Retail sales are down around 10 percent this year at Bangkok, Thailand-based seafood retailer Thammachart Seafood Retail Co Ltd. compared to February 2019, creating a "more significant" impact for the company’s F&B outlets, according to CEO Julian G. Davies.
Thailand’s popularity among Chinese tourists had driven seafood sales in Bangkok in recent years, but many have been staying away due to the coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19.
Thammachart Seafood Retail Co Ltd – which sold 25 percent of its equity to Thai Union in 2018 –provides professional management services to Thai retailers for their seafood counters, handling fresh and frozen product at retail locations across the country.
“Most affected are the outlets that rely more on tourists,” Davies told SeafoodSource. “To date, the impact is more in Bangkok, with upcountry locations less affected. Retail outlets that have relied on tourists, notably Chinese, are almost deserted, with many tenants suffering the consequences. Places like Siam Paragon [a large mall complex in Bangkok] are particularly affected as this heavily dependent on tourism, and I am sure Icon Siam [another mall] has also been heavily impacted. There is definitely less impact at the retail outlets that do not rely so much on tourists.”
However, COVID-19 is only part of the reason for the fall in tourist numbers, according to Davies. Appreciation of the baht, which gained almost 9 percent on USD in 2019, has also been a factor.
“Inbound tourists from China have been on the decline for a while due to the baht appreciation and boat fatalities a few years back, so I am sure the government will look at ways to entice tourists back, and also promote tourists from other countries … there have always been a lot of Indian and Russian tourists,” Davies said.
For now, there’s been no impact on the company’s supply chain, said Davies.
“As a direct importer, we can switch products and origins,” the CEO noted.
Thammachart also runs stalls at Hema Fresh supermarket outlets in Shanghai.
Photo courtesy of Thai Union
