Vietnam’s Nutifood earn US approval for baby nutrition drink

A nutritional dairy food manufacturer has become the first-ever 100 percent Vietnamese company to earn approval for the export of special nutrition products to the U.S.

Nutrition Food JSC, or Nutifood, will have its ready-to-drink special nutrition formula for children with oral aversions, branded Pedia Plus, on sale at 300 supermarkets in the U.S. starting this year, following an agreement closed Thursday with U.S. food product supplier Delori.

Oral aversion is a symptom of reluctance, avoidance, or fear of eating, such as a baby's refusal to breastfeed.

Nutifood has become the first Vietnamese firm that is entirely domestically owned to be permitted to export this product type to the U.S.

Nutifood chairman Tran Thanh Hai (left) and Delori chairman Jaime Brown sign the agreement at a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on January 18, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Nutifood chairman Tran Thanh Hai said it took the company more than a year to negotiate with its American partner and invest in technological improvements that meet the demanding food safety standards set by the importing market.

The product has passed multiple tests to receive the certification of compliance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has been accreditated by Michelson Laboratories, a California-based independent food testing agency.

Nutifood now anticipates estimated revenue of US$20 million in the first year of entering the U.S. market, and looks to see that figure rise fivefold in the next five years when the distribution network is expanded beyond the current 300 supermarkets.