Tan Hiep Phat seeks foreign partners in wake of public outrage

Tan Hiep Phat’s sale aims to expand its operation after its scandalous fly-in-bottle dispute.

Accordingly, Tan Hiep Phat is seeking foreign investment for its facilities, and the privately owned drinks company has already been approached by international companies looking for a hold on the country's fast-growing consumer market. Besides, foreign investors may also join other units, including the green tea segment.

Tan Hiep Phat’s chairman Tran Qui Thanh said that in 2016 it would look for a foreign investor because the group neeedd a professional management team for its operations.

Established in 1994 and growing up to be Vietnam’s largest fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) business, Tan Hiep Phat specialises in producing herbal tea, green tea, sport drinks, energy drinks, soya milk, and purified water. Its products are present in a total of 63 cities and provinces, as well as 16 countries and territories over the world.

Tan Hiep Phat’s products have recently been boycotted on the Internet and scrutinised by the country’s consumer association, only days after winning a lawsuit that sent one of its consumers to prison. The boycott was initiated on the heels of a court ruling that a consumer in the southern province of Tien Giang be jailed for seven years for extorting money from the drink maker, threatening to go public with a bottle of Number 1 that had a fly inside.

At the same time, local authorities received complaints from local residents as hundreds of Tan Hiep Phat-made Dr Thanh herbal tea products were found containing strange objects.

The products sold are all within their expiry date, but white sediment can be easily seen floating at the bottom of the bottles, raising doubt over their quality, according to local food safety officers.

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