HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM — Scoular, which has made expansion in Asia a top priority in recent years, announced on May 25 that it is adding Vietnam to its distribution footprint.

The Omaha, Nebraska, US-based company, which already has its Asian headquarters and trade office in Singapore, soybean cleaning and distribution operations in Indonesia, feedstuffs and grain distribution offices in Indonesia and Myanmar, and a fishmeal production facility in Myanmar, is meeting with customers in Vietnam this month to determine the best combination of assets and investments that will add value to its business.

“Scoular is driven by growth, curiosity, and creating solutions for our customers,” said Adrian Gasparian, president of Scoular Asia. “We are excited to continue expanding our presence in the region. Scoular invests in ways that solve problems and adds value for our customers and suppliers, and many of our customers already have a footprint in Vietnam.”

Vietnam, the 16th most populous country in the world, is a key importer of agricultural commodities with a large and growing market in that segment. Scoular has hired two employees in Vietnam and expects to employ up to 12 additional employees, including a country manager, within the coming months.

Gasparian said he anticipates imports and distribution to begin by the end of 2022.

He said Scoular, a 130-year-old company that has a long history of exporting agricultural products to Asia, has chosen to expand its production and distribution capabilities within the region with the goal of adding value to the industry.

Gasparian described the company’s approach to its Asian expansion as making “a lot of asset-light investments associated with the importing and distributing of commodities. We are looking at being a market solution provider, particularly when it comes to soybean meal.”

“In the past we competed in trade to Asia but not in Asia,” Gasparian said. “But you look at its population growth, its GDP growth, the increased purchasing power and the changing diet that includes more protein. In the past decade, feed milling growth in Vietnam has been massive.”

Since Gasparian joined Scoular three years ago, the company has increased its number of employees in Asia from four to 84.

“It’s really business-led growth,” he said. “We were understaffed for what the market was demanding.

“I think the growth in our international business from a couple years ago to where we are now is really incredible. Again, we are doing things in a way that is a bit different than other industry players. We are expanding in a different way by adding value, talking to customers, deploying capital and being willing to invest in the region in a way that helps customers.”