CJ Freshway Corp., South Korea’s largest food distribution and catering company, will stretch its partnership with Vietnam’s leading restaurant chain operator Golden Gate Restaurant Group to expand its footprint in the Southeast Asian country.

CJ Freshway said Wednesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese firm to broaden its food supply network from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. The agreement would build on the alliance struck in 2016, which opened the way for the Korean company to distribute food materials to Golden Gate restaurants.

Golden Gate is Vietnam’s largest restaurant chain operator with 20 brands and 250 stores across the country. It owns a wide variety of food brands including Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and BBQ.

“Under the latest deal, we’re also considering launching a new business in Korean food,” said a CJ Freshway official.

CJ Freshway entered the Vietnamese catering market in 2012 with plans to make the country its Southeast Asian base in growing its regional presence. Earlier this year, it set up a logistics center at Binh Duong industrial park, 40 kilometers north of Ho Chi Minh City, and started a test run. Commanding an area of 9,500 square meters, it is the largest fresh food logistics facility in southern Vietnam and handles more than 1,000 food materials, including 400 fruits and vegetables.

The company also signed a deal with Vietnamese sandwich chain Viette Banh Mi early this year to supply an annual 2 billion won ($1.8 million) worth of food materials to 20 stores in the country.

By Lee Duk-joo and Kim Hyo-jin

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