CP Foods doubles investment in facilities in Vietnam and China

CP Foods will turn its Vietnamese facilities into an export hub

Vietnamese facilities that previously processed poultry for local buyers will be upgraded to start shipping chicken to customers elsewhere under plans unveiled last week by CP Foods CEO Prasit Boondoungprasert.

In addition, food-processing facilities in China will be expanded, according to Nikkei Asian Review.

Exports from the Vietnamese facilities were previously limited to shrimp and other seafood. The Charoen Pokphand Group member plans to convert them into an export hub. CP Foods expects to begin exports from Vietnam in a year and a half, Prasit said.

One anticipated destination is Japan, with CP Foods-arranged meetings already held between executives from such Japanese trading houses as Itochu and Sumitomo Corp. and Vietnamese government officials.

Presenting a new business strategy, Prasit said CP Foods aims to lift annual sales to THB800 billion ($26.13 billion) within five years from THB555.5 billion ($18.15 billion) for 2018.

The company, which generated 72 per cent of sales in overseas markets last year, seeks to lift this to 75 per cent by 2024.

With their home market ageing, Thai companies are shifting investments in neighbouring emerging countries into higher gear. Vietnam is the third-biggest market for CP Foods, after Thailand and China.

Earlier, in May, at the Binh Phuoc People’s Committee, the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and CP Vietnam Corporation, and the Binh Phuoc Department of Agriculture and Rural Development signed a co-operation agreement to develop a safe chicken production chain for local consumption and export in 2019-2020.

The project aims to develop a closed loop production chain to exclude the chance of diseases in line with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), contributing to the sustainability of the husbandry industry and the improvement of the value of local products, while boosting supply for the local market and exports.

The $200 million project will be developed by CP Vietnam Corporation with the annual capacity of 50 million chickens, equaling nearly one million chickens per week.