The Competitiveness of the Sub-district Food Processing Industry (OTOP) in Nonthaburi Province

Abstract

The sub-district food processing industry (OTOP) is advantageous industry in terms of raw material sources and specialization in food processing according to the nature of the area. This research aimed to study the marketing environment and the competitiveness of the sub-district food processing industry in Nonthaburi province in order to present the guidelines for developing strategies for increasing competitiveness. This research is a quantitative study based on opinions of the entrepreneurs. The population used in this study were 270 entrepreneurs of medium and small businesses in the sub-district food processing industry in Nonthaburi province. The number of samples at a 99 percent confidence level was 167. The questionnaires were used for collecting data, and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The research found that 1) customer satisfaction with the product affected its competitiveness in the marketing environment with the highest average, 2) the overall competitiveness component was at a high level. The aspect with the highest average was customer responsiveness capability, and 3) the marketing environment was related to competitiveness in all aspects, including quality, performance, innovation, and customer responsiveness capability. The researchers suggested that the entrepreneurs should adopt growth strategies to create competitiveness of the sub-district food processing industry in Nonthaburi province. The entrepreneurs should introduce innovations to develop the products sold in the existing markets and expand into new markets in order to meet the target customers’ needs by modernizing the design of the packaging to meet the buyers’ tastes, and developing functional strategies in production and marketing to be effective and able to reach the target customers easily and quickly.