'Passion fruit king' Nafoods expands fruit processing investment in central Vietnam

Nafoods Group, one of Vietnam’s largest passion fruit processors, has raised the total investment for its high-tech fruit processing complex in Gia Lai province to VND744 billion ($28.24 million).

The Gia Lai government has approved an adjustment to the investment policy and reaffirmed Nafoods Tay Nguyen JSC as the project's investor. This marks the third revision since the project was first approved in February 2017, following earlier adjustments in 2019 and 2022.

The export-oriented high-tech fruit processing complex, also known as the fresh fruit sorting, packaging and preservation plant, will now have a total investment of VND744 billion.

Phase one, with an investment of VND104 billion, has been completed and operational since August 2022. Phase two, valued at VND640 billion ($24.29 million), is scheduled to complete construction by April 2026 and begin operations in June 2026.

The project spans more than 1.3 hectares and includes facilities for processing dried fruits and fruit juices, such as passion fruit, pineapple, dragon fruit, and soursop, with an annual input capacity of 100,000 tons.

It also features cold storage and preservation facilities with a storage capacity of about 1,000 tons, along with supporting facilities.

Nafoods Tay Nguyen, based in An Phu ward in Gia Lai, operates in seed production, farming services, and the processing and export of fruit juices and frozen fruits and vegetables.

The company is one of seven subsidiaries of Nghe An province-based Nafoods Group JSC (NAF), which holds a 99.86% stake as of September 30, 2025.

According to Nafoods’s 2024 annual report, Nafoods Tay Nguyen has charter capital of VND85.86 billion ($3.26 million). The Gia Lai complex is one of five factories and seed research facilities operated by the group nationwide.

The complex includes a high-tech agricultural seed research center, a fruit sorting and packaging plant for export, and a 10-hectare high-tech farming area focused on passion fruit seedlings and juice, with raw material consumption of about 65,000 tons per year.

Nafoods plans to further expand the facility, aiming to turn it into Asia’s largest passion fruit production and processing hub. Once fully operational, the plant is expected to handle up to 100,000 tons of passion fruit annually.

Founded in 1995, Nafoods is a leading Vietnamese agribusiness group spanning seed development, cultivation, processing and exports of fruit juices, frozen fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, nuts and fresh produce.

The company is widely known as Asia’s largest exporter of concentrated passion fruit juice.

More than 80% of Nafoods’s revenue comes from exports to over 70 countries across five continents, including Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and Australia, according to its 2024 annual report.

In financial terms, Nafoods reported net revenue of nearly VND628 billion ($23.84 million) in the third quarter of 2025, up more than 75% from a year earlier, while net profit rose 56% to nearly VND44 billion ($1.67 million).

For the first nine months of 2025, revenue reached nearly VND1.66 trillion ($62.93 million) and net profit exceeded VND115 billion ($4.37 million), up 49% and 25% year-on-year, respectively, completing about 84% of its full-year revenue target and 85% of its profit goal.

Binh Dinh and Gia Lai provinces were merged in July to form the new Gia Lai which borders Dak Lak province, Quang Ngai province, Cambodia, and the East Sea.