“The number [40 per cent] is our immediate goal and significant although our ultimate goal is balance or 50:50. But we know it’s not always realistic,” Melissa Whiting, vice president Inclusion and Diversity of PMI, told The Nation in an interview.

The number of women at the company’s management level has increased gradually from 29 per cent in 2014 to 35 per cent in 2018. The current number of women employees worldwide is 42 per cent.

To achieve the goal, the firm is working towards the target by focusing on the two biggest levers, said Whiting, who is responsible for leading PMI’s strategy and practices to create an inclusive workplace.

The first lever is hiring equal numbers of women and men at entry levels to build a gender-balanced pipeline of talent.

The second is to make sure that talented women are as equally likely to be promoted as talented men.

Whiting

However, the firm is facing some challenges in achieving the gender-balance goal, as women are more likely to leave the workforce during the childbearing years, according to Marian Salzman, senior vice president of global communications, PMI.

So, we need to create all kind of flexible programmes so that women who are mothers can do their jobs while also raising their babies, Salzman told The Nation.

“We want people in manager ranks to figure out how to manage between lives at home and family. So you can have working moms who might spread her work day out or put in more working hours by working remotely,” she said.

Salzman

Last week, the tobacco firm became the first international company to be certified globally for equal pay by the independent third-party Swiss-based Equal-Salary Foundation.

The Equal-Salary certification methodology verifies that PMI pays all employees equally for work of equal value where ever we operate all over the world or in more than 90 countries worldwide, including Thailand, according to Whiting.

The Equal-Salary process includes a statistical analysis of all salaries of PMI staff worldwide and onsite audits of PMI country affiliates by PWC, the foundation’s third-party auditor.

Whiting said the certification has been a huge success for the firm and provides a practical building block towards its goal of making PMI a truly gender-balanced and inclusive workplace.

“I’m proud of that. For us, the certification is an important milestone to make sure that we have the basic rights,” she added.

Fair share

The accreditation of PMI’s global equal-salary certification kicked off a dedicated week of activities, the “Week of Women”, culminating in an immersive day of discussion and learning on International Women’s Day last Friday [March 8] that centred on everyone having their “fair share”.

To commemorate the day, the firm hosted “Fair Share: The Future of Communicating with Women”, in Lausanne, a conference aimed to help male employees become gender bilingual and to break down any wall that can exist between colleagues.

Lera Boroditsky, a guest speaker, talks about how language shapes the way we think about gender and culture.

The summit was meant to be the day of bringing the firm’s 150 male employees to celebrate International Women’s Day by learning how to communicate with women, said Salzman.

“At PMI, we talk about giving everyone a ‘fair share’, not just to women. This is a discussion that’s vital to everyone – and we recognise that to empower women, we must engage and empower men to be advocates for equality,” said Salzman.

The conference was also relevant to the firm’s transformation to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products.

Salzman said from her standpoint, equality is a human right and equality relates to many issues, including equal access to information about a smoke-free future.

“We believe that people being denied access about the issue is also unfair. I strongly believe that people have the right to have a better choice,” said Salzman.

Morgwn Rimel, a guest speaker, discusses how to communicate across gender through emotional intelligence. 

However, PMI is facing legal hurdles in launching its smoke-free products in several countries, including Thailand where e-cigarettes are banned from import, sale and servicing.

As the global communications senior executive, Salzman said she was prepared to listen and talk to all authorities.

“We need to educate people that we cannot stop people from smoking so we have a moral responsibility to give them more choices. And if there is anything that proves it’s better for you, at least I should say,” she added.

PMI has set a goal of getting 40 million people to convert from combustion cigarettes to its alternative product by 2025, according to Salzman.

But the most important thing is to have many as people as possible quit smoking as quickly as possible, she added.

Under the budget, the number of branded restaurants in the CRG portfolio will dramatically increase from 990 outlets as of February this year to more than 1,500 by 2022. About 100 new branded restaurants will be opened annually. The company also plans to open about 130 restaurant outlets this year.

CRG president Nath Vongpanich said that about Bt730 million of the budget will be allocated to the new branch openings, while another Bt250 million will be for renovating its existing restaurants. About Bt330 million will be also allocated for maintenance and upgrading of its IT system, and about Bt570 million for marketing.

“This year, we expect our total revenue to grow 12 per cent over last year to about Bt13.4 billion. We expect our annual revenue to reach Bt20 billion by 2022,” said Nath.

“We hope to have a total of 1,500 restaurant outlets by 2022, opening about 100 new outlets every year. We expect to have about 5 per cent to 10 per cent of our stores in overseas markets,” he added.

Nath said CRG is setting its sights on expanding into Asean by taking its own brands into the market and merging and acquiring local restaurants.

“Of course, we are interested in penetrating new overseas markets with great potential, especially Vietnam where Central Group has its business interests. We are also interested in expanding into Malaysia as well as the CLMV countries,” he said.

In February this year, the company had a total of 990 restaurant outlets.

“By the end of this year, we will increase the number of outlets to between 1,060 and 1,070. Currently there are 13 restaurant brands in our portfolio. This year we are planning to add three to four new brands, bringing the total to 16-17 brands,” he said.

CRG also announced yesterday that it will roll out the “Transform from Operator to Innovator” strategy to drive exponential growth in food chain revenue and increase its market share in the Bt140-billion food chain segment.

The company this year will add two new restaurant chains to its portfolio. “Aroi Dee” will capitalise on the popularity of street food, offering dishes from Bt59 while “Suki House” will differentiate itself from the traditional suki restaurants in Thailand with plans to grow to 10 branches in the initial phase.

CRG is also looking to expand its footprint by expanding franchised restaurants in key new locations to attract more customers. It is also launching the “Multi-brand Delivery” service by developing its existing “1312” food delivery service into an omni-channel delivery platform with the introduction of a newly launched application for fully integrated services. The app will allow customers to order a meal, have it delivered or make a reservation at any of the leading CRG group restaurants with a single click.

CRG will also be unveiling the “Online Virtual Stores” to satisfy the needs of diners. The company will also introduce a new delivery format to shake the Hub Model market amid growth in on-demand deliveries.

In 2019, the company expects the restaurant industry in Thailand to grow no less than 3-5 per cent as a result of the rapid expansion of outlets by all restaurant chain operators and new restaurant openings by new operators, especially in the food chain segment that accounts for a third of the multi-billion-baht restaurant industry. All big food chain operators are adopting an aggressive investment strategy to grow their customer base in all segments.

Most importantly, CRG is looking to continually develop innovations to drive exponential growth by adopting the “Transform from Operator to Innovator” strategy to highlight that CRG is more than a franchise operator. It is also a committed innovator, utilising innovations to create new product lines as a way of boosting sales and expanding consumption opportunities, according to the strategy.

The company is also developing new styles of restaurants to satisfy new-generation consumers’ lifestyle needs. These will include cafe-style small outlets and mobile units for greater mobility and easy access to new groups of customers in key high-potential locations.

CRG is also focusing its attention on developing and creating new brands of its own. At present, CRG boasts 11 brands in its portfolio, namely Mister Donut, KFC, Auntie Anne’s, Pepper Lunch, Chabuton, Cold Stone Creamery, The Terrace, Yoshinoya, Ootoya, Tenya and Katsuya. The company is also adjusting its food concepts to be more lifestyle-oriented, in order to create an exciting dining experience to attract diverse groups of customers. It will, meanwhile, maintain its strengths, including good quality, tastes, variety and excellent service.

CRG has plans to form new partnerships with operators of small-sized restaurants, new investors and new-generation entrepreneurs for co-investment opportunities.

Piyapong Chitchumnong, CRG’s senior vice president for marketing, said the company is looking to expand its multi-brand delivery service after the launch of the “1312: one order and enjoy the tasty food from multiple restaurants” delivery service.

The new delivery service allows customers to order a meal, have it delivered from any restaurant in the company’s portfolio of 11 brands and pay for the delivery service in a single click.

Piyapong said the sales strategy is superior to that of its rivals in the domestic market. This year, the company is launching an omni-channel platform that makes it possible for customers to order food from any restaurant from CRG, or to make a reservation at any of these restaurants via an on-demand delivery app that is being launched next month.

Two weeks after the official launch of the New Truck Generation in Thailand, Scania arranged a test and drive event for truck operators and media to showcase the New Truck Generation, according to its press release.

Scania’s new product range has reached success all over the world by gaining market shares in all markets it has been launched. Today more than 80 000 units has been delivered and put into customer operation and proven outstanding results in terms of safety, performance, driver environment and uptime.

For the time of the Test & Drive at Thai Bridgestone Proving Ground, a broad line up of different specifications stood available for the guests to give them a taste of the new product range and a hands on experience. Several different cab sizes, spanning from the majestic R sleeper cab to the smaller but still spacious P day cab with a low roof.

The press release mentioned that the most noticeable change is of course Scania’s new cab range. Driver safety, comfort, interior quality and living conditions; everything has been elevated to new heights. The interior has been designed in a smart and logical way, with buttons, leavers and storages that are easy to reach and gives a feeling of being in control. The dashboard has been pushed forward and downwards, which has led to a more spacious cab, a better driver position and better visibility.

The improvement under the cab is also as impressive as the inside.

Scania sets a new standard both regarding active and passive safety, with the markets strongest cab structure, improved breaking performance, and features such as Advanced Emergency Breaking and rollover side airbag.

With the launch of the New Truck Generation, Scania does not only launch a new product. They also present a full range of new, attractive financial, insurance and service packages that are being tailored to the customers operation. All presented and showcased for the guests during the Test & Drive.

Stefan Dorski, managing director of Scania Siam said, “Scania is not just launching a new truck range but also a unique, ingenious toolbox of sustainable solutions in the form of products and services with the aim to give our customers the necessary tools for achieving profitability in the only business that really matter; namely their own.”

A highlight of the event was the first Euro 6 heavy vehicle in Thailand, with Scania’s new generation gas engine that is purely designed to run on gas, but has the performance equal to a traditional diesel engine. Running on gas will lead to a reduction of fuel cost, and in parallel have a positive impact on the environment and the air quality.

The day at the test track with Scania gave an additional experience of what a true masterpiece, Scania now is offering to their customers.

The new plant, built at a cost of more than Bt1 billion, is spread over 20 rai (3.2 hectares).

The company’s chief executive officer, Kankanat Sansookavihirun, said the new factory will help increase business potential with its eco-friendly and high production capacity.

He said the company would penetrate the market with a full range of latex products, including mattresses and pillows, and aims to achieve Bt1.7 billion in revenue by the end of this year.

Green Latex started operations 14 years ago as a trader of latex mattresses and pillows.

“We used to buy latex products from factories in southern Thailand and sell them as raw material to cover manufacturers. But around 2011, we invested in our own cover production factory in order to add value to our products and sell directly to tour shops and importers.” He said later, the company expanded the factory to produce spring coils to offer a wide range of bedding products to a bigger market and locally. “Three years ago, we invested in a latex injection factory in order to produce all materials by ourselves to control the quality, cost and offer the best price to customers,” he said.

Our vision is: “We are committed to continue innovating products that bring healthier sleep and better lifestyle quality to our global customers,” said Kankanat.

He added that in 2019, the company aims to be the number one brand for latex products, not only latex mattresses and pillows but also new products with innovation and a variety of price levels catering to all customers.

“We have built this new factory in order to increase the production capacity of latex mattresses and pillows to support our market expansion. This factory has three times the production capacity of the previous one,” said Kankanat. He said the company’s new factory and showroom would be completed by next month with the formal inauguration in the third quarter of this year.

Chirawadee Angsumalee, the vice president of Green Latex Co Ltd, added: “In 2019, the company plans to spend more than Bt30 million on marketing and public relations to publicise the new factory and brand worldwide. We plan to penetrate all markets through every channel, including traditional ones and new channels such as e-commerce and foreign markets.”

She said the company aims for 30 per cent growth year on year, with targeted revenue of Bt1.7 billion this year.

Business growth this year is expected from exports to new markets not familiar with latex bedding products with focus on regions with large populations such as the US, India and Middle East. “We have already found customers in India and we have a lot of customers in the Asean Economic Community. We have a Cambodian Green Latex distributor with two showrooms in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. In the second quarter, we will have distributors open showrooms in Vietnam and Myanmar,” she said.

Chief marketing officer Marita Abraham said Zilingo had raised Bt7 billion in investment funds, including from Sequoia Capital and Temasek, in February this year.

It also has direction to expand its online business in two new countries –Australia and Philippines – which are high potential growth markets with few competitors and high value markets.

“I think that the two new countries offer high potential for growth and with few e-commerce competitors. We will expand our business to support both business-to-business [B2B] and business-to-customers [B2C] sales. However, Thailand is an important market for us, ranking as the second biggest in the region. Meanwhile, the company’s highest market growth is in Indonesia, also the No 1 market in the region,” said Abraham.

She said Zilingo has a strategy to develop its merchant ecosystem to support both sellers or merchants and customers such as through a catalogue system, logistics and financial services, in order to create market efficiencies and help sellers to more quickly sell their products.

Future plans include developing benefits tools to help its customers make an easy decision, such as a policy that would allow them to buy now and return later, within 15 days.

The top-selling three products on its platform are women’s clothes, women’s bags and watch products. The online platform boasts over 100,000 products from more than 3,000 sellers or merchants across a wide area, including retailers at the Chatuchak Weekend Market. The main target customers are aged 18-36 and purchase an average US$50 (Bt1,580) per transaction.

Abraham said that the intersection of global fashion and lifestyles is more than $3 trillion in size and relies heavily upon merchants and suppliers in Asia.

The platform conducts promotion campaigns to keep customers coming, such as their 20 per cent cash-back programme.

Zilingo now runs businesses in 15 countries, including the US, China, India and Vietnam, and has launched an operation in Thailand. Revenues will grow 200-300 per cent this year over last, she said.