Japan dairy giant Megmilk Snow Brand to establish Vietnam subsidiary

Japan's leading diary maker Megmilk Snow Brand will establish a Vietnamese subsidiary with charter capital of VND265 billion ($10.4 million) this September.

The company said in a Tuesday statement that the move was part of its overseas expansion under a medium-term development plan with particular focus Southeast Asian, East Asia and Oceania.

The Vietnamese subsidiary will make and sell cheese, it said.

It has assessed that the cheese market in Vietnam is expanding due to economic growth, population growth and an increase in the middle-income class that drives food consumption. It also expects the market to grow further in the future.

Vietnam’s dairy market is underdeveloped with production only meeting only 40% of domestic consumption, Tran Quang Trung, chairman of the Vietnam Dairy Association, had said last month.

He said liquid milk and powder milk accounted for 70% of the market’s revenue, while other dairy products like yoghurt accounted for the rest.

According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam’s dairy output in 2023 included 1.86 billion liters of fresh milk, up 7.5% year-on-year; and 154,800 tons of powder milk, up 0.1%. The country spent $1.16 billion on importing milk and dairy products in 2023, down 7.3% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.