Hanoi: CP Vietnam Corporation plans to invest heavily in food production in Vietnam, especially in poultry and shrimp.
CP Group recently announced its plans at the 25th anniversary of operations in Vietnam.
Montri Suwanposri, president of CP Vietnam, said that since 1993 the group has invested 32.82 billion baht in CP Vietnam. He said Vietnam's economy has performed well, with 6.5% GDP growth annually.
In addition, the country has a large working population and a stable political situation, both positive factors for investment. Vietnam has also joined free-trade agreements with many countries, spurring exports.
"In particular, poultry products from Vietnam are expected to increase, and as such CP recently invested in the first phase of a poultry complex for export production," Mr Montri said. "The poultry complex is the most modern one in Southeast Asia, with a capacity of 1 million chickens per week. This would make CP Vietnam the second hub of poultry for overseas markets after CP Thailand, which produces about 30 million chickens a week."
The company has invested 6.43 billion baht in its poultry processing line in Binh Phuoc in southern Vietnam. The investment includes a broiler farm, hatchery and slaughter unit in the country, which has a good climate for poultry production for export.
Besides the poultry business, the company plans to invest in shrimp production, increasing capacity to 1 million tonnes a year from the current 20,000 tonnes, which is mostly exported to Japan, England, Australia, China and Europe.
The company also plans to increase the number of feed mills to support the growth of farm products. CP Vietnam operates seven feed mills with a production of 4.05 million tonnes a year, plus three aqua feed mills with production of 400,000 tonnes a year. The largest feed mill is in Hai Duong, a city near Hanoi, producing 720,000 tonnes a year.
Mr Montri said the company expansion plan of "Feed Farm Food" complements a Vietnamese government policy that promotes hygienic food business.
He said the group in the third quarter of 2018 generated 62 billion baht in revenue in Vietnam, with 60% from farm products, 33% from feed mills and 7% from food processing.
Suphat Srithanathorn, executive vice-president for food products at CP Vietnam, expressed confidence that the company would increase its market share in food processing to 40%.
"Vietnam's food and beverage market is worth 5.677 trillion baht, and CP holds a current market share of 32% for fresh chicken and 20% for sausage," Mr Montri said.
He said the company has improved its brand image this year by redesigning packaging in a more up-to-date, modern style. More ready-to-eat products are to be launched in the market, such as retort sausage, processed eggs, dim sum and sushi.
In addition, overall retail, accommodation and food/beverage services grew by 10.9% in 2017.
CP's business model of "Feed Farm Food" has created jobs for more than 100,000 families across Vietnam.
The group has more than 20,000 employees in the country. Over 98%, including high-level management, are Vietnamese.
Last year the company produced 5 million pigs, 200 million eggs and 80,000 tonnes of chicken products, together with 2,410 contract farms.
The company's business growth in Vietnam is about 12% a year.