Sodexo Amata may provide food services
AFTER PIONEERING outsourcing services in facility management, security guards and housekeeping services for factories at Amata Corporation’s two large industrial estates in Thailand, Sodexo Amata Services is looking to add a central kitchen for cafeterias
“The demand is huge,” said Viboon Kromadit, director and chief marketing officer of Amata Corp, adding that there was potential to serve 180,000 meals to workers on the estates every day.
Aukkares Choochouy, managing director of Amata Facility Services, said there were about 200,000 workers at factories in Amata Nakorn and Amata City industrial estates, of whom about 180,000 were blue-collar staff who could not go off the estates eat because they only got one-hour meal breaks.
“This is especially the case for small factories with 50-70 staff. They don’t find it convenient to set up cafeterias, hiring their own cooks and maids. Nevertheless, we’re surveying the actual demand, since what they say and what they will do could be different,” he said.
According to the plan, Sodexo Amata Services will build a central kitchen at the heart of the Amata industrial estates that can service cafeterias and provide food-delivery and banquet services to captive clients at the estates.
Sodexo Amata Services, which celebrated its first year in operation yesterday, is a joint venture between Sodexo, a France-based provider of integrated facilities-management services, and Thailand’s top industrial-estate developer, Amata Corp.
Arnaud Bialecki, country president of Sodexo Thailand, said the planned central kitchen would help factories save space for other activities, eliminate fees that estates collect for treatment of wastewater released from their kitchens, and control the quality and hygiene of foods, as any contamination could affect the productivity and health of their staff.
Starting from a staff of one in the third quarter of last year, Sodexo Amata Services has increased its staff to 120-130 and plans to increase it to more than 300 next year. The company expects its revenue to increase from more than Bt30 million this year to Bt110 million in 2017, and to Bt240 million in 2018.
“It will take three to five years to build up volume to reach a break-even point. But the good side of this business is that whereas land sales are up and down, this service business will provide a stable revenue steam to Amata,” Bialecki said.
Sodexo Amata Services currently provides technical facility maintenance, security, and housekeeping services to 20 companies including Sumitomo Electric, Essilor and Honda, out of the total of 800 factories at the two Amata estates.
