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May 09, 2008 (Bangkok Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Thai Asia Pacific Brewery Co (TAPB), the brewer of Heineken beer, is hoping that its low-cost Cheers beer will have cheerful sales, doubling to 600 million baht over the next two years.

However, the target is still less than 1 percent of the economy beer segment valued at about 88 billion baht.

This segment is dominated by Singha Corporation's Leo beer with a 42.7 percent market share, followed by Chang and Archa by Thai Beverage with 38.5 percent and 17.9 percent respectively.

Launched in October 2005, Cheers now has improved quality and taste and has recorded 40 percent sales growth in the last 12 months, said Yodchaval Tirakanoksathit, the company's marketing manager for Cheers.

Donald Ottan, the company's on-site technical manager, said Cheers had a smoother taste and was easier to drink. The brand recently received the Monde Selection Gold Medal at a competition in Belgium.

Ms Yodchaval said competition in the budget beer segment would continue to intensify this year. Every brand would focus more on below-the-line marketing activities to reach consumers directly.

"We organise activities and campaigns, which will encourage consumers to try drinking our beer. Cheers is also available in many distribution channels," she said.

The company has just introduced a new large can (50 millilitres), reflecting the growing tendency among budget-conscious consumers to hold social gatherings with friends and colleagues at home instead of going out.

The new can offers another choice and convenience for drinkers who want slightly more volume than the standard 33ml can but less than a 64ml bottle. The price of a large can is 27 baht while the standard can is 20 baht.

However, bottles still account for 90 percent of the economy beer segment.

This year, TAPB expects that the total beer market will grow by 10 percent from 116 billion baht or 2.1 billion litres last year. Of the total, 84 percent of sales would be in the economy segment, 10 percent standard and 6 percent premium beer.

TAPB increased the price of Cheers slightly two months ago and reported no impact on sales. An executive said it had no policy to lift prices further in the near future despite higher raw material costs.

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Woranuj Maneerungsee

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