Japan food firm Kyokuyo completes $14 mln factory in southern Vietnam

Kyokuyo Vina Foods Co., Ltd., under Japan’s food firm Kyokuyo, has completed the construction of a JPY2.1 billion ($13.5 million) factory, its first facility in Vietnam.

Covering 1.2 hectares in Duc Hoa 1 Industrial Park in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, the facility will manufacture boiled fish and grilled fish, and processed crab products, Kyokuyo said in a Tuesday statement.

It is set to begin full-scale operation in February 2025, with an annual output of 5,000 tons, mainly serving the Japanese market.

Kyokuyo said the plant is part of its medium-term plan to expand production to overseas areas, to diversify risks by easing the concentrated production in China.

The firm is also considering another factory in Vietnam as its Southeast Asia production base, serving the regional market with growing incomes and health consciousness.

Registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam totaled $27.26 billion in the first 10 months of this year, up 1.9% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Long An province ranked 12th with $701.1 million, down 0.5% year-on-year.

Vietnam earned $8.27 billion from exporting fishery products in the first 10 months of 2024, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). Japan was the third-biggest market with $1.25 billion.