US-based Henny Penny Corporation, the world's leading cooking equipment maker, has appointed CP Retailink Co as its exclusive distributor in Thailand.
Naris Thamkuekool, vice-president of CP Retailink, a subsidiary of CP All Group, said the cooperation would help boost its sales by 20% this year to 3.4 billion baht, up from 2.9 billion in 2014.
CP Retailink is a provider of food and beverage equipment and services for restaurants, hotels, convenience stores and coffee shops.
Besides distributing premium products such as warmers and cooking equipment for the US firm, he said that CP Retailink will enlarge the market base for imported products such as coffee machines to big retail stores, notably at 24 Shopping, another sales agency owned by CP All, operator of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain.
Regarding the plan for business expansion into the Asean Economic Community market, Mr Naris said the company has made business contracts with dealers in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Malaysia. CP Retailink also outlined plans to enter markets in Singapore and Indonesia by the end of 2015.
The company has beefed up its after-sales service by setting up 50 service centres across the nation staffed with more than 1,600 technicians and an engineering team of 700 employees. Some 600 new staffs are expected to be recruited for future expansion.