Home > Business > Industry

New Vietnam Hitejinro plant will pump out 5 million crates of soju a year

Published: 06 Feb. 2025, 17:43 Updated: 06 Feb. 2025, 18:52

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

HiteJinro executives and government officials including Hitejinro CEO Kim In-kyu, eighth from left, and Thai Binh General Secretary Nguyen Khac Than, tenth from left, take a commemorative photo on Feb. 5 at the groundbreaking ceremony for Hitejinro's factory in Thai Binh, Vietnam. [HITEJINRO]

Hitejinro, Korea's largest soju producer, began constructing its first overseas plant in Thai Binh, Vietnam, the distillery said Thursday.

The factory, set to begin production in 2026, will serve as a logistics hub to expand the distillery's Jinro soju brand in the global market. The manufacturer expects it to produce up to 5 million crates of the drink per year.

The Vietnam plant is located in the Green i-Park industrial complex and will span around 82,083 meter squares (883,534 square feet), the size of 11 football fields.

A groundbreaking ceremony took place on Wednesday with company executives, government officials and press including Hitejinro CEO Kim In-kyu and Thai Binh General Secretary Nguyen Khac Than in attendance, according to Hitejinro.

The company announced its vision to make Jinro a global household name last year as part of its 100-year anniversary celebrations. It aims to export 500 billion won ($345 million) worth of soju by 2030.

The company said in 2024 that the new plant would produce fruit soju and help distribute the beverage to more than 86 countries including Japan, China and the United States in addition to Vietnam. The company, at the time, targeted an annual output of 1 million cases, or around 30 million bottles, of soju, with initially one production line. This accounted for around 17 percent of Hitejinro's total overseas sales target that year.

Hitejinro's flagship brands of the clear, distilled alcoholic beverage are Chamisul Fresh, which also comes in fruit flavors, and Jinro Soju.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]