Page 33 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL2

Last month was a busy time for the Oishi Group, best known for its green tea products and Japanese-style a la carte and buffet restaurants. One of its Shabushi restaurants opened in Yangon in July, the first of 10 branches the group plans to open in ASEAN countries.“It is too early to judge the perfor- mance or praise the new restaurant,” said Marut Buranasetkul, president and CEO of Oishi Group. Mr Marut prefers to wait a month or two before making an assessment, but the initial response has been very encouraging. “We have a full house every day. People queue up and wait. That’s quite surprising because the price of 500 baht per head is quite high [compared to the cost of living in Myanmar].“All I can say at the moment is we are a pioneer of Japanese-style food in Myanmar and we’re successful at setting a high standard for our products and service.”Mr Marut was promoted to head of the Oishi Group in August last year. One of his given tasks was to expand into Southeast Asia. For Mr Marut, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will be a large market with great diversity and many business opportunities. He classifies this market into three groups.The first is the venture market, which comprises Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, where the company will sell products but not make other investments. “We won’t invest in those markets, at least not for now,” he said. “Consumers’ income and local laws need to develop more.”The second group is the investment market, comprising Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, where Oishi has already invested in projects, created partnerships with local companies and established marketing and distribution channels.The third group comprises the“All I can say at the moment is we are a pioneer of Japanese-style food in Myanmar and we’re successful at setting a high standard for our products and service.”Philippines and Indonesia. “The market size of this group is large, with big purchasing power. But it’s a highly competitive market. In order to compete, investors there need to form alliances and network with local operators.”Of the AEC countries, Myanmar gets special attention. “Indeed, I would like to put Myanmar in type two [the investment market],” he said. “Despite the low per capita income at the moment, the pace of development and growth there will be very fast.”Vietnam is also a golden opportu- nity for green tea products because the Vietnamese are already fond of drinking green teas, even more so than carbonated soft drinks.Mr Marut cautions that doing business in the region is not without risks. “The AEC is a huge market. But it is not a unified market and investors must understand local differences in each country. Consumers in north Vietnam are not the same as those in the south. Islamic countries demand halal products and other countries havedifferent laws and business regulations that investors need to understand.”Apart from expanding Oishi products across the AEC, Mr Marut has a big challenge at home: establish- ing Oishi products, especially green teas, as market leaders.“In the past few years, the Oishi brand has not been as strong as it used to be. The name of our product isn’t on top of consumers’ thoughts like before. And if your product doesn’t stick in the mind, there’s a chance you’ll lose your customers to other products. So I’ve made it a priority to strengthen the brand identity of Oishi and make it prominent again.”The history of competition between Tan Passakornnatee, the original founder of Oishi Group, and ThaiBev has become a case study in brand marketing.Mr Tan generated much talk and some criticism when he left Oishi Group in 2011, three years after selling the brand to ThaiBev. Mr Tan, known for his media savvy and marketing prowess, subsequentlyElite+ 31