Freight forwarder Seafrigo is opening a new office in Vietnam as it looks to capitalise on a “booming economy” and a “rapidly expanding” food export market.
The new office is located in Ho Chi Minh City which the perishables specialist said it the economic capital of the country with easy access to the main ports and airports.
The city is also home to the leading exporters of seafood and fruit and these are expected to drive export demand.
The new office will be headed up by Fabian Hautiere who has been given the role of managing director for Vietnam.
“Vietnam will be both an air and ocean operation and will cater to exports and imports,” Seafrigo said.
“It is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia with an average GDP growth rate of 6% for the last 15 years (excluding the 2 years of Covid where the growth rate was 2.7%).
“The country also has Free Trade Agreements in place with trading partners including the EU and Asia-Pacific countries.
Hautiere joins Seafrigo from Kuehne Nagel where he was national key account manager specialising in consumer goods.
He also worked as a senior supply chain manager for a food import company in Vietnam where he has lived for the last 12 years.
“This is an exciting time to be setting up the Seafrigo business in Vietnam in its own right,” Hautiere said.
“There are many specialist products such as pangasius, shrimps, dragon fruit and mangoes etc, to name just a few, where we will be using our team’s cold chain logistics expertise to bring these goods to markets around the world both by air and ocean.
“With my long-standing experience in Vietnam, I already knew Seafrigo well. I used and approved their services as an importer in the past, so I am well versed in the company’s passion for excellence and its commitment to the highly specialised chilled and fine foods business, joining them was a natural choice”
The opening of the new office comes as the wider Seafrigo group is targeting growth.
Last year, the company appointed Bruno Plantaz as its new group chief executive, with company founder, Eric Barbé, stepping up to the role of president.
Seafrigo said the two will work closely on delivering the next stage in the company’s global growth plan.
