Green Latex poised for giant leap

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.