An ice-cream manufacturing chain seen in a factory of
Kido Group Corporation. Photo courtesy of the corporation. 

Packaged food producer Kido and dairy giant Vinamilk will invest VND400 billion ($17.49 million) in a new beverage company that targets an increased domestic market share. 

The nation’s largest dairy company in Vietnam, Vinamilk will have a 51 percent share in Vibev, the new company, and Kido, a producer of ice-cream and cooking oil, will own the rest.

Vibev, the Vinamilk – Kido Beverage Joint Venture Company, will focus on producing healthy non-carbonated drinks and ice-cream, with the first products to be launched in April.

The venture was announced in June last year. Vinamilk CEO Mai Kieu Lien told VnExpress earlier that Vinamilk and Kido together account for 50 percent of Vietnam’s ice-cream market, but this figure could go up to 60-70 percent when the new venture grows.

The two companies have over one million retail locations nationwide.

Vietnam's dairy industry last year earned revenues of VND135 trillion, an increase of more than 8 percent over 2019, thanks to rapid growth in the yogurt and fresh milk segments, according to market research company Euromonitor.