Mondelez Kinh Do makes great progress in building a sustainable snacking company
Realizing its mission to lead the future of snacking, the company has made great efforts to promote sustainability and well-being agendas through various initiatives.
Voted recently as one of the most outstanding foreign-invested enterprises in green growth and sustainable development in Vietnam at the Golden Dragon Awards 2023, Mondelez Kinh Do, a member of the global snacking powerhouse Mondelēz International, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, has reaffirmed its commitment to empowering people to snack right.
After eight successful years in Vietnam since one of the country’s largest M&A deals in the confectionery industry, Mondelez Kinh Do, now a 100 per cent foreign-invested enterprise, is well positioned to become the snacking leader with a long-term growth strategy towards building a sustainable snacking company in Vietnam.
Significant long-term growth
In Vietnam, Mondelez Kinh Do offers market-leading brands and a broad portfolio of products in key categories that drive its success and help maintain its leading position. Through iconic global and local brands such as Cosy biscuits, Kinh Do mooncakes, Solite cakes, Slide potato chips, AFC crackers, OREO cookies, RITZ crackers, LU biscuits, Toblerone chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, Trident gum, and many more, the company has continuously accelerated innovation and created breakthrough products to delight Vietnamese consumers.
Mondelez Kinh Do has achieved outstanding performance in the past few years. Vietnam has been one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for Mondelēz in Southeast Asia. The company has ranked first in terms of both value and volume share in the biscuit category in Vietnam for 24 consecutive months (*) and has also been recognized as one of the most reputable food companies in Vietnam for many consecutive years. Brands from Mondelez Kinh Do stay firmly in leading positions in the market, with Cosy being ranked first in terms of volume share in the Biscuit category in Total Vietnam (including Traditional Trade, Semi-retailer, and Modern Trade channels) for 24 consecutive months (**).
Mondelez Kinh Do’s solid distribution expansion has been crucial to its success in Vietnam. In recent years, it has made significant efforts to expand its distribution network. This has allowed it to reach more consumers and increase market share.
The company has invested heavily in digitalization and technology innovation in daily sales, operations, and production. It has implemented a new sales force automation system, which allows it to track sales in real-time and adjust its inventory levels accordingly. To drive operational performance, Mondelez Kinh Do has implemented automation software to enable strict quality control as well as constant improvements in product quality.
In addition to these technological improvements, Mondelez Kinh Do has expanded its product portfolio to cater to the fast-changing market. This has helped it gain a competitive edge in the market and increase sales. Many new products have been innovated to delight Vietnamese consumers, such as the OREO x BLACKPINK limited-edition cookies and sweet cracker AFC Caramel Flan, among others.
With competitive advantages such as the strength of leading global and local brands, robust supply chains, operational excellence, a strong team with a winning culture, and the ability to manage through volatility, Mondelez Kinh Do has great confidence in its ability to accelerate growth in Vietnam for many years to come.
“We have so much to be proud of since Mondelez Kinh Do set foot in Vietnam,” said Mr. Anil Viswanathan, Managing Director of Mondelez Kinh Do Vietnam. “We have delivered sustained growth and strong financial performance, while continuously innovating to stay ahead of changing consumer tastes and navigating a dynamic external environment. We see a lot of significant opportunities ahead, and we are excited about our long-term growth prospects in the country.”
Focus on making a major impact in sustainability
As it accelerates its ambition of building a sustainable snacking company, Mondelez Kinh Do remains focused on where it can make the biggest impact. Realizing its mission to lead the future of snacking by offering the right snack for the right moment made the right way, the company has made efforts to promote sustainability and well-being agendas through various initiatives.
This is also in line with the company’s “putting consumers at the heart” strategy. According to Mondelēz International’s latest Annual State of Snacking Report, consumers are becoming more discerning about the sustainable nature of their chosen snacks. They want to buy snacks from companies offsetting their environmental footprint.
“On top of the opportunities that we see for growth, we want to grow the right way,” Mr. Viswanathan said. “We are focused on making our snacks more sustainable and good for both people and the planet by using less energy, water, and waste and with ingredients consumers know and trust.”
The key priority within sustainability is sustainable ingredients. In Vietnam, Mondelez Kinh Do is one of the pioneering snack companies in using cage-free eggs in its products, making a bold step in sourcing ingredients in a sustainable way. The end of 2022 marked an important milestone for Mondelez Kinh Do as the company launched Solite Nature Fresh, the first product using 100 per cent cage-free eggs with the Certified Humane label by global HFAC (Humane Farm Animal Care) in Vietnam. Monelez Kinh Do also recently organized a supplier workshop on cage-free eggs supply-demand links to source sustainable ingredients for its long-term plan.
The company also strongly supports circular economy business models by funding the social enterprise Green Connect’s “Upcycle food waste into free-range chickens and eggs” project in 2022. It targets reducing food waste in manufacturing by 15 per cent and food waste from distribution by 50 per cent by 2025.
In pursuit of environmental sustainability, for which Mondelez Kinh Do had made multiple commitments across the areas of energy, water, carbon dioxide, and waste, the company has made over 97.5 per cent of packaging recyclable and is working on R&D to achieve the target of 100 percent of packaging being recyclable much sooner than globally, which is 2025.
Mondelez Kinh Do will also install solar panels in both its plants in the north and in southern Binh Duong province, which will dramatically reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to planting about 4.7 million trees.
To reduce priority water use in areas where water is most scarce by 10 per cent by 2025, Mondelez Kinh Do uses water treatment systems in its factories to reuse water and reduce consumption.
To support the community, Mondelez Kinh Do has a strong partnership with Food Bank globally and in Vietnam to help distribute food to the needy. Since January 2022 the company has donated food worth $420,000 to the community through Food Bank Vietnam.
As a leading company in the industry, Mondelez Kinh Do has made great efforts to help its consumers snack right and mindfully through a wide range of delicious, high-quality, and nutritious products, to help them snack with intention and attention, focusing on the present moment and enjoying how the food tastes. The company is committed to including its Snack Mindfully icon with portion control guidance on all packages globally by 2025.
(*) NielsenIQ: From Retail audit report in Total Vietnam (including Traditional Sales, Semi-Retailer, and Modern Trade channels) for Biscuit Category from October 2020 to September 2022.
(**) NielsenIQ: From Retail audit report in Total Vietnam (including Traditional Trade, Semi-retailer and Modern Trade channels) for Biscuit Category from June 2020 to May 2022
