The company grew rapidly in the 1960s when the United States stationed large numbers of diplomatic and military personnel in Thailand during the Vietnam War, and expanded to become one of the largest drinking water bottlers in Asia.
[2] The gas plant had a good groundwater source for its cooling towers, which North, at the suggestion of a friend in the industry, realized could be used to introduce bottled water to the country.
[2] North was unable to secure bank credit for the initial investment, and had to rely on funding from investors in the new company,[3] in which she earned 23 percent of shares.
[6] She ordered 1,200 dozens of bottles from the Owens-Illinois Glass Company[3] and imported machinery for the operation,[7] which drew water from artesian wells and filtered and treated it with chlorine.
[8] Bottled water eventually found a market among Thai customers as the expanding urban middle class increasingly adopted a modern lifestyle.
Under Alvizo, the company expanded and diversified in response to rising competition, most notably from beer producer Singha, who had made excursions into the bottled water market.
[3][12] Polaris introduced a soda water product (stepping into Singha territory),[13] and the company also licensed the French soft drink brand Orangina for the Thai market in 1993.