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Siam Winery Looks to Harvest Tourists: Wine School to Also Help Broaden Market

Posted on: Monday, 6 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Sujintana Hemtasilpa, Bangkok Post, Thailand

Feb. 6--Siam Winery, one of the country's leading wine producers, is turning one of its three vineyards into an eco-tourism destination to stimulate demand for the company's wine.

At the same time, it is also planning to set up a wine school in Bangkok to broaden the appreciation of Thai wine among foreign and local consumers and caterers.

The Thai wine market is still quite small, according to Kim Wachtveitl, director of business development at Siam Winery Trading Plus Co. He estimates Thai winemakers produce between 800,000 and 900,000 bottles a year, and not all of them are sold.

At the same time, Customs Department statistics show that Thailand imports between 12 million and 14 million litres of foreign wine each year.

The visitor centre, planned for the company's Khork Chang Vineyard in Hua Hin, and the wine school are expected to help increase domestic demand for Thai-made wine.

According to Mr Wachtveitl, Siam Winery sold 305,000 out of the 350,000 bottles of Chatemp and Monsoon Valley wines it produced last year. It exports 80 percent and distributes the rest locally through luxury hotels, restaurants and retail stores.

The company runs three vineyards: the Floating Vineyards, located 40 kilometres southwest of Bangkok between the Tha Chin and Mae Klong rivers; Pak Chong Hills in Nakhon Ratchasima; and Khork Chang in Hua Hin.

The company began developing Khork Chang in 2004. At present, 150 out of the 1,000 rai set aside for the vineyard have been developed. It plans to develop at a rate of 90 rai a year, said Mr Wachtveitl.

The visitor centre, with a restaurant and a winery building, is expected to open by the end of 2007.

Once the centre is operational, Mr Wachtveitl expects the company's domestic sales to double from 70,000 bottles in 2007 to 140,000 bottles in 2008.

For the wine school, the company is in talks with prospective partners from the United Kingdom who specialise in wine appreciation training.

Advertising its wine as the best choice to accompany Thai food, Monsoon Valley has made its way into five-star hotels such as The Oriental and Four Seasons, as well as in deluxe restaurants such as the Blue Elephant.

Siam Winery accounted for 85 percent of all Thai wine served in luxury hotels and restaurants in the country, he said.

Overseas, Siam Winery distributes its wine through about 700 Thai restaurants. Next year, it plans to increase the total by 800, of which 500 would be Thai and the rest non-Thai. It now exports to 12 countries, including the United Kingdom which is a key market.

To expand its customer base, the company has also changed its point-of-sale slogan for Monsoon Valley wine from "The Wine for Thai food" to "The Wine for Spicy Food" to attract other Asian food caterers besides Thai restaurants.

"Indian and Vietnamese restaurants are keen to order our wine. But in the past they've been reluctant to do so because our tagline was 'The Wine for Thai Food'," Mr Wachtveitl said.

The company expects this year's domestic sales to increase by 33 percent and exports to grow by 22 percent.

Local retail prices of Siam Winery products range from 365 to 430 baht a bottle.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Bangkok Post, Thailand

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Source: Bangkok Post

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