Su Shwe Yee Aung, Ly Uyen Sang, Choi Yeon Ji, Ng Zhi Jane

This project was assigned to open up Golden Frontier’s (GF) new business opportunity not only in the region but also the world. The research focuses on Thailand’s seafood industry assessments and also Indonesian seafood supply. As GF aims for business expansion, research demonstrates that it would be a good timing to enter Thai market as Thailand’s seafood industry is going through a phase where the locals’ preferences are switching to imported seafood instead of local seafood productions due to numerous critical scandals.

 

First of all, Surabaya port in Indonesia was selected as the supplying port as it provides the seafood most favoured by Thai: sea bass, tilapia, mackerel and white-leg shrimp. Further research revealed that it also satisfies the best economic objective which is cost effective to implement this plan as it takes only 4 days and 13 hours by shipping. Secondly, as Thailand has certain law for importing fish into the nation, GF is obliged to set up its own HACCP standards to meet the essential requirements for raw materials such as freshness and other physical requirements. Lastly, there are areas that could not be identified due to the lack of relevant and recent information. For instance, exact and latest wholesale prices, suitable quantity of seafood to be imported and recommendation on specific supplier could not be given.

 

Therefore, considering the current economic and social status of Thailand, it is recommended for GF to focus on and expand its business in Thailand. Constant research on both market demand and Thais’ preferences is also recommended in order to be sustainable for long-term operation.