Beverage giant Tan Hiep Phat-tied firm plans $153 mln to expand southern Vietnam plant

A company tied with Vietnamese beverage giant Tan Hiep Phat plans to invest VND4 trillion (153.3 million) to expand its beverage plant in the southern province of Hau Giang.

According to its environmental impact assessment, Number One Hau Giang Co., Ltd currently operates the Hau Giang plant, which has an annual capacity of 300 million liters and has been in operation since November 2017.

The proposed expansion will be implemented in two phases, increasing capacity to 600 million liters in phase two and to one billion liters in phase three.

In addition to beverages, the expanded facility will produce 100,000 tons of fructose syrup, 2.4 million PET bottles, and 30,000 tons of recycled plastic packaging annually.

Of the total investment of VND4 trillion, VND2.5 trillion ($95.8 million) will be allocated to the beverage unit, VND900 billion ($34.5 million) to fructose syrup production, and VND600 billion to the packaging facility.

Despite the project's scale, no official construction timeline has been disclosed. While phase one is currently operational, phases two and three have yet to show visible progress, although the company’s investment certificate projected phase two to begin by late 2023 and phase three by the end of 2024.

Number One Hau Giang has a charter capital of VND40 billion ($153,290) and is fully owned by family members of Tran Qui Thanh, founder of Tan Hiep Phat. In April 2024, Tran Qui Thanh was sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing trust to appropriate property.

On June 14, Vietnam’s National Assembly passed the amended Excise Tax Law, under which sugary drinks containing at least 5 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters will be subject to an 8% excise tax starting January 1, 2027, rising to 10% from 2028.