A guideline of Development of competitive Competency of Processed Coconut Products in Ratchaburi Province with the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to 1) study the processed coconut products produced by the entrepreneurs in Ratchaburi province, 2) study  decision making of consumers toward purchasing processed coconut products. 3) to investigate how to develop the competitive competency of processed coconut products with the philosophy of Sufficiency Economy.  In the process of data collection, a questionnaire is collected with 350 accidental samplings; moreover, purposive sampling of  7 entrepreneurs of processed coconut products in Rachaburi are interviewed with a semi-structured interview. In order to analyse data, both descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, Standard Deviation and Content Analysis are applied in this research.

The result from this descriptive statistics suggests that, 1) in Ratchaburi, there are processed coconut products as follows; aromatic coconut transferred to trimmed coconut, aromatic coconut jelly,  pure coconut juice, sugar-coated coconut, dried coconut, a can of coconut milk and coconut oil. 2) According to the marketing factors influencing on the decision making to purchase processed coconut products, they mostly claim that processed coconut products are good for health and safely.  Furthermore, the taste and quality of the products also impacts on the decision making. However, the price must be reasonable and consistent with both quality and quantity of the products.The distribution of the products should be effective and reliable. The entrepreneurs should provide the marketing strategy to impact on the consumers’ intention. 3) A development of competitive competency is that coconut agriculturists should provide a good quality of coconut. In term of entrepreneur, they should develop their equipment which effects on the price and support their staff to improve their skills; moreover, the entrepreneurs should make their staff feel like their own relatives. The development of new coconut products should be consistent with the need of consumers. Additionally, the entrepreneurs should provide the marketing strategy with a new generation who need to take care of their health. Lastly, the entrepreneurs must operate their business with faithfully, and the business should be honest with consumers and shareholders. To strengthen a cooperation of providing a coconut  resource in a medium and huge industry, the entrepreneurs should seek for government section and related institutes.