has 9 factories in total on an area of 4 rai. If the 9th factory is completed, it will be able to produce 300,000 pieces of candy per day.
If the popularity of Dubai chocolate declines, the company plans to push other chocolate products. In addition, the price of chocolate has increased by 400%. The company has started growing its own cocoa on an area of 10 rai in Chiang Mai Province to create sustainability and a story for the product. Dubai Chocolate The company aims to be a chocolate expert in the future.
Reference website : www.thansettakij.com