The story of a billion-dollar national brand – from zero to an irreplaceable position

Notably, Vinamilk’s main export products such as Ong Tho condensed milk, Dielac powdered milk for children, Vinamilk yogurt… are all products honored as National brands. This is truly a pioneering journey to bring Vietnamese brands to the world and increasingly enhance their value.

At a supermarket in the billion-people market of China, Ms. Luong Tieu Phuong went straight to the milk counter and picked up a few cans of Ong Tho condensed milk to put in the cart as a habit. Ms. Phuong shared: "This type of condensed milk has a distinctive aroma and is not greasy, so my family often uses it to eat with steamed buns, mix with coffee, and milk tea."

Not only here, Vinamilk's condensed milk officially "stepped" into the world nearly 20 years ago and has been present in 35 countries around the world such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asian countries or further to Africa, South America... Up to now, this product has brought Vinamilk more than 233 million USD from exports, equivalent to nearly 184,000 tons of products.

“I am not a corporate customer of Vinamilk, but I know Vinamilk is here today, so I want to come and say that I really like your products. I use Vinamilk condensed milk to make milk coffee every day.” That was the sharing of a young Korean when Vinamilk participated in an international trade fair held in this country. Through that, we can see how the Vietnamese national brand has gradually become familiar in the kitchens of people in many countries.

The only milk brand honored as a National Brand for 16 consecutive years

Recently, Vinamilk continued to be honored as a National Brand (2024-2026) for 10 famous brands of the company, and affirmed its position as the only dairy enterprise to maintain this title for 16 consecutive years. Contributing positively to the overall value of the Vietnamese National Brand, Vinamilk is currently in the Top 10 most valuable dairy brands globally and Top 5 most sustainable brands in the world dairy industry (according to Brand Finance 2023).

Unique products – International quality

Not only successful with the traditional product Ong Tho condensed milk, Vinamilk currently has 387 SKUs of exported products. With 62 markets conquered from Asia to Europe, from the Middle East to Africa, Vinamilk's total cumulative export turnover has exceeded 3.4 billion USD. This figure is difficult to compare with many strong export industries such as textiles, footwear, aquatic products, seafood... But if considered in the context of a country that once had no advantage in dairy farming, no milk processing industry, products almost entirely dependent on imports... then this is truly a proud journey.

Looking back on the nearly 30-year journey to reach out to the world, Ms. Mai Kieu Lien - General Director of Vinamilk concluded that the 3 prerequisite factors to conquer any market - whether domestic or export - are:Quality, service and price.

Qualityis identified by Vinamilk as the most important “key” for all markets. Factories and farms strictly comply with and pioneer in applying the most advanced international standards in the world in the production process and input materials, such as: Global GAP (for farmed fish), FDA (USA), HALAL (Standards for Muslim countries), Organic EU (European Organic Standards), and GMP (American Good Manufacturing Practices)…

Vinamilk is also a rare enterprise in the world that owns international quality awards and certificates such as: The first fresh milk in the world to receive the Clean Label Project certification for purity; Purity Awards for powdered milk products for children for the quality, safety and transparency of raw materials after passing the testing process with more than 400 criteria...

However, that is just a ticket to go abroad. The next "barrier" -flavor– is what really determines the success of a food product anywhere.

Each country and market will have very different consumption habits and tastes. When approaching a market, Vinamilk's market development and R&D team will go first, combining with local partners to research their habits and culinary culture. For example, with baby food products exported to the Middle East, Vinamilk researched and added dates, a nutritious fruit that is very popular in these countries. Or for bottled coconut water products, some places use it for drinking directly, some places use it for cooking. Therefore, the same coconut water product of Vinamilk, but there will be different types of bottles and boxes with different capacities.

The next factor isprice- one of the factors that helps Vinamilk compete and gain trust in the international market. In many periods, when raw material prices and global logistics costs increase, some companies have to choose the solution of keeping prices but reducing product weight to ensure profits. However, Vinamilk has made efforts to keep its promises to partners and consumers, even when the market has many fluctuations.

At the stageservice, Vinamilk's international business team always works closely with partners from market research, listening to consumer feedback to adjusting products accordingly. Currently, Vinamilk is capable of providing all international business needs for partners, from R&D of "tailored" products to design of images, packaging, marketing, international communication... according to needs and characteristics to exploit the market to the fullest.

Aware that each of its products represents a national brand, Vinamilk always invests in the appearance of the brand in every place it visits. Through its partners, the company closely monitors the distribution process, brand protection, customer experience, etc., not just stopping at bringing the product to the border.

Proactively building new competitive advantages: Sustainable development

The trend of green consumption, aiming at sustainable development is no longer a niche market but is gradually becoming a “new rule of the game” in global trade, requiring businesses to quickly transform. Accordingly, products that demonstrate “responsibility” such as green, sustainable, environmentally friendly production… will have more opportunities for export and enjoy special incentives from importing countries.

From this perspective, it can be said that Vinamilk was prepared quite early. In 2012, Vinamilk started to prepare a Sustainable Development report according to international standards. At that time, Vietnam did not have mandatory regulations for the publication of this report. This helped Vinamilk to be ready to provide relevant reports on sustainable development aspects when requested by import partners.

When the Vietnamese Government and nearly 150 countries committed to reducing net emissions to “0” (Net Zero) by the middle of this century, Vinamilk was also one of the pioneering enterprises to announce its support for this goal. Immediately after that, the enterprise also announced that it was the first unit to achieve carbon neutrality according to the international standard PAS2060:2014.

These efforts have helped the brand to be ranked among the Top 5 most sustainable dairy brands globally and leading in Vietnam. In particular, Vinamilk's sustainability awareness score is the highest, surpassing many other big names in the world dairy industry.

“Sustainability is becoming an important trend. Vinamilk is promoting the sustainable development trend in the food industry, capturing the needs of consumers who are increasingly conscious in choosing food. Thanks to that, they are always the most popular brand among consumers,” said Mr. Alex Haigh, Managing Director of Asia Pacific at Brand Finance - a brand valuation unit from the UK.

According to a report by Brand Finance, the value of Vietnam's national brand has grown impressively, reaching an increase of 102% in the period 2019-2023. With a total value of 498.13 billion USD in 2023, Vietnam has risen to 33rd place among the 121 strongest national brands in the world. This success is not only an important milestone in the process of affirming Vietnam's national brand, but also shows the results of the outstanding efforts of Vietnamese enterprises in increasing the country's position in the international market./.