Spread over 6,000sq.m at the Viet Nam-Singapore Park 1, the centre will research into chocolate and bakery and patisserie products and act as a logistics centre for Indochina. — Photo puratosgrandplace.com

BINH DUONG (Biz Hub) — Belgian-owned Puratos Grand-Place Viet Nam, which specialises in cakes, pastries, chocolate, and cocoa, yesterday opened an innovation and distribution centre in Binh Duong Province at a cost of US$2.5 million.

Spread over 6,000sq.m at the Viet Nam-Singapore Park 1, the centre will research into chocolate and bakery and patisserie products and act as a logistics centre for Indochina, Gricha Safarian, the company's managing director, said.

It is also a "fantastic state of the art tool" for training customers in using a wide range of products that the company manufactures in Viet Nam, he claimed.

PGPV currently buys around 1,000 tonnes of cocoa beans a year in Viet Nam, or 30 per cent of the country's total output. — VNS