New food joint venture goes up in Vietnam

October 13, 2012 | 08:20

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Belgium’s confectionery manufacturers Puratos Group and Grand-Place Holding on Thursday signed a deal to set up a joint venture in Vietnam.

Daniel Malcorps (L), CEO of Puratos Group, and Gricha Safarian, President of Grand-Place, sign the joint venture deal on Thursday

The new joint venture, called Puratos Grand-Place Vietnam, will specialize in bakery, patisserie and chocolate, and make an investment of $10 million over the next five years.

Gricha Safarian, President of Grand-Place and General Director of Puratos Grand-Place Vietnam, said Puratos owned 70 pct of the joint venture while the rest was held by Grand-Place.

The $10 million will be used to expand the capacity of the plant and the logistics center in Binh Duong Province, and the chocolate production capacity will be doubled to over 10,000 tons per year. Besides, the venture will develop a product research and development center, he said.

According to Piet Sanders, regional director for Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific at Puratos, with the population growth and the confectionery industry’s fast development in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the next five years is a suitable time to strengthen the group’s position in the region.

Founded in Belgium in 1984, Grand-Place opened a representative office in Vietnam ten years later, and the $4-million Grand-Place chocolate plant in Binh Duong Province was put into operation in 2009.

SGT

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