The 6 billion yen ($53.2 million) poultry processing facility is slated to debut in October in an industrial park in the central province of Saraburi.
Mitsubishi Corp. intends to open a plant in Thailand to fry, steam and freeze chicken for export to Japan and elsewhere, under a joint venture with local food company Betagro Group. The Japanese company will take a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture, while group affiliate Itoham Yonekyu Holdings and Betagro each take 25 per cent.
The 6 billion yen ($53.2 million) poultry processing facility is slated to debut in October in an industrial park in the central province of Saraburi.
Demand for chicken meat has been rising around the world as populations grow more health conscious. Mitsubishi sees Thailand as a suitable place to handle everything from poultry farming to meat processing, since the Southeast Asian country offers abundant water and corn, cheap labor and well-developed infrastructure.
Mitsubishi aims to acquire the know-how of processing chicken meat in-house and consider applying the expertise to cultivate markets in Europe and the Middle East as well.
The factory, about 90km north of Bangkok, is expected to produce 30,000 tons of processed chicken meat a year. While some of the meat will be sold in Thailand or exported to Singapore, Hong Kong and elsewhere, Japan will be the main market.
