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Inheriting an empire: How Thapanee Techajareonvikul is making it her own
Inheriting an empire: How Thapanee Techajareonvikul is making it her own
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0:00
Do not expand the business into the area that is not related to us.
0:05
This is Thapanee Techajareonvikul, one of Thailand's most influential business leaders.
0:13
She's president and CEO of Berli Jucker Public Company Limited, or BJC, a major retail
0:20
packaging and consumer goods conglomerate, which operates across Southeast Asia.
0:25
It's one of many businesses within her family's multi-billion-dollar empire,
0:29
known as the TCC Group.
0:32
Founded by Thapanee’s father Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, the group also spans food and
0:37
beverage, property, hospitality, and finance. In this special edition of “CNBC Meets”, Thapanee
0:49
discusses the family succession strategy. As siblings, we focus in our own
0:55
organization or industry. Making her own mark.
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It is going to be a very supportive environment. Working with her husband.
1:05
Life is work and work is life. And embracing AI.
1:08
It increased the sales 40% year-on-year. This is CNBC Meets: Legacies.
1:22
I'm Tania Bryer, and I've come to Singapore to meet Thapanee Techajareonvikul, who joined
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me on stage for this special edition of “CNBC Meets,” recorded at a UOB private banking event.
1:35
I'd like to start by talking a little bit about the origins of the family business. Of course,
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it was founded by your father, who left school at a very young age and started
1:50
his career in the alcohol trade back in the early 1960s. What do you know
1:58
about him from that early stage of his career? We are all very proud of Dad. He got involved in
2:06
the liquor business at 15 years of age, and that was pretty much the origin. He
2:14
said that he has very little education, so he is very eager to learn and to work very hard,
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and at the very starting of the liquor business, he got involved taking and selling the waste
2:29
of the liquor companies, like the factory, and he said he's always tried to find a way
2:38
to make the efficiency out of waste, and he thinks that all the trash and all the waste is gold. And
2:47
it's like that from the very beginning, because he started from ground zero, so it's a continuation
2:54
that's following his vision and value alone. It's an extraordinary story, and he became
3:02
known as “The Whiskey King.” At what point do you think his business became an empire?
3:10
He always tried to find a very win-win situation among all partners. That's why
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he gets lots of positive support, and that's how he combined a lot of operations in the whiskey
3:27
business together. He's a very, very kind, very, very loving and a visionary leader.
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Becoming an empire just because of all this productivity and efficiency that he
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created to become the scale, and he has the cash left over, so he invests in property,
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and that is the part that he acquired a lot of property portfolio of his, but it is his belief
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that we only extend to what we know, and it's diversification - it's not all over the place,
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but it's just the extension of what would be supportive of the core business going forward.
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Charoen and his late wife, Wanna,
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are credited with building an entire ecosystem through strategic mergers and acquisitions.
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In 2001 they acquired a controlling stake in Berli Jucker, and in 2003
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they consolidated a number of companies to create drinks conglomerate, ThaiBev.
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By combining a lot of operation, it just creates a big efficiency, and it's created
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the good quality of the products coming along for the consumers, so we believe that this is for
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doing the good things for the consumers around. But then getting into the Berli Jucker business,
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we wouldn't diversify or invest into Berli Jucker if it's not for their long standing,
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and it's the biggest glass manufacturer. So, he's catching that opportunity very quickly,
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and made the deal in only a few days. Your mother, the late Khunying Wanna,
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is credited with playing a key role in building the business alongside your father. What values
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did they instill in you and your brothers and sisters, while you were growing up?
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They showed to us they walked the talk, they never have a precise teaching, but they brought
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us along, like I bring my daughter here today. I have the opportunity to join in every business
5:40
occasions or business meetings, and it seems like really seeing them, how they're making the
5:48
business decisions, it is the greatest teaching. They don't think of expanding into an empire,
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they are just building day by day, step by step. You joined the group in 2003 as a director,
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was it always the plan for you to join the family business? Because you studied at
6:08
Harvard and MIT, and you spent a year here in Singapore working at Merrill Lynch.
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I didn't know from the start that it would be Berli Jucker, but I know that
6:20
I will be working for the family business, so that's why in between the undergraduate
6:26
at MIT and the Harvard Business School, I wanted working experience. It was a great
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experience and memory here in Singapore that one year, and then back to the family business,
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and then go on to the business school, so when in the family business we get to do a bigger impact.
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After working in a number of roles over the following two decades, Thapanee was
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appointed President and CEO of Berli Jucker in 2023, taking over from her husband Aswin,
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who moved into a new role as President and CEO of the group's retail arm, Big C. I caught up
7:08
with Thapanee and Aswin backstage. What was that transition like?
7:14
We actually have been working together from the beginning, and even until now. The role hasn't
7:20
changed quite so much, so he's still involved in also BJC and Big C - likewise myself.
7:27
Aswin, of course, you had run it for many years. What was it
7:31
like for you to hand over to your wife? We're all in this together from the start,
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where we joined the company together after we got married,
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so this has been keeping up to date, she has been on top of all the matters at BJC and Big C.
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And as you said, you've been working together since you
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got married. What is the partnership like? We share views very openly in front of everyone,
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I think. I think that the team from the start, might feel very different, because we sit,
8:03
both of us, at the top of the table, two of us, and then we debate, we share views, but
8:10
over time the executives, they know that we are very open to all opinions, to all conflicting
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views, for a very comprehensive picture. We only have one office in our building,
8:24
and two tables, and the important seat is Thapanee, so she's watching over me
8:30
in the room, so we follow the example, the great examples, of our father and our late mother.
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And when you get home, do you still talk business?
8:39
Nonstop. Nonstop. We both also instill the
8:44
work-life balance is “life is work and work is life,” and it is enjoying every moment of work.
8:53
But it's very important, because as a father of our three children,
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we are very pleased that at least our children can see how we work and leading by example.
9:04
What kind of leader are you? How would you describe your leadership style?
9:10
I start with listening a lot and respecting a lot, and having everyone being valued. So, it
9:19
is going to be a very supportive environment, and an opening up to any possibility or opportunity,
9:27
so everyone can grow and contribute. And it will give us the great foundation to
9:34
any challenges or transitioning ahead. We're seeing oil price volatility impacting
9:40
businesses around the world; inflation and the cost of living are squeezing consumer spending.
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How are you responding to all these challenges? I think we got the hype up of sales, and even now,
9:57
still we have to manage the supply chain very well. But at the same time,
10:02
along many years, I think we, involving AI, involving technology into the picture,
10:08
it helped a lot in creating the possibility and the cost saving or the optimization of all sorts.
10:16
Last year we achieved about 36 million US dollars just for this optimization.
10:23
And talking of AI, where do you use it most in the business?
10:27
I think the biggest impact for our retailers - they use AI for the delivery models,
10:34
so that means doing the truck optimization. It increased the sales 40% year-on-year. But
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for our manufacturing side, we involve it in the manufacturing process for the glass
10:46
packaging, because it's very energy consuming, so that is a big saving.
10:52
In 2026, Berli Jucker acquired Vietnamese wholesale distribution company MM Mega Market
10:59
from another entity within the wider TCC group for a reported sum of nearly $700 million.
11:07
What does this acquisition unlock that you don't already have?
11:13
We started the business expansion into Vietnam since 2010 because we know the Vietnam
11:21
is a big opportunity. I think if we're capturing the growth of Vietnam and the great opportunity to
11:28
acquire MM Mega Market, we will unlock expansion opportunity and their B2B business combining with
11:37
our B2C expertise that we have in Big C in Thailand, it will also be a bigger picture,
11:44
even for MM Mega Market, and also the expansion tech, along with the middle class growing very
11:52
rapidly. So, it's a next focus from us being focused in Thailand and international expansion.
11:58
We already have in a few countries, in Malaysia, in Cambodia, in Laos, in Hong Kong, but Vietnam is
12:05
still going to be, TCC group, the big next move. As part of the family’s succession strategy,
12:12
Thapanee’s father Charoen has transferred controlling stakes in key companies
12:18
equally between his five children, who are each associated with a different area of the group.
12:24
Thapanee oversees the industrial, trading and retail operations through Berli Jucker.
12:29
Atinant is involved in the group's finance and insurance companies.
12:33
Wallapa leads the hospitality and lifestyle real estate ventures.
12:38
Panote runs the group's global property development business.
12:42
And Thapana leads the food and beverage arm and oversees the TCC Group as Executive Chairman.
12:49
We all, as siblings, respect each other in our own pursuit in the focus attention into each business,
12:58
and it was what Dad has built from the start. And we focus in our own company, organization,
13:07
or industry, so that gives us a lot of room for flexibility, freedom, and also the focus
13:15
attention into the competitive area of each industry. But when we get a bit bigger and
13:21
it could be intertwined, and getting the synergy involved. I think it's probably also roughly about
13:29
the time that my mom passed away, and Dad moving on to giving the second generation to get to work
13:37
closely with each other, and he decided that my big brother, who is number three in the family,
13:44
being the leader of the second generation. And that makes it a very smooth transition. We
13:51
don't know yet, it has been only a few years, and we all still feel that we have to learn
13:57
how to work together. We come up together with many different views, we’re all very outspoken,
14:04
but we’re committed and respect that last final decision that has been made within the family
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council with my big brother as a leader. What about the third-generation members,
14:16
Thapanee? I believe there are 14 of them. We have one of them with us in the room today,
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your daughter. How involved do you think they will become in the business?
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We have about twice a year getting to meet with the third generation, and we having them
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presenting their mission dream, and then we also, as second generation, pitching to them
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what is best in each of the business industry to gauge their interest or to involve them in even
14:49
the factory trip or any kind of opportunities. Mom and Dad made it clear that we all work with
14:56
Dad and Mom, but for the third generation, our siblings agree that we let them choose,
15:02
but we will involve them along the way, and they will get to choose what is best fitted for
15:10
their expertise or preference going forward. And what is your advice to family businesses
15:17
and family offices managing portfolios and planning succession from your experience?
15:25
For family to be very close to each other and to be very close to the business, it's the key
15:31
essential. And that’s how we arrive with our family; it’s that open and close communication,
15:38
and the core belief that we will be together, and that's not going to separate us apart.
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And just finally, for more than six decades, your parents have built an
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incredible empire. What is the biggest business lesson that they taught you?
15:59
Dad and Mom, I think they are in agreement that please do not expand the business into the area
16:05
that is not related to us, it's only that extension of what is supporting the existing
16:12
business. And at last, it is the giving back to the society, and that's made not only us,
16:21
the family, or the management proud - I'm sure that everyone, every employees, are very proud
16:29
when we really have a positive impact to the community or society. So, we do a lot of these
16:36
community projects, and it is in our core belief. Thapanee, thank you so much for joining me here
16:44
today. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much.
