The grand opening of Vinda’s new SEA regional hub phase I was held on December 16, 2022, in Malaysia, a project that is expected to significantly increase both the efficiency and capacity of the factory in Malaysia when the rest is completed and go in full operation.

Vinda group’s business in SEA covers categories including feminine care, baby care, incontinence care and consumer tissue, with baby care and feminine care both being the market share leader in the Malaysian market according to Kantar consumer panel data. Sitting on 30 acres land, this new SEA regional hub is located in Selangor, Malaysia, and equipped with first-class facilities housing the SEA office HQ, Innovation Center, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution center, which are all designed and built in line with the group’s commitment in digital transformation and sustainability. Once in full operation, the new hub will serve mostly the Malaysian market, with R&D, manufacturing and marketing capabilities, while radiating into many other Asian markets including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. As the supply chain in SEA is further strengthened business in this region will be better supported and set to grow.

The State-of-the art Vinda Innovation Centre is the only one outside of China, with full in-house capabilities and broad set of experts in product safety, R&D, innovation, material development and a lab. Activities in the VIC will be guided by deep consumer insight and with improving user experience in mind, aiming to provide not only superior products and services to consumers in SEA, but also help to drive personal care growth in other markets. Su Ting Nee, Vinda SEA president, points out: 1200 employees that currently work at the new regional hub are from local communities, and it is the group’s commitment to continue upskilling the people and vendors/partners to meet the requirements of new technologies which will create more job opportunities and benefit the local economy and the ecosystem of the hygiene care industry in the country.

As one of the companies that expanded early into overseas market, Vinda has grown from a company with one single tissue category focusing on one single Chinese market into a strong hygiene group that offers multiple categories and brands (consumer tissue, fem care, inco care, baby care and professional hygiene) with extensive presence across the whole APAC region. Vinda entered into the Malaysian tissue market back in May 2017 (first shipment in the same month), and now the tissue business has expanded to include multiple categories: hanky, softpack, toilet roll, HHT, etc, creating incremental business for the group.

According to Karen Li, CEO of Vinda, the SEA market is of strategic significance as the group continues to build its business overseas and further expand its footprint worldwide and moreover, it exemplifies the group’s tremendous effort and commitment in investing in supply chain excellence and digital transformation. As new SEA hub goes into operation, it will better facilitate and coordinate between production and sales on a group level. While catering more precisely for the needs of consumers in SEA, the synergy created will also help to respond quickly to needs in China and North Asia market and create more value for the consumers.