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Published on January 23, 2008

The ILLOchroma Group is a Belgian-based label producer for Heineken, Carlsberg, Chang, Coca-Cola,

Budweiser, San Miguel, Miller, Carling

and Estrella.

Salee Industry is a local producer of plastic parts for the electronics and computer industries.

ILLOchroma Asia was capitalised at Bt40 million, with Salee Industry contributing Bt20.4 million for a 51-per-cent stake.

Savate Naratippakorn, director of Salee Industry, said ILLOchroma Asia would import a machine capable of cutting one billion sets a year, with production starting next quarter.

"The beer market is a priority for us. Several beer manufacturers in Thailand, including Chang, import labels from the ILLOchroma Group. We aim to get other beer producers. After that, ILLOchroma will seek clients in the soft-drinks industry," he said.

About 20 per cent of its sales target of at least Bt120 million for this year will come from exports to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines.

"Thailand is the biggest beer producer in Asia. I forecast ILLOchroma will grow 20-25 per cent every year due to the increase in beer consumption," Savate said.

Daniel Defrenne, manager of research and development for the ILLOchroma Group and a director of ILLOchroma Asia, said ILLOchroma selected Thailand to be the production base of wet-glue labels in Asia because it believed in the potential of this country to serve clients in the region.

"Several beer and soft-drinks manufacturers in Thailand have to import wet-glue labels. ILLOchroma is the first company to do this business in Thailand. So I believe we have a chance to grow this business," he said.

ILLOchroma has five plants in Belgium, France, Italy and Poland mainly printing labels on white paper and metallised paper. It churns out at least 550 million square metres per year generating about ¤100 million (Bt4.79 billion) in revenue.

Nalin Viboonchart

The Nation