Carabao partners with Chelsea
Energy drink’s logo to appear on training kit
Thai energy drink maker Carabao Group Plc (CBG) expects its £30-million principal partnership with England’s Chelsea Football Club to help Carabao become a global brand and increase export sales to 50% of the total by 2018.
The latest move comes after successful business ventures in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Carabao has set its sights on gaining global market share through a tie-in with Chelsea FC, which has more than 500 million fans worldwide, said chairman Sathien Sethasit.
Under the three-year partnership deal starting from the 2016 season, the Carabao logo will appear on Chelsea training shirts worn by players and managers.
The Thai energy drink’s logo will also be seen in the English Premier League club’s interview backdrops, with parity shown to the other principal partners, Adidas and Yokohama.
In addition, the deal includes partnership branding on water bottles, inside the player’s tunnel, on dugout seats and so on.
“We hope our partnership with Chelsea will help our brand grow in Europe and pave the way to go to China, which has a lot of football fans,” Mr Sathien said.
In July, SET-listed Carabao secured a presence in the European market as a jersey sponsor for Reading FC, which is owned by a group of Thai business people led by Khunying Sasima Srivikorn.
Carabao’s partnership with world-class football teams in England follows in the footsteps of leading Thai beer brands Singha and Chang, which have sponsored many EPL teams.
Chang is a jersey sponsor for Everton, while Singha is a global partner of Manchester United and Chelsea.
Carabao expects the deal with Chelsea to drive the export share of revenue to 50% by 2018, up from 30% last year.
This year the group expects revenue of close to 8 billion baht, up from 7.57 billion baht in 2014, when it posted a net profit of 913 million baht.
Domestic sales are tipped for flat growth because of Thailand’s economic downturn, with exports to rise by up to 6%.
Thailand’s energy drink market is worth 35 billion baht. Carabao is No.2 with a 24% market share, trailing M150.
The company has set a goal to generate 210 billion baht in revenue in 2018.
To achieve the goal, the key strategy is scouring the global market to reach a wider range of customers. Since revenue in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam continues to grow steadily, the next step is to expose the Carabao brand globally.
Carabao’s aim is to enter new markets such as Britain, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Indonesia and China.
“Since the US$60-billion global energy drink market continues to grow rapidly year by year, our target is to gain a 10% market share within three to five years,” Mr Sathien said.
Leading global energy drink brands include Red Bull and Monster.
To support future overseas growth, Carabao will spend 500-600 million baht to double production capacity to 700 million cans a year and explore the possibility of opening a factory in Belgium.
The company’s main factory is in Samut Prakan’s Bang Bo district. Carabao also owns a glass container factory in Chachoengsao province.
CBG shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 36.50 baht, down 50 satang, in trade worth 12.3 million baht.