Ms. Kanokkan Mathuraporn, Managing Director, Singha Foods Industries (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

“Dubai Chocolate” is too hot to resist, 7 pieces per day is not enough to sell, supporting sales throughout the year, “April Bakery” meets the target of 20% growth, income of 630 million baht, 68 is still hot, expecting to continue selling until the middle of the year, preparing “Dubai Chocolate” version 2 to be put on the shelf, continuing to expand 10 rai of cocoa plantation, creating brand story, ready to go international, invading America, Singapore, China, aiming for “70 billion” income in XNUMX

March 12, 68 – Ms. Kanokkan Mathuraporn, Managing Director Singha Foods Industries (Thailand) Co., Ltd. or April Bakery Brand revealed that

“April Bakery” has been selling pastries and bakery products in 7-11 for over 5 years. In 2567, it must be admitted that at the beginning of the year, consumers were cautious about spending, causing “April Bakery”’s sales to not meet the set target.

But at the end of the year “Dubai Chocolate” It went viral on social media. The company therefore developed Dubai Chocolate at a price of 39 baht to be sold in 7-11. The executives admit that the difficulty is in making a delicious taste at a price of 39 baht because if the price is set higher than this, it will make “It’s hard to sell.” The result was a good response that helped push sales for the whole year 2567 to meet the target and there were not enough products to meet demand.

“We created the Dubai chocolate recipe ourselves based on social media trends and offered it for sale at 7-11. When L’Once came out, we were hit with almost 100% negative feedback. The chocolate tasted bad and couldn’t compete with the more expensive ones. But it turned out that people followed it even more and sales increased. Up until now, sales haven’t dropped. We expect that at least by the middle of the year, we will still be able to make sales. But we have already planned other products for Dubai Chocolate.”

Normally, “April Bakery” supplies 7-11 pieces of products to 50,000-70,000 per day, but now it has increased to 180,000 pieces per day including all SKUs and Dubai chocolate alone, about 70,000 pieces per day. While 7-11 wants to supply up to 260,000 pieces per day, the company’s production capacity is still not enough even though it has increased production staff from 500 to 1,200 people at present.

In addition, in 2567, the company has invested approximately 50 million baht in land and additional factories, excluding a 30 million baht factory extension, which will allow the company to expand its production capacity to 300,000 pieces per day, as well as investing almost 20 million baht in machinery specifically for Dubai chocolate production.

“Every year we set a growth target of no less than 10-20%. Last year, we were worried that we would not reach the target because the sales were not much different from 66. But when Dubai Chocolate came in in December, it allowed us to grow to the amount we wanted. Last year, we closed with 630 million baht in revenue, a 20% increase.”

Currently, April Bakery's products are divided into: Freshly baked pies in front of the shop Bakery supplies to coffee shops Over 100 branches and Bakery supplies to 7-11 Over 14,000 branches nationwide, with 7-11 still accounting for over 80% of revenue, 15% in stores, and 5% through other channels.

“We have about 7 SKUs available at 11-18, with our current hero products being Dubai Chocolate, Salted Egg Lava Pie, which have been selling well for the 4th year, and lastly, the Smash Cake, which sold very well during the past Valentine’s Day, peaking at 4-5 pieces per day. Every year, we launch about 7 new products at 11-24.”

In addition, last year, the company also had roadshows in many countries including Vietnam, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore, enabling the company to expand its sales line to Vietnam through AEON, e-Mart, Big C and Cambodia through master franchises.

For the 2568 goal, the executive continued, “We want to see the cake go viral in America. We want to sell our products at Costco in the form of Frozen. The first ones to be imported should be Dubai Chocolate and the new flavor of Pia that will be launched in 7-11 soon because America bans the import of pork and eggs. But our products include pork, eggs and meat. And within 3 years, we want to expand the market to Singapore and China.”

Meanwhile, revenue growth in 2568 is expected to be around 20% and revenue is expected to exceed 1,000 billion baht in 2570.

“We set a target of 70 billion in 90, but now we can make sales of XNUMX million baht per month. And if we can maintain monthly income at this level, even though Dubai chocolate sales may drop in the future, we will have to find other fashion products to supplement it, and we cannot be slow. We have to accept that right now the main driver is all fashion menus, which has a risk that the products will stop being popular.

But once we step in, we have to keep running the fashion trend. We can’t stop because if we just keep selling the main product or the spring rolls, the sales won’t grow this much. But 7-11 still wants us to focus on the spring rolls because they think we’re good at it and there’s no one else competing in the spring rolls trend. But the fashion menu is also a money maker for us, so we have to develop both of them together to keep the sales at this level every month. We might reach a billion this year.”

However, the challenge now is the price of raw materials in particular. "chocolate" This year, the price has increased by 400%. However, the company has managed the raw materials by ordering large lots in advance and depositing the raw materials for the whole year, which allows it to still manage sales and costs.

“But if the chocolates that were deposited run out, we may have to talk to 7-11 to reduce the size. But we will try not to increase the price because we have already increased the price of other products from 39 baht to 41-42 baht, which has significantly reduced sales. We have also invested more than 10 million baht to buy 10 rai of land in Chiang Mai to plant a cocoa plantation, and now we have planted 1,000 seedlings.

When we entered the chocolate market, we didn’t want people to know April Bakery and then forget about it when the Dubai chocolate craze died down. We wanted to have a hero product that was another chocolate. The first batch of cocoa should start to be produced towards the end of this year, but it is not yet available for use in the production line.

Because the investment goal is that we want to create a brand story, from cocoa farming, chocolate shops, to chocolate menus, so that we can continue to play or promote chocolate menus, and in the future, we may become experts in selling chocolate.”

Reference website : moneyandbanking.co.th

“April Bakery”, 7-11 bakery supply, receives sales target for 67 due to “Dubai Chocolate”