BINH DUONG, Vietnam – Tata Coffee, a subsidiary of Tata Group, is eyeing Vietnam’s southern province of Binh Duong, making good on a pledge last year.
Indronil Sengupta, a representative of the Indian conglomerate, informed Binh Duong authorities of the group’s proposal to invest the sum in a freeze dried instant coffee plant in the province.
The plant is expected to be located at the VSIP II Industrial Park, with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes per annum and an investment of US$50 million.
The plant in Vietnam will serve global customers new freeze-dried coffee product mixes.
Tata Coffee has made steady progress in growing its freeze-dried instant coffee business, which is now about 20 per cent of its overall instant coffee portfolio according to a Tata representative.
“This move is in line with the company’s strategy to strengthen its focus on differentiation and customer-centricity.
Tata Coffee’s commitment to quality, process improvement, sustainability, and understanding customers will help us grow in this market,” said Sanjiv Sarin, the company’s managing director, in a press release late last year.
Freeze-dried coffee is a growing sector globally in the instant coffee segment, Tata Coffee said. Instant coffee accounts for about 20 per cent of the global coffee consumption, with freeze-dried instant coffee remaining the most popular.
The company said that it is India’s second-largest exporter of instant coffee, and the country’s largest producer of speciality coffee. It also exports green coffee – unroasted beans – to countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America.
“Tata Coffee has made steady progress in growing its freeze-dried instant coffee business, which is now about 20 per cent of our overall instant coffee portfolio.
Vietnam is considered an attractive business environment, and is the largest robusta coffee growing region. The plant will help us further expand our global footprint,” Sarin said.
Tata Coffee already has 19 manufacturing plants in southern India, including sites at Coorg, Chickmaglur, and Hasan in the Indian state of Karnataka, and in Theni district within Tamil Nadu.
Established in 1922, Tata Coffee is the largest integrated coffee plantation company in the world.
Tata Coffee grows coffee on its own estates, processes the beans, exports green coffee, manufactures and exports instant coffee, and sells retail coffee with its own branding in its home market.
Vietnam is a major world coffee bean exporter. According to statistics published by the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Vietnam exported 1.79 million tonnes of coffee beans worth $3.36 billion last year.
