Valachis said impulse sales solutions for beverages was an underdeveloped market in China, one of the top consumers of beer but with a low per capita consumption of soft drinks.

"Soft drinks and beer suppliers are turning more and more to ICMs to bolster growth strategy and new product introduction," he said. "As one of our key focus regions, we have been observing the market conditions in China for the past couple of years."

He said the Guangzhou project would also enable Frigoglass to improve services to its global clients including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Heineken, SABMiller, Inbev, Nestle and Red Bull, all of which have already invested in China.

The firm will introduce a tailor-made product range for the Chinese market. Valachis said the firm would draw on its experience and knowledge of other markets to optimize the product range for the Chinese market in terms of outlets, placement conditions, brands and packaging.

The Guangzhou facility will be environmentally friendly and innovative, according to Valachis. He said its products were 30 percent more energy efficient than conventional models.

The global brands Freser and Sanden as well as several Chinese refrigerator suppliers including Haier also supply similar products to the Chinese market.

He said the Guangzhou plant will work closely with its research and development (R&D) teams in Greece, India and South Africa, and a local R&D facility will be set up next year.

(China Daily 02/06/2007 page14)

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