Orion inks deal for collaboration with VNUA on potato production

[Courtesy of Orion]

South Korea’s Orion Corp. announced Friday that its Vietnam subsidiary has signed an agreement with the Agricultural and Biological Research Institute under Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) to cooperate in the production and supply of seed potatoes and raw potatoes.

The signing ceremony took place at the university in Hanoi on Thursday with Orion Vietnam Chief Executive Officer Park Se-yeol and VNUA Vice President Pham Van Cuong among the attendees.

Orion and VNUA have agreed to develop new potato varieties that are well-suited to the Vietnamese environment, emphasizing quality and productivity.

Since 2008, Orion has been producing potato snacks in Vietnam through local contract farming. The O’Star potato chip by Orion holds the top market share in the Vietnamese potato snack market.

Orion has also been actively involved in supporting the local potato farming community.

Since 2016, the company has been running the Vietnam Hometown Potato Support Project, focusing on enhancing potato farm productivity to increase income.

Over the past eight years, Orion has contributed about 1.3 billion won ($1 million), providing farm machinery, research facilities, scholarships, and more to local farms and VNUA.

Orion established its first local production facility in Ho Chi Minh City in 2006, marking the beginning of its expansion into the Vietnamese market.

In 2009, the company started operating its second factory in Hanoi. Orion Vietnam achieved a sales milestone of 400 billion won in 2022 and is currently expanding and upgrading its facilities in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to meet the growing local demand.