Opella drives the shift towards a healthier society and planet

May 2025 marked an important milestone for Opella when it launched as a standalone company. This continues its legacy of more than 70 years in Vietnam, where sustainability has always been embedded in the way the company operates.

The sustainability journey

In Vietnam, Opella has its manufacturing site in Ho Chi Minh City and its only research and development (R&D) centre in Asia is also based here. This shows the company’s long-term strong commitment to the country.

The state-of-the-art facility in Saigon Hi-Tech Park stands as a regional benchmark. Certified by WHO-GMP, Australia’s TGA, and Korea’s MFDS, the park is equipped with cutting-edge automation. This site serves not only Vietnamese consumers but also exports to 13 international markets, elevating the region’s confidence in Vietnam as a hub for high-quality healthcare products.

A defining moment in Opella’s global sustainability journey came in June, when it became the first global consumer healthcare company to achieve B Corp Certification. This milestone is not just a badge of honour, it reflects a bold, multi-year transformation of its entire business model.

“It demonstrates that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest global standards for social, environmental, and ethical performance, and we’ve built that accountability into the very fabric of our leadership and decision-making,” Valentina Belcheva, general manager of Vietnam and Cambodia, told VIR.

Valentina Belcheva, general manager of Vietnam and Cambodia, Opella. Photo: Opella

Opella’s move is in alignment with responsible and sustainable investment trends among EU businesses. According to EuroCham, 66 per cent of European companies are actively engaged in bilateral trade and supply chains, bringing capital and technology to support a sustainable business ecosystem and Vietnam’s Net Zero 2050 goal.

2025 marks the fifth anniversary of the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), a milestone in strengthening bilateral cooperation. A key highlight of Vietnam-EU relations is the shared commitment to sustainable development, with the EVFTA driving EU businesses to invest in responsible and sustainable sectors, clean technology, and circular economy initiatives.

What truly sets it apart is how Opella localises these ambitions into real, measurable impacts on the ground. In Vietnam, the company has operationalised these global standards into meaningful, high-impact actions. Its manufacturing site, for example, runs entirely on 100 per cent renewable energy and has remained landfill-free since 2023, a testament to the company’s commitment to responsible and sustainable operations.

It is also transforming its operations to advance circularity, reduce single-use plastic, and increase recycled and reusable materials across the supply chain, while taking a holistic approach to water stewardship - reusing wastewater from cooling systems and harvesting rainwater to reduce its environmental impact.

On the societal front, the company goes far beyond delivering quality products. It collaborates with the government and healthcare stakeholders to strengthen Vietnam’s healthcare system, promote self-care, and improve health literacy. It also champions community wellbeing, exemplified by initiatives like the School Hygiene Project, recognised by AmCham three years in a row for its outstanding contribution to public health and education.

Opella’s annual CSR initiatives - School Hygiene Project. Photo: Opella

"These are not one-off projects; they are long-term environmental and social commitments embedded in our sustainable roadmap aligned with Vietnam’s green growth and our global planet mobilisation targets” she added. “By making sustainability tangible and accountable at every level, we are not only meeting expectations, we are helping raise the bar for what responsible business should look like.”

Vietnam’s healthcare sector is accelerating innovation and sustainable development to increase health accessibility to local people. And on this path, it needs support from stakeholders.

Core pillars of sustainable care commitment

Opella’s sustainable care commitment serves as a guiding principle for innovation and product delivery, aligned with evolving consumer expectations and contributing to a fair, inclusive, and regenerative economy.

Accordingly, it has focused R&D to deliver products that meet Vietnamese consumers’ rising demand for personal healthcare. By 2025, healthcare is projected to rank among the top three household spending categories (48 per cent).

The company is also driving the shift towards an inclusive, fair, and circular economy by transforming its operations to support long-term sustainability.

“Our responsibility extends beyond product excellence. We are transforming the health journey through education, QR-enabled digital labelling, and engaging formats that make health information both accessible and actionable. We also invest in the ongoing development of healthcare professionals, empowering them to be champions of responsible self-care in their communities,” said Belcheva.

Opella’s sustainability agenda is anchored in its Sustainable Care Pledge, a global, enterprise-wide framework that unifies its actions under two strategic pillars: healthy society and healthy planet.

Healthy society reflects the business’ belief that everyone deserves the knowledge, tools, and confidence to take charge of their health. It drives large-scale awareness campaigns on disease prevention and responsible self-care, improves access to healthcare information through innovative digital tools, and supports the professional development of healthcare workers. Internally, it cultivates a purpose-driven culture, one that values inclusion, wellbeing, and equal opportunity for every employee.

Healthy planet defines the company’s responsibility to preserve and protect the environment. It is radically rethinking its operations, reducing emissions, accelerating the use of renewable energy, optimising water use, and moving towards circularity across the value chain. Sustainability is no longer an initiative, it’s how it does business.

“Just as critical is our approach to governance. We operate with uncompromising integrity, transparency, and compliance, ensuring that our sustainability commitments are embedded not only in strategy but also in execution, across every level of our organisation in Vietnam and beyond,” Belcheva shared.

Future vision

With significant milestones, especially in sustainable development and consumer healthcare, Opella has been making meaningful contributions to Vietnam’s healthcare sector as a leading multinational self-care company with French heritage, with sustainability at the heart of its commitment.

Looking forward, Belcheva shared that Opella’s ambition is bold and unwavering: to become the best and most trusted fast-moving consumer healthcare company in and for Vietnam. To achieve this, sustainability is not a department, it’s a mindset, a commitment, and a competitive advantage.

“We are on track to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2027 at our Vietnam site, with projects already underway to expand renewable energy use, install rooftop solar, and further enhance water and waste systems,” she shared. On the societal front, the firm will continue scaling initiatives that deliver real health impacts, from deepening its support for healthcare professionals, to expanding its hygiene, education, and access programmes in underserved communities.

In awareness that achieving sustainable healthcare at scale requires collaboration, the business plans to continue building strong partnerships with government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and industry peers to advance Vietnam’s health and sustainability goals.

“Ultimately, we see our role not only as a provider of trusted self-care solutions, but as a catalyst for systemic change. We are committed to driving a model of growth that is inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, one that inspires others to act, not just follow,” she noted.

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