Food and Finished Goods
Thai Wah is committed to sustainable product development, investing in research and development across the entire supply chain—from cassava cultivation and enhancing food quality and safety standards throughout the production process to delivering innovative products to customers and consumers. The goal is to promote consumer health while minimizing environmental impacts across the product lifecycle. Food safety and security remains a global top priority. Ensuring the safety of food products from farm to consumer is essential to promoting good health and maintaining consumer trust, contributing to a more resilient and sustainable food system. By leveraging the latest innovations from its research and development efforts, Thai Wah creates products that provide both nutritional and environmental benefits, reinforcing its strategy to promote consumer health and food security.
Innovation in Production, Products, and Services for Sustainability
In 2024, Thai Wah has seven innovation and product development centers across six countries: Innovation Hub at Chulalongkorn University – a research and development facility equipped with advanced laboratory tools for studying and testing new products. Ideation Hub at Sathorn Office – a creative space for experimenting with and developing new food concepts using Thai Wah’s products. Application Centers in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and China – dedicated spaces for product trials and market testing to ensure Thai Wah’s offerings align with customer preferences in each region.
Thai Wah’s starch business offers a wide range of high-performance food ingredients to continuously meet diverse customer needs. Our texture solutions product portfolio includes, tapioca starch, modified tapioca starch, glucose syrup, rice flour, and specialty ingredients, with a strong commitment to innovation through the development of high-quality, diverse product offerings for our global consumers.
| Innovative Products in Starch and Starch-Related Business | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Number of products | ||||||
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Target 2025 | ||
| Functional Solutions Products | 55 | 58 | 63 | 64 | 42 | 60 | |
| Clean Label Products | 6 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 8 | 10 | |
| Healthy Solutions Products | 6 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 8 | 10 | |
Thai Wah’s food business encompasses a diverse range of products, including bean vermicelli, rice noodles, Shanghai noodles, tapioca flour, sago, and various ready-to-eat products. These include instant bean vermicelli and instant noodles designed to cater to the varied cooking preferences of our customers.
Our ROSECO line of biodegradable products promotes sustainable, zero-waste solutions for a better world. These responsible solutions are "from nature, for nature." The ROSECO series includes Thermoplastic Starch, Bio-compost Compound, and Bio-based Compound, which can be used in various applications such as bags, trays, mulch films, and consumer goods.
By using naturally biodegradable materials, these products meet the growing demand for environmentally-friendly alternatives to fossil-based plastics. These products support consumer use while also helping to reduce carbon emissions.
In 2024, Thai Wah conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for its ROSECO brand products, including cassava starch-based plastic pellets and their various applications, such as soil films, trash bags, shopping bags, food packaging, trays, straws, and cutlery. This study employed a Cradle-to-Grave approach, which analyzes the environmental impacts of products from raw material sourcing, production, transportation, usage, and disposal at the end of their life cycle.
The focus of the LCA was on assessing the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of ROSECO products in comparison to traditional fossil-based or petroleum plastics. The study's results revealed that using ROSECO products can reduce the GWP by up to 60%. For example, replacing 1 million plastic trash bags with biodegradable ROSECO trash bags can reduce carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions by over 1.1 million kilograms.
Thai Wah recognizes the significant role packaging plays in the supply chain, affecting everything from design and material selection to transportation and disposal. Packaging decisions directly influence product efficiency, usage, and transport. Adjusting packaging practices helps the company improve transportation efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, minimize unnecessary packaging materials, and cut production costs.
In 2024, Thai Wah made several key improvements to make packaging more environmentally friendly:
- Reducing Paper Use in Packaging:
Thai Wah changed its packaging methods, cutting the use of non-recyclable paper in packaging boxes by 7 tons per year. This adjustment not only helps save resources but also enhances efficiency and reduces transportation costs.
- Reducing Plastic Use in Food Packaging:
To lessen environmental impact and promote sustainable practices, the company reduced plastic usage in packaging by 4.5 tons per year. This reduction also led to energy savings in transportation due to the decreased weight.
- Designing Efficient Packaging for Starch Products:
In the past, packaging flour in pillow-shaped bags made it difficult to optimize pallet stacking. To address this, Thai Wah redesigned packaging for flour products, focusing on improving transport efficiency, stability during handling, reducing labor costs, and meeting customer needs.
Product Quality and Safety Standards
Food safety and security are significant global concerns. Ensuring standards and adhering to strict safety measures and quality inspections help prevent contamination and ensure that food products are safe for consumption. This approach not only promotes good health but also builds and maintains consumer trust. Consumers need to have confidence that the food they purchase and consume meets high safety standards. Therefore, continuous improvement in food safety practices and compliance with international standards is essential.
In 2024, the company received various certifications from both national and international standards, further validating its commitment to excellence in food safety and quality.
*The standards achieved vary across different factories.
Customer Satisfaction Assessment
- Starch and Starch-related Business
| Year | 2023 | 2024 | Target 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starch and Starch-related Business (%) | 90 | 87 | 90 |
Starch and Starch-related Business achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 55, which is considered excellent, with an overall customer satisfaction score of 87% from key clients. Key factors influencing customer purchase decisions include product quality, communication with the sales team, and after-sales service. Additionally, sustainability management remains a critical factor, impacting 77% of key customers' purchasing decisions. These results reflect the company's ability to develop and offer innovative, safe, clean, and high-quality products, which has increased trust among consumers.
- Food Business
| Year | 2023 | 2024 | Target 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Business (%) | 89 | 95 | 95 |
The food business achieved an impressive Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 77, indicating an exceptional level of customer satisfaction, with an overall satisfaction score of 95%. Key factors influencing customer purchasing decisions include product quality, communication with the sales team, and product diversity. Additionally, sustainability management continues to play a significant role in the purchasing decision process, with 83% of customers considering it. This outcome reflects the company's ability to develop and deliver innovative, safe, clean, and high-quality products, increasing trust among consumers.
- Biodegradable Products Business
| Year | 2024 | Target 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Biodegradable Products Business (%) | 92 | 93 |
The Biodegradable Products Business achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 67, which is considered excellent, with an overall customer satisfaction score of 92%. Key factors influencing customers' purchasing decisions include product quality, technical support, and product variety. Additionally, sustainability management continues to play a significant role in the purchasing decision-making process. This result reflects the company’s ability to develop and deliver innovative, safe, clean, and high-quality products, thus building greater trust among consumers.