Korean confectioner Orion sees 12% Q1 sales boost in Vietnam, hitting $87 mln

South Korean confectioner Orion, known for its trademark product ChocoPie, earned revenues of KRW118.2 billion ($86.8 million) in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2024, up 12.3% year-on-year.

According to the its Q1/2024 performance review, Orion recorded operating profits of KRW19.5 billion ($14.3 million) in the period, up 18.9% year-on-year.

It attributed the strong performance to the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet), pushing up demand as well as improved sales of its pie products.

In Vietnam, pies were Orion’s biggest cash earner with KRW45.4 billion ($33.3 million), up 6.8% year-on-year, accounting for 41.6% of the total. Some of the major bestselling brands in this category were ChocoPie, Custas, and Cestbon.

Other key products were snacks with KRW37.1 billion ($27.2 million), up 4.3% year-on-year, accounting for 34% of the total; biscuits with KRW12.2 billion, up 12.5%, accounting for 11.2%; and gift sets with KRW8.1 billion, up 107.7%, accounting for 7.4%.

Orion in Vietnam recorded revenues of KRW9.3 billion ($6.8 million) from exports to Mongolia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in Q1, up 14.5% year-on-year.

Previewing Q2/2024, Orion said it would expand sales of ChocoPie and potato snacks, in addition to enlarging the market for its milk and beverage products.

Orion entered Vietnam in 1997 with a rep office in Ho Chi Minh City. It opened a factory in the southern province of Binh Duong in 2016 and another one in the northern province of Bac Ninh three years later.

Last week, at a Vietnam-South Korea trade promotion event held in Binh Duong, Orion and two Vietnamese partners – industrial real estate developer Becamex and technological solution provider VNTT – signed an agreement to upgrade its facility in the province to a smart factory.