Bottled coffee beverage claims a stake in Lao market
Bottled coffee beverage claims a stake in Lao market
The future is looking bright for the maker of a bottled coffee beverage sold under the brand name Dang Derm.
Ms Kesone Sithavisouk came up with the idea of premixing coffee with milk and sugar and selling it in plastic bottles, making coffee drinking a straightforward experience for on-the-go consumers and hosts of private parties.
All that is needed is for the bottles to be stored in a refrigerator and they are ready to drink.
Ms Kesone was spotted selling the bottled beverage at the That Luang festival this week. She is confident that her product has a bright future and sees plenty of growth opportunities among local consumers.
She launched the product in March this year, since when production increased from 100 to 300 bottles a day, and then to 500 bottles. She envisages that next year she will be producing 1,000 bottles a day.
Ms Kesone said she thought the coffee would prove particularly popular with people wanting to serve drinks to merit makers visiting their homes, and would also be appreciated by those who think it is important to consume Lao products.
The beverage contains no preservatives, a fact which has gone down well among consumers who prefer healthy products.
While there are already plenty of coffee products available in Laos, from both local and foreign sources, Ms Kesone thinks she can tap into a different niche as she believes it will go down well as a soft drink for people gathering to make merit, as well as those looking for a Lao-made instant coffee drink.
She plans to improve the product so that it has a longer shelf life than its present 10 days.
“I have more work to do to improve it sufficiently to receive certification from the Ministry of Health’s Food and Drug Department and of course approval under the One District, One Product scheme will open up the market further,” she said.
Ms Kesone said competition was bound to hot up and she would have to invest more to promote the product when Laos joins the Asean Economic Community, as the market will open up to the whole region.
She has plans to improve the packaging by putting the beverage in cans rather than plastic bottles, and to make the labeling more eye-catching. But for now she believes that the see-through bottles appeal to purchasers, who like to view the beverage close up.
Ms Kesone said the quality of Lao coffee is becoming increasingly recognised and accepted worldwide because of its rich flavour and organic production methods.
She is now intent on using Lao coffee and does not plan to buy imports, saying the local product is a strong competitor on the domestic and overseas markets and this situation should continue beyond regional economic integration in 2015.
vientiane times
