Singha blames distribution problems for lack of drinking water
Singha Corp is attributing the shortage of drinking water to a disruption in logistics caused by floods, which it says is preventing it from delivering the much-needed goods to clients.
Chatchai Wiratyosin, marketing director for Singha beer, said the firm had no production problems – the only problem is that the beer and drinking water cannot be delivered to retailers and distribution centres.
Massive flooding has had an impact on the company’s operating costs, especially in terms of logistics management and distribution, though it is expected to be a short-term problem. Singha Corp said that it will absorb the rising costs and has no plans to push that burden on to consumers.
“However, we cannot stop retailers from increasing the price,” Chatchai said, adding that the company’s arch rival, Thai Beverage, was also suffering from the same problems.
Meanwhile, Singha Corp managed to recently retrieve more than a million bottles from its two plants in Ayutthaya and will be selling them in Bangkok this month, with all proceeds going to charity.
Chatchai said that about 80 to 90 per cent of the drinking water being produced by the company has been donated to help flood victims in many affected areas. He added that the company’s bottled-water plants in the provinces, including those in Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Surat Thani and Nakhon Pathom, were running at full capacity. So far, the factory in Pathum Thani is the only one that has had to be closed.
“The only problem is that we cannot deliver the goods to retailers and our distribution centres. Many routes in Bangkok and the suburbs have been closed or blocked by floods,” he said.
He added that the shortage could also be blamed upon consumers who have been buying up and hoarding bottled water and other basic necessities out of sheer panic.
Chatchai said the company was sending trucks around Bangkok and its outskirts to sell packs of six 1.5-litre bottles of drinking water at Bt60 each.
