Food Empire to invest US$37 million to expand India coffee facility, eyes Asia for growth
This will boost the facility's capacity by around 60 per cent and support the growth of Food Empire's core branded consumer business, the group said on Wednesday (Jul 9).
The move comes as the performance of Food Empire's fast-growing branded consumer business has driven four straight years of record revenue growth, said Sudeep Nair, group chief executive officer and executive director of Food Empire.
'This has given us the confidence to expand our ingredients manufacturing business, which will not only position us strongly as a leading player in soluble coffee in Asia, but more importantly it will serve as a vital link to support the growth of our branded consumer business as we continue to invest in brand-building activities across our markets,' he said.
The company said in its 2024 annual report that its ingredients manufacturing business, which includes freeze-dried and spray-dried soluble coffee manufacturing, has delivered strong results. Besides the ingredients manufacturing business, its portfolio also includes instant beverages and snack foods – such as flavoured coffee mixes, instant cereal blends and potato chips.
The expansion comes under Food Empire's ongoing vertical integration initiatives to enhance control of its entire coffee processing cycle, and will sustain the leading position of its brands across its markets, the group said.
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Its products are sold in more than 60 countries across North Asia, Eastern Europe, South-east Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and North America. It also has nine manufacturing facilities in six countries.
Construction works for the expansion are set to commence in the fourth quarter of 2025 and will complete by end-2027.
Spotlight on Asia as strategic growth region
Food Empire has made other recent investments in Asia, which it views as a 'strategic region of growth'.
These include an upcoming coffee-mix production facilitiy in Kazakhstan, which is expected to be completed by end-2025, and an US$80 million freeze-dried soluble coffee manufacturing facility in Binh Dinh, Vietnam, announced in September 2024, which is set to be constructed by 2028.
In particular, Food Empire's South-east Asia segment has climbed to become the largest contributor to its revenue for the first quarter ended March 2025.
The segment's growth was mainly due to strong sales of branded consumer products in Vietnam, which has emerged as Food Empire's fastest-growing market in recent years as a result of the success of its brand-building activities.
Revenue from Vietnam surged 44.6 per cent in Q1 2025 on the back of an enhanced sales force, effective marketing promotions and campaigns, and interactive consumer engagement activities that reinforced brand loyalty and boosted new customer acquisition.
Shares of Food Empire finished Wednesday 2.2 per cent or S$0.04 higher at S$1.90.
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