Agriculture Business In Thailand

[DavidF85]

hello

i am interested in importing organic agriculture products to the U.S.

and would like to find someone knowledgeable in this field, particularly farmers

or someone who knows farmers.

post a reply with your e-mail address or send me a message.

[soundman]

Moved to farming forum.

Contact member by PM.

[Maizefarmer]

I see paper work paper work paper work .................

Piles and piles of paper work.

If you have the tenacity and determination to do it by the container load, go through all the FDA procedures, you may just be able to hack it. It's a lot of work.

Would this be fresh food products all processed food prdoucts? - the later been a lot easier to import.

It really is all about exactly what you want to send across to the USA and the quantities.

[DavidF85]

Processed, Rice imparticular

I see paper work paper work paper work .................

Piles and piles of paper work.

If you have the tenacity and determination to do it by the container load, go through all the FDA procedures, you may just be able to hack it. It's a lot of work.

Would this be fresh food products all processed food prdoucts? - the later been a lot easier to import.

It really is all about exactly what you want to send across to the USA and the quantities.

[Maizefarmer]

Orgainc rice - quantities?

Why not - go for it: there is a well established procedure for rice from Thailand to the US. I though you had fruit or something like meat in mind.

It is though a madly competive business, and unless you had something really unique that was well presented and marketed, you're gowing to come up against all the USA based organic and jasmin rice producers - and their costs. USA producers some very very high qulity rice (organic and otherwise) - and at prices that I think would be hard to match with a similar quality product from South East Asia.

Do have you have something unique in mind - and different from what is already in the USA.

Where would you package, and what sorts of qauntities?

[DavidF85]

Well I have a very cool idea for a brand,

I have a good design and am working on the logo for it which is what i see will be different than anyone else.

I will be very particular about the quality of the farming process, which is what I care about most.

And also, there are many rice brands... but not all are organic.

I specifically wanted Jasmine rice

but my only problem is where to find the farmers.

I have contacted a few through this board but nothing seemed to work out,

crops will not be ready for some time, etc.

Do you live in Thailand?

Orgainc rice - quantities?

Why not - go for it: there is a well established procedure for rice from Thailand to the US. I though you had fruit or something like meat in mind.

It is though a madly competive business, and unless you had something really unique that was well presented and marketed, you're gowing to come up against all the USA based organic and jasmin rice producers - and their costs. USA producers some very very high qulity rice (organic and otherwise) - and at prices that I think would be hard to match with a similar quality product from South East Asia.

Do have you have something unique in mind - and different from what is already in the USA.

Where would you package, and what sorts of qauntities?

[DavidF85]

I would probably package 16 and 32 oz packages

Orgainc rice - quantities?

Why not - go for it: there is a well established procedure for rice from Thailand to the US. I though you had fruit or something like meat in mind.

It is though a madly competive business, and unless you had something really unique that was well presented and marketed, you're gowing to come up against all the USA based organic and jasmin rice producers - and their costs. USA producers some very very high qulity rice (organic and otherwise) - and at prices that I think would be hard to match with a similar quality product from South East Asia.

Do have you have something unique in mind - and different from what is already in the USA.

Where would you package, and what sorts of qauntities?

[JungleBiker]

I specifically wanted Jasmine rice

but my only problem is where to find the farmers.

Hi David,

Although dated, you might find the attached document helpful (e.g. where to find farmers growing organic Jasmine (Hom Mali rice).

Also the article below from the Bangkok Post, 16 Jan 2006 may be interesting.

By the way, if you're looking for something different I heard there are some varieties of Jasmine rice (at least here in Laos) that have black/purple grains.

JB.

Home-delivered organic quality a new channel for Capital Rice

WALAILAK KEERATIPIPATPONG

Prompt delivery to customers could be an effective distribution channel for products that rely heavily on niche markets such as organic food, given the high cost of getting them onto supermarket shelves.

"Excessive shelf-entrance fees and limited retail space for healthy food today prompted us to launch a home-delivery project," said Wanlop Pichpongsa, assistant managing director of Capital Rice Co, Thailand's leading rice exporter.

The cost of home delivery, he said, would be offset by the money saved on retail space and store owners' margins.

The company's main product line is organic Hom Mali rice, produced from 5,000 rai of contracted farms in Phayao and Chiang Rai provinces. Other organic products include honey, cane sugar and roasted coffee. Home delivery also covers organic products from other companies such as the Healthy Mate brand.

Mr Wanlop said the company's local sales of organic Hom Mali rice remained small at only 300 tonnes a year, dwarfed by the one million tonnes that Capital Rice exports.

He acknowledged that price was a barrier, as consumers have to pay more for products cultivated without using chemical fertilisers at farms that have not reached economies of scale.

Normally, the company pays farmers a premium of 10% to 15% over regular Hom Mali prices and the retail price is about 30% higher than for other rice grades.

Surachai Jongpipatchai, general manager of subsidiary Capital Trading, said home delivery to customers in Bangkok and vicinity was free for orders worth more than 400 baht. The minimum order is 350 baht with a 50-baht delivery charge

The company held a soft launch of the service last year and has just 80 regular customers so far, but Mr Surachai expects the number to rise as promotion is stepped up this year.

More organic products including vegetables will be added once the company is satisfied that it can maintain freshness.

The break-even point for the business is to have 600 regular home-delivery members.

Capital Rice Trading is a unit of Capital Rice Co, the rice export arm of the agricultural group STC.

Last year, Capital was Thailand's top rice exporters with 1.05 million tonnes or 14% of the total, followed by President Agri Trading Co at 757,000 tonnes or 10%.

Thailand's rice exports in 2005 totalled 7.27 million tonnes, down from about 10 million the year before.

Mr Wanlop said export competition would be intense this year due to a smaller world rice trade volume. He foresees price wars as many countries will buy less since they have ample production at home.

According to the Kasikorn Research Center, world rice trade volume this year would reach 25.9 million tonnes, against 27 million last year. Demand is expected to fall significantly from major importing countries including the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria and Russia.

organic_rice_Thailand_case_study.doc