Mr. Chaiwat Nantiruj, Group CEO of Eka Global Co., Ltd., said that in the first three months this year, longevity packaging industry has enjoyed continuous growth. Such strong industry trend is driven by the increasing popularity of longevity packaging that best fits with the new normal lifestyle. The rapid expansion has encouraged Eka Global to maximize its production capacity. Considering continuous growth in the longevity packaging products, the company plans to expand its production capacity by another 35% from currently 2,500 million units per year. The company has already allocated approximately 150 million baht for this production capacity expansion plan.
Given such strong trend, Eka Global has set a sales target for the year at 1.2-1.3 billion baht or approximately 35% expansion.
The company has positioned the "EKA GLOBAL" as a longevity packaging industry leader, providing clear direction for the company to grow sustainably in the global market in the long run. To achieve this goal, the company has emphasized on research and development in order to enhance its packaging capability to further lengthen shelf life. At present, its innovative packaging products can expand product life to longer than two years even when the product is stored at room temperature. Eka Global hopes to develop new packaging products that can extend food product shelf life to 3-5 years in the future.
"Eka Global is currently one of the world's top five longevity packaging producer," said Chaiwat. "In the next 5-10 years, we want Eka Global to become the world's No.1 innovative longevity packaging producer and the trendsetter. We, therefore, allocate 1-2% of our total sales for R&D, or about 10-20 million baht, which is considerably high compared to other players in the industry."
With hope that COVID-19 situation would improve in the second quarter this year, Eka Global planned to arrange roadshows in big cities in the three regions across Thailand, such as Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Songkhla. Together with the roadshows, Eka Global will also introduce the food product storage test to demonstrate the efficiency of Eka Global's packaging in extending shelf life for food products. Such programs will support SMEs and provide them with easy access to the packaging that help expand shelf life while maximizing food safety. The programs also help address the weakness in the local food industry and increase strengths and opportunity for food producers to expand their businesses overseas.
"Eka Global is ready to support Thai SMEs. We want them to be more successful. Whether they are very small enterprises with a small packaging order of a thousand pieces, Eka Global is committed to help them do their business at reasonable costs. With our product excellence, Eka Global assures our customers that they will enjoy better average costs. We aim to see at least 2-3 Thai SMEs to expand their businesses using our packaging. We are strongly confident that the longevity packaging will play more and more important role in the future," said Chaiwat.
SMEs who are interested in Eka Global's longevity packaging and innovative Modified Atmosphere Packaging Process (MAP) may contact Eka Global's lab for free participation in the new normal food packaging storage test. More information can be retrieved from www.eka-global.com or Tel. 038-574-187.