Levi Strauss finds Vietnam a good fit for jeans production

Vietnam’s young population offers foreign firms a rich gene pool to employ from

The global leader in jeanswear Levi Strauss is looking to make Vietnam its production hub for exporting jeans to Asia.

Levi Strauss CEO John Anderson last week visited Vietnam and said the nation was an important part of the ongoing development of the company’s business in Asia.

“We looked at other countries but picked Vietnam because of its young, highly literate, talented and available workforce and its close proximity to our Asia-Pacific markets. Also, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies coupled with a young population,” Anderson told VIR.

“Vietnam is very important to Levi Strauss and it is one of our most important sourcing countries and is also a growing market for the retail sale of our products through our distributor, Thanh Bac,” he said.

Last year, Levi Strauss started operating its first new jeans finishing facility in northern Ninh Binh province, two hours drive from Hanoi, where Levi Strauss adds a “look” to jeans.

With the estimated investment of $8 million in equipment and machinery, the facility’s current capacity is six million units per day, and all of the facility’s jeanswear are exported to Asian markets, which contributed about 17 per cent of Levi Strauss’ annual global sales in fiscal year 2010.

Anderson said that Levi Strauss had already planned to raise its capacity at the Ninh Binh facility to 10,000 units per day so as to satisfy both regional and domestic demand.

“We will continue to invest in the brand in Vietnam especially in terms of brand presentation. We want the brand to be represented in each and every key city in Vietnam,” he said.

Levi Strauss’ products are now sold in more than 110 countries worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and franchised and company-owned stores.

As of February 27, 2011, the company operated 482 stores within 31 countries and its reported fiscal 2010 net revenues were $4.4 billion.