Mr Aloe Vera plans to take on Thai rivals in S Korea, Japan

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting on March 7, the man dubbed Mr Aloe Vera, said the target is to capture 15-20% of the South Korean and Japanese markets in the next three years.

G.C Food now has a market share of 8% in South Korea and 9% in Japan. Thailand is the largest supplier of aloe vera products to the two with a share of some 40%.

According to Thu, Thai firms have more modern technology and so are marginally better in terms of product diversity. Due to bigger output and the better development of supporting industries, especially packaging, their prices are 10-15% lower than that of Vietnamese products, he said.

But Vietnamese aloe vera processors can compete with their Thai rivals in terms of quality, he said.

G.C Food plans to expand its aloe vera growing area to 500 hectares by 2025 to increase output to 40,000-45,000 tons of finished products a year.

It also plans to launch more products made from aloe vera such as drinking water and cosmetics. “Vietnamese agricultural products benefit greatly from preferential tax rates thanks to free trade agreements with South Korea and Japan, while Thailand does not,” Thu said.

Japan and South Korea consume a variety of drinks, milk and other foods containing aloe vera. South Korea itself exports aloe vera beverages to North America and Europe. Thus it needs an average of 30,000 tons of products a year. The demand in Japan is for 15,000 tons.

G.C Food is a leading aloe vera producer in Vietnam with an annual output of 12,000-15,000 tons and a presence in 20 countries around the world.

G.C Food said it is the only company in Vietnam to sells products to big brands such as OKF, the world’s leading aloe vera juice producer, Lotte, the fifth largest, and Morinaga, Japan’s second largest dairy firm.

G.C Food plans to enter new markets in the Middle East, China and Europe. Eastern Europe is expected to account for 15-20% of its total revenues starting this year.

Last year’s sales of VND433 billion are expected to double by 2025. Its pre-tax profits were VND35 billion.
Also last year G.C. Food listed on the UpCOM stock market.