Durbell aims to expand logistics service

Adisorn Limnarong, managing director of Durbell, said that as |part of the investment, the company would purchase about 300 trucks to support its distribution work. Some of the money will also be |allocated to the relocation of its warehouse in Phuket as well as the opening of a new warehouse in Chanthaburi.
In operation for about 10 years, about 90 per cent of Durbell’s sales are currently of Red Bull Beverage’s products. The company achieved Bt10 billion in total sales last year, up from Bt8.4 billion posted in 2010.
“We expect about 20 per cent of our sales this year will be contributed by outside companies and another 80 per cent from Red Bull Beverage’s products,” Adisorn said.
Durbell expects Bt12 billion in total sales this year.
“We expect that in the next five years, about half of our sales will be contributed by outside companies,” he added.
Adisorn said that with 10 years of logistics experience, the company was quite ready to serve fast-moving consumer products outside the Red Bull family. The move is in line with its vision to become a top distributor of fast-moving consumer goods in Thailand.
Supported by Red Bull Beverage, which owns 100 per cent of the company, Durbell has strong financial back-up for its future expansion.
“We have 13 subsidiaries throughout the Kingdom, which have localised skills in distributing products in their own territories. Our distribution network covers 4,200 wholesalers and 100,000 retailers throughout the country. We have 23 warehouses in 19 provinces and are able to handle about 28,000 pallets totally. Our distribution lead-time is not more than two days,” Adisorn said.
Durbell has total assets worth more than Bt2 billion with a 0.57:1 debt-to-asset ratio.
“We are well prepared for any future investment, as 60 per cent of our sales are by cash,” he said.
He added that Durbell currently employed 1,255 staff. About two-thirds of them are in the field. Only 80 staff work at the head office.
He said Durbell would be able to serve outside companies for nationwide distribution service as well as some regional routes and destinations.
“We recently entered a 23-month distribution agreement with Procter & Gamble, which wants us to distribute about 600 of its consumer products to Chon Buri and five other provinces in the Eastern region.”
He said Durbell had been looking to expand its distribution service outside Thailand to potential markets such as Vietnam. Overseas expansion, however, will not take less than three years.