Dairy processing industry: A "leap" in output

(Baonghean) - One of the impressive figures of the Industry and Trade sector in the first two months of 2014 is the output of processed milk of all kinds reaching over 16 million liters (3 times higher than the same period last year). This "leap" was created thanks to the effective production and business of Nghe An Milk Factory - VINAMILK and TH Fresh Milk Factory. This demonstrates the efforts of milk processing enterprises, although "coming later but coming first".

The red basalt land of Phu Quy has the advantage of a large raw material area serving the development of the dairy industry, so this place always attracts the attention of investors in this field and begins to lay the foundation for the development of the dairy processing industry in Nghe An, which is Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (VINAMILK). Since 2005, this enterprise has invested in Nghe An Milk Factory in Cua Lo Town and the sustainable development goal of the factory is to exploit fresh milk sources from investing in concentrated dairy farms in Nghia Dan.

Investing in building Nghe An Dairy Factory with advanced milk processing technology, along with boosting production, VNAMILK pays special attention to developing a stable source of raw materials through a concentrated dairy farm. At the Branch's dairy farm, modern European industrial processes are applied, each cow is equipped with 2 chips (identification chip and activity chip) to manage pedigree, health, milk productivity... At the farm, there is a well-ventilated barn system, with a roof covered with additional insulating silver sheets. In the summer, there is an automatic fan and misting system, cows are fed with a mixed TMR ration with concentrated feed, supplementary feed, minerals... Each farm is equipped with a milking system of the Swedish Delaval Group, milked twice a day (60 cows each time) and milk materials are transported to the factory by specialized tankers, milk quality is strictly controlled. Currently, VINAMILK's dairy farm has over 3,000 cows, of which 1,500 are milking cows and each month supply the factory with 1,200 tons of milk. To have enough food for the dairy cows, the farm has planted 30 hectares of corn and grass, and at the same time contracted with people in the surrounding area to plant 500 hectares of corn and grass. With such a stable source of raw materials, the dairy factory has operated effectively.

Mr. Ta Minh Phuong - Technical Director of Nghe An Milk Factory said: "Due to investment in technology and modern production equipment, the factory operates stably and produces high quality products such as: 100% fresh milk, sterilized milk, drinking yogurt, and various types of yogurt". In 2013, Nghe An Milk Factory produced 27 million liters of various types of milk and in the first 2 months of 2014, it produced 5.2 million liters; paid 117 billion VND to the state budget and is expected to be 120 billion VND in 2014). Mr. Nguyen Kim Hau - Head of the Administration and Personnel Department of Nghe An Milk Factory said: "The factory's output increases every year and always operates very effectively, thereby creating stable jobs for 170 staff members, mainly local people. Technical staff and workers have mastered the equipment and production technology... With these advantages, in 2014, Nghe An Milk Factory is determined to reach 30 million liters of milk of all kinds".

Milk production line at TH Fresh Milk Factory in Nghia Dan.

Also aiming to invest the advantages of Phu Quy land in developing the dairy industry, TH Group has chosen its own path, which is to apply high technology in raising dairy cows and processing milk in a concentrated manner. With the determination to create a "leap" in high technology as well as the quality of dairy products, TH Group has purchased technological secrets and dairy farming techniques from Israel and the world's leading processing process from advanced countries. When purchasing the Israeli process, to ensure compliance with the process, TH has hired both Israeli farmers and experts to operate the machinery and instruct and train Vietnamese people. Currently, TH has a very professional organizational system in all stages thanks to being directly managed by two multinational companies: Afikim Company of Israel for herd management and Totally Vets Company of New Zealand for veterinary management. Currently, TH's dairy farm has up to 35,000 cows, of which nearly 17,000 are milked (at times each dairy cow gives nearly 40 liters of fresh milk/day).

Mr. Arghya Mandal - General Director of TH Fresh Milk Factory said: “TH Fresh Milk Factory in Nghia Dan district, phase I, has a capacity of 200 thousand tons/year and the total designed capacity of the factory is up to 500 thousand tons/year in 2017. This is the factory with the most modern technology and the largest scale in Southeast Asia, equipped with modern equipment imported from G7 countries and Europe. The entire operating system is implemented according to ISO 9001 standards. In particular, the factory's yogurt production line applies robot technology, which is the first technology used in Vietnam, to automate all stages to ensure the integrity of the product throughout the process. The entire production line is controlled by the latest software in the world in the dairy processing industry such as TPM, TQM ...”. TH Fresh Milk Factory started operating in July 2013 and is currently operating at full capacity. The products quickly dominated the market. This result not only motivated the "leap" in milk processing output in Nghe An, but also proved the province's effective investment attraction policy. In just a short time of operation, TH has become the leading supplier of fresh milk in Vietnam. According to the plan, by the second quarter of 2014, TH will continue to import 10,000 Canadian dairy cows and by 2015, TH is expected to meet about 50% of the market demand for fresh milk thanks to its self-sufficiency in raw materials. It is known that in 2013, TH's revenue reached nearly 3,000 billion VND and in 2014 it will be about 4,000 billion VND. In particular, thanks to the project, jobs have been created for 2,900 local workers.

With the success in milk production of two large companies in the area, a new prospect has been opened in the milk processing industry in Nghe An. In the near future, Nghe An will become one of the localities with a large milk production and processing industry in the country.

Hoang Vinh