Tetra Pak breaks ground on $110-million factory in Binh Duong

Tetra Pak, the world’s leading food processing and packaging solutions company, today broke ground on its new, state-of-the-art regional packaging material factory at Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park II-A in the southern province of Binh Duong.

Built with an investment of $110 million, the 100,000-square-metre facility will have an expandable capacity of 20 billion packs per annum and is expected to begin commercial operations by early 2019. The factory will produce a variety of packaging formats, including the popular Tetra Brik Aseptic and Tetra Fino Aseptic packages.

“This, our fourth packaging materials factory in the region, is a strategic addition to our existing production footprint, enabling us to meet the rapidly growing demand for dairy and beverage packaging in Vietnam as well as the Asia-Pacific region”, said Chris Kenneally, president of Tetra Pak South Asia, East Asia & Oceania.

“We have always believed in the potential of the region, and this investment is an important step towards shaping the future of its packaging industry. The new factory will give us much better coverage and scale, helping us provide our customers with shorter lead times, consistent supplies, and improved efficiency and flexibility,” he said.

Packed liquid dairy and fruit-based beverages sales across the ASEAN, South Asia, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand are expected to grow at a rate of 5.6 per cent annually up to 2019.

In Vietnam, the market is expected to grow faster at a cumulative growth rate of 6.5 per cent during the same period. The dairy category, which remains the country’s biggest, is projected to see per capita consumption doubled to 28 litres per annum by 2020, while the fresh juice and purees market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 17.5 per cent over the next five years.

The new factory will leverage best-in-class innovations and experiences from all over the world, deploying the latest technology and equipment.

The virtual design for the plant

With sustainability as a longstanding strategic pillar of the company, the new factory is envisioned to be one of the greenest in the Tetra Pak system, and will be one of the first factories in the country to apply the latest, most-demanding environmental standards set by the globally-recognised LEED Certification.

The site will leverage best practices from Tetra Pak’s more than five decades of building experience to minimise its environmental footprint, which includes implementing an innovative “Energy Monitoring System” that monitors and acts on all energy and CO₂ losses.

“The investment reflects Tetra Pak’s commitment to contribute to Vietnam’s socioeconomic growth,” shared Robert Graves, managing director of Tetra Pak Vietnam, who noted that with the country being one of the region’s manufacturing powerhouses, the new factory will help strengthen its capability to become part of the global supply chain, besides positively impacting related industries.

The facility’s 200+ employees will also receive hands-on training on the use of highly automated technology utilised at the factory.

“The combination of highly skilled employees and cutting-edge technology will surely help set a new standard for food packaging in Vietnam and enable innovation sharing and transfer that will benefit the industry,” said Graves.

Source: VIR