Korean confectionery and snack co. Orion enjoys brisk sales in Vietnam

South Korea’s confectionery and snack maker Orion Corp. is enjoying rapid growth in Vietnam, thanks to brisk sales of the Choco-Pie, a chocolate-covered snack cake, and O'Star, a potato chip product.

Orion announced on Thursday its accumulated sales from January to November this year reached 406.7 billion won ($318 million), a 38% jump from the same period last year. 

The January-November figure is already above the last year’s total through the end of December. 

The confectionery and snack maker established a Vietnamese branch in 2005, which saw more than 200 billion won in sales in 2016. The figure exceeded 300 billion won last year.

From Choco-Pie sales alone, Orion enjoyed an annual revenue of 100 billion won in the Southeast Asian market. 

The chocolate cake is included in wedding favors or put on shrines for ancestors in Vietnam. 

In the meantime, O’Star ranked first place among potato snacks in Vietnam, the sales of which rose 39% compared to the same period a year prior. 

Experts say the full localization of the production facilities and the flavor profile fitting Vietnamese tastebuds are key factors to its success in the Southeast Asian country. 

Another reason is the ability to build connections with the distributors to find more than 170 dealers throughout the country.

“Cleaning the display areas whenever we visit distributors in a show of good faith has paid off,” an employee of Orion said.

Write to Soo-Jung Ha at agatha77@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.