Vinamilk, Kido pull plug on bottled water joint venture

Vinamilk, the country’s largest dairy company, decided to end its joint venture with ice-cream producer Kido with effect from December 1 due to “certain changes in the development perspective of both parties.”

Kido gave a similar statement, elaborating that the unpredictable changes in the domestic market and global economy were also a factor.

Vibev was registered in March 2021, and started out with an investment of VND400 billion (US$16.3 million).

Vinamilk held a 51 percent share and Kido the rest.

Mai Kieu Lien, CEO of Vinamilk, had said then that the collaboration stemmed from the two companies seizing mutually beneficial opportunities.

Its product launch had been delayed by several months by the Covid pandemic, but the company had ambitious goals like maintaining its dominant share in the bottled water market and producing 150 million bottles annually (equating to sales of VND 2 trillion) within five years.