US-based PepsiCo, Inc. is hoping to scale up its operations in Vietnam, which includes developing potato-growing areas in the Central Highlands.
This is confirmed by Monica Bauer, Vice President of External Relations of PepsiCo, in her recent meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh.
PepsiCo is providing financial and technological support to farmers, especially women and the under-privileged groups, in the Central Highlands.
Potato production in Vietnam has not yet met PepsiCo’s domestic demand, and the latter has to import from other countries to meet the shortfall.
Recently, Vietnam’s potato-growing areas have been narrowed down to 20,000-25,000 hectares per year due to low demand and economic efficiency as well as high prices of potato seedlings. Doanh recommended further studies to remove the obstacles towards meeting PepsiCo’s raw material needs in Vietnam. He suggested PepsiCo to develop potatoes in the spring crop in the northern mountainous region and as a winter crop in the Red River Delta provinces.
