New juice firms stir up market
Fresh players are eagerly stepping into the local peachy fruit juice market. Nafoods Group JSC, one of several major domestic juice companies in Vietnam, is increasing investment capital to expand its market share.
The firm, currently holding over 10% of the world’s condensed passion fruit products, will invest VND2.05 trillion (US$93.2 million) into a project to construct more processing facilities and rent more land.
Nafoods’ Juice Smile brand of fruit concentrates entered the market in late 2015, with five different types of fruit juice including passion fruit, pineapple, pomegranate, orange, and grape at its FTN factory in Spain, which meets European standards.
Last year, Nafoods posted US$25 million in export value of products including fruit purees, fresh and frozen vegetables and fruit, and nutritious drinks.
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International FOOD JSC has also joined the market by rolling out its new Wonderfarm brand of natural orange juice, which was made on an aseptic packaging line at the state-of-the-art Kirin Vietnam plant to complete heads-on with similar products in the market.
Vietnam’s beverage market has witnessed robust growth in recent years, with consumers showing a rising preference for natural juices.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade predicts that production of local vegetable and fruit juice could hit six billion litres by 2017 as consumers display an increasing appetite for fresh fruit juices.
According to the Vietnam Beer, Alcohol, and Beverage Association (VBA), local consumers serve as the main output market for non-alcoholic beverages, making up about 85% of the sector’s total revenue.
A recent VBA survey revealed that because there was room for further growth in the domestic juice market, most of the companies in the sector intend to boost their capacity by at least 20% compared to last year, specifically by making juice products from fresh fruit. “Fresh juices and purees could grow at an average 17.5% annually in the next five years. The market share of top firms, however, may be reduced by fresh new players”, the survey stated.
According to experts, it is likely that Vinamilk, the leading dairy company in Vietnam. And privately held beverage group Tan Hiep Phat will no longer retain their dominance in the domestic juice market after many new players have started squeezing this lucrative field.
