‘Moving with the times’: TipCo cites rising wellness trends as catalyst for its category and beverage innovations
TipCo is best known for its not-from-concentrate (NFC) fruit juice business, with presence in over 35 countries and close to 100 SKUs in its portfolio.
The firm has also expanded its horizons into the mineral water, processed fruits and herbal extract businesses, citing growing demand for health and wellness options in both Thailand and the wider Asia Pacific region as a major catalyst for this decision.
“Our juices have always had a premium, healthier positioning as NFC products, and with the rise in demand for healthier products we of course first focused on innovating within this area,” TipCo COO Leuchar Pisitthakarn told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“So we now have a the TipCo Less Sweet range of juices which contain no sugar and no added sweeteners and this range has three variants which are apple, orange and pineapple.
“In addition to these, we also worked from the angle of portion control for healthier consumption, which led to the creation of single-serve, 180ml to 200ml boxes for some of our products.
“This health and wellness trend really kicked off during the pandemic, but as of late we are seeing the behaviour and purchasing drivers really focus even more strongly surrounding this, and it has become clear that just innovating within the juice category is not enough, so we have to move with the times to meet consumer needs.”
TipCo also manufactures the Aura brand of spring water which is sourced locally from two locations.
“Aura comes from cold spring water 2,700 feet beneath a mountain in Chiang Mai; as well as mineral water from Phetchabun which is often considered artisanal water due to its high-quality mineral content,” he said.
“But water is, of course, considered an everyday necessity and not exactly a product that can boost or supplement health, so we decided to look more closely into the herbal extracts category to see if this was a good option.”
TipCo already had an existing herbal extracts business but momentum only picked up during the pandemic. The firm rode this health and wellness wave to establish what is now one of the largest herbal extraction facilities in Thailand.
“Thailand has a long history of using various herbs and plants for wellness, and our extraction process is making these much more accessible to both the local market and overseas consumers,” he added.
“Some of our most popular herbal products include curcumin, garlic, andrographolide, plaunoi, black and white ginger and amla.
“All of these are well-known for particular health benefits, such as andrographolide which became very popular during the pandemic as it has anti-viral properties and studies show it can kill the virus in four to five days; whereas amla is known to function similarly to vitamin C.”
From Thailand to the world
Pisitthakarn also highlighted that with export markets becoming an increasingly important focus for the firm, it has also had to work on meeting many more differing demands.
“We have been a Thai company making products for Thai consumers for many years, and Thai products have generally been very well-received and applicable in many international markets,” he said.
“That said, we are well aware that there are many different types of consumers in many different markets that have different tastes, so it is important for us to understand and study each individual to develop products accordingly.
“The main concern for us is to give consumers many good and plausible options as well as to be flexible enough when considering their needs, as this is the key to stepping into and winning over each market.”
