By WEE LI-EN
SINGAPORE-BASED Tee Yih Jia Food (TYJ) Manufacturing and Super Coffeemix have joined China's biggest vinegar producer, Jiangsu Hengshun Vinegar Industry, to build a 500 million yuan (S$98.5 million) vinegar plant in Zhenjiang City.
The joint venture company, Jiangsu Hengshun Seasoning & Food Development, is 49 per cent owned by TYJ and Super Coffeemix while Shanghai-listed Jiangsu Hengshun owns the remaining 51 per cent.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, together with officials from Jiangsu province, Zhenjiang City and International Enterprise Singapore, attended the ground-breaking ceremony for Hengshun Seasoning's 250,000-square-metre new facility on Saturday.
The plant is expected to produce 200,000 tonnes of vinegar by early 2008 when the first phase of the project is completed. The second phase is expected to add another 300,000 tonnes in capacity by 2012, costing an additional 800 million yuan.
Jiangsu Hengshun chairman Ye Youwei said he hoped to list Hengshun Seasoning in Singapore in the next three to five years. He said his company had decided to work with TYJ and Super Coffeemix because 'Singapore companies are well regarded internationally, especially in the global food and beverage industry'.
'The construction of this state-of-the-art plant marks the launch of our next phase of growth as we expand our capacity and capabilities to extend our reach into both our domestic and international markets,' Mr Ye said.
Jiangsu Hengshun has an annual production capacity of about 100,000 tonnes, about 4 per cent of China's total vinegar market.
Hengshun Seasoning's new plant, to be helmed by a Singaporean general manager, will have state-of-the-art equipment and material-handling machinery incorporating one of the most advanced environmental protection and recycling systems in the country.
TYJ's chairman Sam Goi said that the Hengshun brand is a household name in China and has the potential to grow internationally and 'become a global brand such as Heinz'.
'Against the backdrop of strong growth prospects for the vinegar business in China and beyond, Hengshun Seasoning is expected to benefit from TYJ and Super Coffeemix's extensive global distribution networks.'
