Satra strikes food partnership with CJ Group

                                                          Photo: CJ Vietnam

Partnership in a host of fields to come into being after deal signed between Vietnamese and South Korean sides.

South Korean giant the CJ Group has recently announced it will expand its food business in Vietnam through a partnership with the Saigon Trading Group (Satra).

A representative from CJ Vietnam’s Public Relations Department confirmed with VET on September 13 that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two parties was signed a few days ago in Seoul during a diplomatic visit by a Ho Chi Minh City government delegation.

Under the agreement, CJ CheilJedang, CJ Group’s food subsidiary, will work with Satra to develop new products based on a combination of existing products. The two will work together in an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) deal for CJ CheilJedang’s drinks in Vietnam in the near future.

CJ CheilJedang will help Satra upgrade its retail network’s facilities as well as improve its marketing via training courses along with marketing and promotion programs. It will also introduce a “CJ Zone” in Satra’s retail network for marketing imported South Korean products.

“The cooperation between the two companies will play an important role in the development of CJ’s food business in Vietnam,” said Mr. Kim Chul Ha, CEO of CJ CheilJedang. “It is not only a chance for South Korean products to be promoted in Vietnam but also an opportunity to raise competitiveness among local businesses.”

On the same day, another subsidiary, CJ Freshway, CJ’s food and food service distributor, also inked an agreement to become Satra’s exclusive distributor of South Korean fruit. CJ Freshway will work with Satra in planning and organizing supply chains for fresh fruit distribution as well as in improving cold storage systems to ensure stable supply and product quality.

Both companies will also be involved in the supply chain for livestock and fishery products of high quality with competitive prices and also establish a value chain for processing raw materials to gradually replace existing sources from China.

CJ CheilJedang is a core subsidiary in charge of the food and bio engineering business unit of the CJ Group. After being launched in 1953 as a food ingredient company, it continuously extended its business to processed foods. In 2007 it began to concentrate on the food and bio engineering business. It has led the development of the South Korean food industry for the past 60 years, becoming the nation’s leading food company.

CJ Freshway is also a leading company in South Korea’s food distribution and food service industry. Considered the first company with food material distribution since its beginning in 1999, CJ Freshway now provides about 20,000 types of food materials to food distribution agencies, canteens, hotels, franchised restaurants and general restaurants.

Saigon Trading Group (Satra) has established itself as one of the leading business corporations in Vietnam. Incorporated in 1995, Satra has developed from a State-owned enterprise into a multi-corporation enterprise with over 70 subsidiaries, affiliates and joint ventures, generating annual revenue of $2.07 billion last year. It currently operates 90 supermarkets and convenient stores around the country.

CJ Group has a 4 per cent stake in Satra’s affiliate, Vissan, Vietnam’s leading food manufacturer. The South Korean retailer first set foot in Vietnam in 1998 and is involved in logistics, entertainment, communications, food and film production.

It has plans to pour an additional $500 million into M&A deals in the fields of food, bio-technology, retail and entertainment in Vietnam. In the first half of this year it injected $2.1 million into a chili plantation with the Korean International Cooperation Agency and farmers in south-central Ninh Thuan province.

by Hong Nhung / vneconomictimes.vn