Fly on Corporate Wall

In a recent visit to media outlets to mark Chinese New Year, Tan Passakornnatee, president and chief executive officer of Ichitan Group, was smiling as usual even though his factory in Ayutthaya was totally submerged during the flood crisis last year.
Tan gave away copies of his book “Vithee Mai Tan” (“The Road Has Not Ended”), which relates his business experiences over the past 30 years. Inevitably, he also gave journalists a nice package of Melt Me chocolate products, made by his most important affiliate company, run by his wife Sunisa.
Since the company made a Bt2-billion investment upgrading the Ayutthaya factory, it has not produced a baht’s worth of sales because of the inundation. Tan has to inject an additional Bt2 billion to renovate the plant, much of the expenditure to import new machinery. The group hopes it will resume operation by April, but it will only be at 50 per cent of its total capacity.
In the meantime, Ichitan has had to contract out production of 10 million bottles of green tea, about a third of its initial annual production target of 30 million to 40 million bottles. Tan said he doesn’t want to become rich but wants to see his plant start operating as soon as possible so he can control the quality of the products to his own high standard.
Despite the low production, Tan is aiming for Bt2.5 billion in sales this year and 25 per cent of the market. It is expected that the overall market will grow by 30 per cent this year.
Tan is still talking with insurers on the damage claim, which may not easy to finalise in a short period.
During the flood, Tan became even better known for his ability to find and seize opportunities to appear in the media amid a crisis. Tan is not only a highly creative executive, he knows how to make himself a brand with a unique and eye-catching personality. His Facebook page has been ranked as one of the most popular in Thailand, with more than 1.1 million fans.