Company profile: Asia Pacific Glass (APG)
APG opens second furnace Thailand’s Asia Pacific Glass (APG) was only formed in 2013 but it has already invested in a new furnace to cope with extra demand. The container glass manufacturer makes bottles for the Carabao beverage, which aims to become Thailand’s largest energy drink. Greg Morris visited the site.
� Top: Khun Komson Worapattrakul (left) and Khun Natiwat Nookua of APG. Inset: the Carabao bottle is the second most popular Thai energy drink.
from Fives. Bucher Emhart Glass provided the forming machines and the annealing lehr came from Italy’s Antonini. Inspection equipment came from Tiama while the production line conveyor and palletiser was provided by Italy’s Emmeti and Sipac. AGR International’s Bangkok office also supplied quality control machinery. The Carabao Dang company was formed in August 2001 and launched its first energy drink in October 2002. The name Carabao comes from the company’s association with the Thai country music band Carabao and translates as The Fighting Spirit, which was adopted as the company’s slogan. The major shareholders include company chairman Khun Sathien Setthasit ,and the Carabao band’s founder and lead singer Aed Carabao. The drink can be found in major stores overseas such as Tesco and Sainsbury and, in the 2017 season, it became a principal sponsor of Chelsea Football Club in the UK.
APG formation APG was formed when the company’s Chairman approached three experienced glassmakers at Siam Glass. The men, Khun Nikom Ariyakulnimit, Khun Komson Worapattrakul and Khun Sunk, were asked if they were interested in starting a new glass packaging company, to which they said yes. The three men glassmakers secured contractors to build the facility and then used their experience Continued>>
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he story of Asia Pacific Glass’s (APG) rise is an inspirational one. The parent company of Thailand’s newest container glass manufacturer was only formed 15 years ago. Yet, today, it sells a global energy drink throughout the world, found in some of the globe’s largest stores and has even sponsored globally renowned football teams. The Carabao energy drink has already overtaken the Red Bull beverage as the second most consumed sports beverage in the Thai market. Now it has its sights on the top place currently occupied by the M150 brand. Key to Carabao’s rise in popularity in recent years has been its glass offering. The drink is available in 150ml amber bottles all of which are produced by APG at its location in Chachoengsao, approximately an hour’s drive east of Bangkok. It currently produces 60 million bottles a month, or 720 million bottles a year. Despite only starting up in 2013, with one 310t/ day furnace, it unveiled its second furnace at the end of November 2017, which has more than doubled its production capacity. Furnace number 2 also has a capacity of 310t/d but, unlike furnace 1, has been installed with electric boosters, which will increase its output to 330t/day. The Thai glassmaker has used the same technology partners for the furnace 2 investment project as for furnace 1. The batch plant and furnace was supplied by Japan’s Asahi Glass Company (AGC) while the working end and forehearth came
17 Glass International December/January 2018
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