Cooking oil producer Tuong An Vegetable Oil Joint Stock Company (TAC) has said it will continue to focus on developing premium products this year.

At its annual general meeting in HCM City on Monday, company chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hanh told shareholders that the strategy of focusing on premium products has been in place since 2018.

The premium products market is steady and would not be affected by the happenings on the global market where cooking oil prices have fallen recently due to the US-China trade war and a general slowdown in the fast moving consumer goods sector.

To develop the segment, the company is revamping its distribution system and labelling and packaging to strengthen brand awareness so that consumers could easily recognise its premium products.

The management board said this year the company would continue to face challenges due to the global downtrend in cooking oil prices and the effect of the trade war on the global financial market.

But it said 2019 would still be a fruitful year since there is still room for the cooking oil market in Viet Nam to grow.

TAC said in a report tabled at the meeting: “The consumption in Viet Nam is still lower than the rate recommended by WHO. The market is forecast to grow strongly in the next five years to VND34 trillion [US$1.5 billion] by 2023 from VND25 trillion last year."

The company has set itself a revenue target of VND3.9 trillion and profit before tax of VND136 billion. It plans to pay a dividend of 20 per cent.

Last year, revenues and tax were VND4.4 trillion and VND136 billion.

The dividend for 2018 will be 24 per cent.

The company is a subsidiary of KIDO Group, a domestic giant food producer. — VNS