OREANDA-NEWS. Sojitz Corporation (“Sojitz”) has acquired 43% equity interest in FB Foodservice (2017) Ltd. (“FBF”), a commercial wholesale foods company. FBF is a subsidiary of The Peace Canning (1958) Co. Ltd. (“PCC”), one of Thailand’s biggest canning manufacturers. This marks Sojitz’s first foray into Thailand’s commercial wholesale food service business.

FBF operates a wholesale business for canned goods manufactured by PCC and conducts a commercial wholesale food distribution service that offers fast delivery of a wide range of food products to members of the food service industry, including hotels, restaurants, and catering companies. In addition, FBF is equipped with the facilities for carrying out primary and secondary processing of meats, fishery products, and vegetables based on customer needs. FBF’s strength lies in its fast, one-stop service that provides everything from wholesale distribution to food processing, and this distinction has allowed the company to establish a large presence for itself within the industry.

Sojitz has built up its experience in the wholesale food business in the ASEAN region through operation of its major wholesale foods subsidiary, Huong Thuy Manufacture Service Trading Corporation.

Looking ahead, Sojitz Group will leverage Sojitz Foods’ know-how to diversify foodstuff procurement as well as strengthen and expand its primary and secondary food processing business by improving its food processing function with technological support from NittoBest Corporation (Head Office: Sagae-shi, Yamagata; Representative Director: Kazuhiko Ohnuma), a company Sojitz Group has partnered with in Vietnam to operate a daily/prepared food production and meat processing business. Sojitz will also begin a new central kitchen business that makes use of these functions in order to distinguish itself from other wholesale distributors and to meet the needs of Thailand’s food service industry. The aim is to reach JPY 10 billion in sales by 2020.

Among other countries in the ASEAN region, Thailand’s food service market is demonstrating notably stable economic growth and is forecast to grow further in the future. The need for wholesale food distributors who can meet the demands of expanding chain restaurants is now on the rise. Sojitz aims to contribute to Thailand’s food service industry while expanding this commercial wholesale food business. Additionally, Sojitz will accumulate greater knowledge regarding commercial wholesale food distribution and food processing, for the purposes of establishing similar businesses in other ASEAN countries.