March 25/Asia Pacific Food and Drinks Insights -- Ajinomoto and compatriot processed meat producer Itoham Foods have unveiled plans for a new joint venture company in Thailand. Teaming up with Thai agricultural majors Betagro and Hoei Bussan, the joint venture will look to market processed meat products in Thailand as well as improving the raw ingredient procurement capabilities of the individual enterprises involved.
The joint venture company -- Itoham Betagro Foods -- represents the extension of an existing operational alliance between Ajinomoto and Itoham and the furthering of an existing poultry and pork procurement agreement between Ajinomoto and Betagro. The producers sought alliances during the early months of 2008, when rising operational costs were putting margins under intense pressure; Ajinomoto and Itoham had estimated that they could make a combined 4 billion yen ($44.5 million) in savings to 2012. With the commodity bubble burst and food prices deflated, the initial motivation for these relationships may have passed. However, with consumer price sensitivity soaring, as the global economy enters recession, cost-effective supply chain management has remained at the top of the manufacturing agenda.