Growth of Food Business in Thailand in the Post-pandemic Era

In the aftermath of Covid-19, the Thai food industry has witnessed a significant rise in the market. Government has hopes with the sector.

FREMONT, CA: Thai Ministry of Industry (MOI), in a report detailed the local food industry's performance for the first seven months. It stated that the industry had outgrown all the challenges posed by Covid-19, precisely in food exports and food manufacturing.  According to the MOI, the Thai food industry is recovering. with great promise after the setback from last year.

The recent implementation of Bubble and seal measures by the government instructs factory workers to work at or only travel between dormitories and workplaces. As a result of such safety measures the food manufacturing industry has grown by 2.9%percent. According to MPI, the food manufacturing realm is predicted to grow by 4.5 through 2022. Besides food manufacturing, food exports have witnessed a rise in the first seven months of 2021. Thailand's food export value reached THB622.7 billion ($18.6 billion) during that period, with an increase of 4.5 percent year-on-year.

MOI-affiliated organization National Food Institute of Thailand (NFI) study has revealed that the next year would show much promise for the food export industry due to the opening of international borders.

COVID-19 remains a concern

However, the ministry has cautioned local food companies to be wary of risk factors that might impair food production and exports for the remainder of the year, especially with various variants of COVID-19. The viral mutation as well as the rising rates and rising freight costs may force many importing nations to tighten pandemic control efforts, slowing product demand. The virus' mutation would impact industrial capacity and product delivery, MOI said.

To overcome the crisis and preserve industrial activity for food production and exports, firms need to adopt tight dormitory monitoring, be proactive with screening measures, and customize the Bubble and Seal procedures to fit their size.