Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (hereafter Toppan Printing; head office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President & Representative Director: Shingo Kaneko) and ITOCHU Corporation (hereafter ITOCHU; head office: Minato Ward, Tokyo; President and Chief Executive Officer: Masahiro Okafuji) will enter the flexible packaging business in Thailand with Thung Hua Sinn Printing Network (hereafter TPN Group; head office: Bangpakong Chachoengsao, Thailand; CEO: Ananchat Thangkasemvathana), which operates an integrated packaging business in Thailand.
Ahead of this, a capital and business alliance agreement has been concluded on April 6, 2017 with TPN Food Packaging Co., Ltd. (hereafter TPN Food Packaging), a flexible packaging company recently established by the TPN Group. Through this agreement, Toppan Printing and ITOCHU will acquire a 10.7% stake in TPN Food Packaging.

In recent years, there has been significant economic growth in the ASEAN region. In Thailand’s urban areas in particular, what was traditionally a culture of food sold from stalls has seen an increase in the number of modern commercial stores, such as supermarkets and convenience stores, and a shift in the way goods are distributed is gaining pace. Thailand has also been a major producer of processed foods for some time, and export volumes are increasing every year.
The flexible packaging market in Thailand is estimated to be worth about 120 billion yen. Shifts in the form of distribution and expansion of processed food exports mean that there is increasing demand for packaging with outstanding functionality, such as enhanced ease of use for consumers and excellent barrier performance to enable long-term storage.

The TPN Group was founded in 1953 and is an integrated packaging company engaging in businesses such as folding cartons, labels, and flexible packaging in Thailand. In June 2016, the TPN Group established TPN Food Packaging to expand flexible packaging business centered on gravure printing. The Group is one of Thailand’s top manufacturers and sellers of packaging.

One of Toppan Printing’s major strengths is GL BARRIER, an original transparent barrier film that holds a leading share of the global market. Making use of this film, Toppan Printing engages in an integrated packaging business catering to the needs of customers in Japan and overseas by planning, developing, and manufacturing packaging products such as folding cartons, flexible packaging, and plastic containers. Toppan Printing’s global expansion has taken in the ASEAN region with the manufacture and sale of flexible packaging in Indonesia since 1973 and folding cartons in Thailand since 1990.

ITOCHU positions lifestyle consumables as one of its priority business fields and actively invests in the sector in Japan and overseas. With a business and capital alliance with the Charoen Pokphand Group (hereafter CP Group; head office: Thailand), ITOCHU has strengthened its activities in the Thai and ASEAN markets, and makes packaging material proposals to the companies of the CP Group and food companies such as Dole International Holdings.

The capital and business alliance agreement has been concluded based on the alignment of the business strategies of TPN Food Packaging, which is targeting further growth in the flexible packaging field, Toppan Printing, which is targeting the expansion of integrated packaging business in the ASEAN region, and ITOCHU, which is looking to strengthen business synergies with the CP Group, among others.

Toppan Printing and ITOCHU aim to expand the flexible packaging business in Thailand and the Indochinese Peninsula together with TPN Food Packaging and the TPN Group. As well as expanding the business, further investment will be made in TPN Food Packaging.