“People buy from people – and we buy from people we trust,” said Mr Pham Van Thanh Quang, Supply Chain Deputy Manager at Vina Label head office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He was referring to the company’s recent investment in Vetaphone corona treatment technology on an Indian manufactured Windsor five-layer blown extrusion line.

Commenting on the choice of a of a Vetaphone treater, which is a VE2B-B (DS) 2320 model with a 2.2m web width and 8kW power capability, he added: “The decision was based on several factors: our longstanding relationship with Song Song, the local agent in Vietnam, which has always given us great support, and the ease of cleaning and maintenance of the treater unit with its removeable electrode cassette. We also really value the R&D resource offered by Vetaphone’s Test Lab in Denmark.”

Vina Aus Labels is a leading manufacturer of high-quality labels and flexible packaging in Vietnam. With a 20-year history in the industry, the company has established itself as a reliable and innovative supplier of label and flexible packaging solutions for a wide range of industries including food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, household, and cosmetics.

Founded by Company Chairman Mr Lam Chi Thien, who has more than 40 years of experience in managing and manufacturing flexible packaging, the company has two divisions. The North division is headed by CEO Mr Gareth Lewis who has 40 years’ experience working for multi-national corporations worldwide, and 20 years manufacturing labels and flexible packaging in Vietnam. The South division is led by CEO Mr Phillip Lam, a new generation style leader with an entrepreneurial mindset and a strong vision for the company's future.

The company has three plants in Vietnam: at Hanoi, where it prints and laminates, Dong Nai, where it has converting, printing capability and laminates, and Ho Chi Minh City where it produces blown film including PVC shrink film, PE shrink film and LLDPE for lamination.

All printing throughout the group is by rotogravure, which is typical of 90% of package printing in the Southeast Asia region, largely as a factor of the volumes involved and the low cost of a relatively simple print process. An upcoming investment will see a fourth factory completed in 2024 to produce stretch and cling film.

Vina Aus Labels is currently the largest supplier of labels to the Vietnam brewery sector, but also sends 30% of its output to major brand owners including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Carlsberg in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar, as well as The Philippines. The company has also just begun to explore the Indian market, which it believes has tremendous potential for growth.

According to Mr Quang: “Vina Australia Packaging Labels has grown rapidly over the years, and now has more than 1000 employees. This has brought the need for experienced and talented management, R&D, and quality assurance professionals, so the company has assembled a team of over 200 senior officers and experts in these fields who are majoring in masters in project and strategy management, master of polymer engineering, and technical experts from Vietnam and abroad to ensure that our products and services remain top quality.”

The production numbers tell an impressive story. The three sites have an annual capacity of 25 billion labels, 13 billion shrink and wraparound labels, 12 billion foil or metallised labels, 4,500 tons of blown PVC film and 4,800 tons of blown PE. It all amounts to annual sales of more than US$ 55 million. This is no small operation!

It was the size and capability of the company that first attracted the attention of Song Song, Vetaphone’s agent in Vietnam, whose own portfolio of OEMs makes impressive reading. Over the years, a close working relationship developed between Vina Aus Labels and Song Song, so when the former was looking for the latest in corona treater technology, Vetaphone was the recommendation, and there are now three of the company’s treaters in the Ho Chi Minh plant.

Looking ahead, Mr Quang said that plans are afoot for two Nordmeccanica lamination lines, each of which will need corona treaters, so Song Song can look forward to more business with Vina Australia Packaging Labels going forward. Commenting for Vetaphone, Sales Manager for Asia-Pacific, Holger Selenka said: “I am looking forward to building on the excellent working partnerships we have with both Song Song and Vina Australia Packaging Labels in Vietnam. We see great potential for our cutting-edge technology in this market, where quality is at a premium and only the best will do!”