Orion, a Seoul-based confectionery company, will spend 110 billion won ($82.39 million), a sum received in dividends from its Vietnamese subsidiary, to expand its production and logistics capabilities in Korea.

According to Orion on Friday, the snack firm received 50 billion won in dividends from its Vietnamese subsidiary at the end of August and is planning to collect an additional 60 billion won in dividends next month.

This is the first time that Orion collected dividends from its overseas subsidiary, following the growing popularity of Korean food products in the Southeast Asian market.

“The repatriated funds will be allocated for various purposes, including acquiring land in Jincheon County in South Chungcheong and constructing a logistics center, as well as expanding local factories and repaying a loan,” Orion said Friday. The company generally put the earnings from its overseas subsidiaries back into local investments.

Orion’s journey in the Vietnamese market began in 1995 with the introduction of their flagship product Choco Pie. In 2005, Orion established a local subsidiary in Vietnam, and today, the product offering in Vietnam includes potato snacks like Poca Chips, Choco Pie, jelly and gum.

The annual revenue of Orion’s Vietnamese subsidiary crossed the 200 billion won mark in 2016, 11 years after its establishment, and reached 300 billion won in 2021 and 400 billion won in 2022.

Orion’s overseas sales now surpass its domestic sales. As per the company’s data, the consolidated sales for the previous year amounted to 2.87 trillion won, with approximately 67 percent of total sales attributed to its overseas subsidiaries in key markets such as China, Russia, and Vietnam.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]