Rubis Guyana Inc West Indies Ltd may have every reason to believe that its new Lightweight Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) Composite Bottle may, potentially, provide a significant breakthrough in the cooking gas sector.
The company is talking up the new cylinder which it launched in parts of coastal Guyana earlier this week and which is already in use elsewhere in the region. Sleek, attractive and encased in a sleeve meant as much for ‘looks’ as for protection, the new cylinder’s marketing thrust is centred around advantages that may be tough to beat. That is the view of local Rubis Engineering Director Augustine Harris who outlined to Stabroek Business some of the particular features which he believes could attract the new container to consumers. He points, first, to the fact that the composite container allows
for visibility of the gas level, courtesy of a see-through construction technique that puts an end to guessing and agonizing over the fear of gas running out without warning. Harris says consumers are likely to be equally mindful of the fact that when empty, the regular steel cylinder weighs approximately 22 pounds. By contrast, the composite cylinder weighs 10 pounds, but still holds a greater volume of gas. The company, Harris says, also believes that one of the primary selling points of the new cylinder is its resistance to rust, encased as it is in a plastic sleeve which can easily be rendered clean by applying a wipe with soapy water. Harris says that that apart from the fact that the new cylinder adds an uplifting touch to even the most attractive kitchen, it also saves the company the considerable sums of money which it will no longer have to spend ‘sprucing up’ the old, unsightly cylinders. The company also wants consumers to know that no additional costs have been added to the product on account of the introduction of the new container and no new fittings are required to put the new container into use.
Designed by the Norwegian company Hexagon Ragasco, Harris says the composite LPG cylinder is designed as the modern alternative to the traditional steel cylinders. He believes it is all about applying contemporary technology to improve the quality of products. He told Stabroek Business that the cylinder is a three-layered product made from advanced polymeric and composite materials.
Rubis Guyana’s Safety Manager Robert Chin-Hong told Stabroek Business that the use of the composite container by Rubis was a reflection of the premium which the company places on the safety of its cylinders. Chin-Hong said Rubis was mindful of the fact that cooking gas was used by a wide cross section of consumers, a circumstance that gave rise to the need for a company policy that continually placed safety high on its list of priorities. With approximately 8 million units in use on several markets worldwide the Norwegian manufacturers boast that their product is the safest in the world.
The launch of the new product comes just over two years after Rubis West Indies Limited launched its brand in Guyana in December 2012.
A French private company established in 1990, it took over Texaco-branded service stations.
