Jacques Marcille, co-founder and managing director of Kulara Water, spoke at the previous France-Cambodia Business Forum. In just a few minutes, the entrepreneur recounts the various stages of his success story with Kulen Water, which enjoys a great reputation in the Kingdom.
“I'd like to congratulate some of the companies here, who started with nothing, unlike us, Kulara Water, who started with something. That something was a company created in Vietnam, La Vie, which has now become the leading mineral water in the country. The first investor was a Frenchman, Bernard Forey, and I worked with him first to find a spring, then to set up the company, of which I was lucky enough to be the first director. All this was thanks to an old man called Yves Jacques, who worked for 20 years as Evian's technical director. It was he who taught me all about mineral water, which wasn't my speciality at all at the time, as I'm an oceanographer”.
“Mr Forey and I came to Cambodia and he immediately told me, when he saw the Kulen massif, that we had to find a spring in this region, which is not only magnificent but also the cradle of Khmer civilisation.”
“We finally found one, did the tests and decided to set up a factory 10 years ago. A year later, we started production in our factory, and have been present on the market ever since. Everything's running smoothly, and for a business to work, you first have to train people, whether in technical or any other area. We are very satisfied with all our Cambodian staff, engineers and technicians, who were trained by one of our employees from Vietnam”.
“In nine years, Eau Kulen has come a long way and we're very satisfied. We're almost 10 years into production and the plant is operating at full capacity. To meet demand, we had to find another source to develop, which we're in the process of doing. So we're building a second plant, and have been doing so since this year”.
“What I'm probably most proud of is that we only have 2% staff turnover, which is extremely low and proves that we manage to keep our staff and that they like working with us.”
“We have forged a number of partnerships, including one with Total. We have also developed a rare tree plantation with Jean-Baptiste Chevance's ADF. Of the twenty or so rare species in Cambodia, we have already collected a dozen that we are replanting. In addition to this initiative, we make sure that we always have trees in bloom on our land, so as to maintain the presence of bees. The Cambodian giant bee, which is unfortunately becoming a very rare species, can hopefully survive all year round in this area. I'm not sure, being 78 years old, that I'll see all the trees I've planted grow tall, as it takes them an average of fifteen years to reach flowering age, but maybe they'll wait for me, we'll see! ”.
Watch the video (in French)
The local representation of France's foreign trade advisors and the France-Cambodia Chamber of Commerce and Industry have confirmed that the 2024 edition of the France-Cambodia Business Forum will take place from 8 to 10 July 2024.
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