(Yicai Global) July 4 -- Chinese snack producer Chacha Food recently completed and set into production its new plant in Thailand.

The company invested CNY500 million (USD72.7 million) in the factory, the first built by a Chinese snack firm abroad, and it is expected to reduce the firm's production costs and improve its competitiveness.

The finished first stage of the facility includes two automatic production lines for sunflower seed products that is expected to yield around CNY225 million in sales and CNY22.5 million in net profit annually, Chacha told Yicai Global.

The second phase will have another line for nut processing, trade and distribution, Chacha said.

The firm, which is based in Hefei, capital of eastern Anhui province, formed in 2001. It makes and sells baked goods and nuts and snack products in a range including sunflower seeds, crispy potato chips, melon seeds, flavored broad beans, tofu and sauces, as well as nuts.

It tallied CNY239 million in overseas sales last year, making up 5.6 percent of its overall revenue, per the firm's financial report for last year. Rival brands Three Squirrels and Bestore have also been peddling their finger foods in foreign lands in competition with Chacha.

Chinese students studying overseas are basic consumers for the country's export munchies, and some Chinese snacks have also gained favor among foreign consumers thanks to Chinese students social media posts, said Zhu Yue, executive director of China Insights Consultancy, adding domestic firms still face challenges in safety regulation, eating habits and cultural differences in vending their nibbles overseas.

Editor: Dou Shicong, Ben Armour