The company, which recorded sales of Bt500 million last year, owns the Seagull brand, making it one of Thailand's leading producers of stainless-steel kitchenware for household and industrial use.

Chief executive Aroon Ruengcharungpong said retail demand for stainless steel kitchenware would grow only slightly this year, in line with the drop in customers' purchasing power. However, the company is confident of achieving double-digit growth because of its strategy of changing from the retail market to business-to-business sales.

"Although the end-user or retail market has dropped, the demand for kitchenware in business-to-business dealings shows continued growth, and we believe we will meet our target," he said.

Lifting the company's confidence is 10-per-cent sales growth in the first four months of this year, compared with the corresponding period last year.

Thai Stainless Steel began to expand its business-to-business trading last year, mainly to hotels and restaurants. This accounted for 10 per cent of sales in 2006.

This year, the company expects business-to-business sales to account for 20 per cent of sales. It plans to launch up to 50 innovative products, including digital kitchenware and a heat-boosting technology designed to save energy.

The company has set aside Bt50 million for marketing and plans to focus on below-the-line event activities at its seven shops in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Surat Thani and Hat Yai, and at department stores and dealers throughout the country.

It expects that in the year following the launch of its innovative products, its business-to-business trade will increase to provide 30 per cent of sales.

Yesterday, Thai Stainless Steel launched Pro-design with Heat Booster, a technology designed to reduce cooking time and save as much as 15 per cent on energy costs. The technology has required the expenditure of Bt5 million on research and development over the past year. However, sales of heat-booster products are expected to reach Bt6 million in the first year.

Aroon said the company was spending up to Bt10 million annually on research and development in order to improve its knowledge base and develop innovative products.

"Cheap stainless steel kitchenware from China is being dumped on the Thailand market, so we have had to change our business direction to become a producer and distributor of innovative stainless steel kitchenware to differentiate our products from that of competitors in both the domestic and export markets," he said.

At present, 65 per cent of Thai Stainless Steel's total sales come from the domestic market.

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation