Acecook builds $200 mln noodle factory in southern Vietnam

Acecook Vietnam JSC, invested by Japanese noodle firm Acecook, kicked off the construction of a $200 million factory in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long last week.

The 11-hectare plant will have 17 production lines and is set to employ 3,000 people, making various products including noodles, rice noodles, vermicelli, and glass noodles. In the first phase with nine production lines in operation, the annual output is set to reach 1.2 billion packs.

The factory, Acecook’s 12th in Vietnam, will be partly powered by solar energy and biomass fuels.

Acecook entered Vietnam in 1993 and is one of the country's top noodle businesses. Prior to the latest addition, Acecook operated 11 factories across Vietnam, employing 6,000 people and supplying 3.4 billion servings a year. The firm’s average productivity is 600 packs per minute from each production line. In 2022, the firm made a revenue of nearly $600 million.

Vietnam was among the top three markets for instant noodles in the world over three years ending 2022, according to the World Instant Noodle Association. Some 8.48 billion packs of instant noodles were consumed in 2022, far higher than any other country other than China (including Hong Kong, 45.07 billion packs) and Indonesia (14.26 billion packs). On average, each Vietnamese person consumed 85 packs a year, ranking first in the world.