The trend of using Vinamilk Organic milk will quickly become popular.

(Baonghean.vn) - Ms. Mai Kieu Lien - General Director of Vinamilk commented: the trend of using organic milk will quickly become popular in Vietnam and competition in this segment will be very fierce.

By launching the first European-standard organic fresh milk product to the market and also being the first enterprise to inaugurate an organic dairy farm meeting European standards in Vietnam, Vinamilk once again shows its acumen in capturing global trends.

Inauguration ceremony of Vinamilk Organic dairy farm in Da Lat. Photo: Hoang Hao

PV:Vinamilk has a system of Global GAP-standard farms spread across Vietnam, not only dominating the domestic milk market but also exporting to many countries around the world. Why did Vinamilk decide to pioneer the organic milk segment, a segment that many businesses around the world are also hesitant about because it requires a very expensive investment and there are not many consumers?

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien:With over 40 years of experience in the dairy industry, we have found that if we only rely on what is available and has been achieved, we cannot develop in the long term. Therefore, we must always seek to innovate and continuously produce better and better products to meet the increasing needs of consumers.

In European and American countries, the trend of using organic foods - including organic fresh milk - is becoming popular thanks to the obvious benefits for consumers' health. At the peak of development, people are returning to nature, choosing the purest natural products for their family's health. In Vietnam, in recent years, consumers have begun to be introduced to the concept of "organic foods", mainly agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits, meat and fish grown locally. Due to the specific requirements of organic agriculture, the output of these products is low and distribution is limited. Understanding the needs of consumers, in 2016, Vinamilk launched the first organic fresh milk product in the Vietnamese market through the cooperation of Driftwood - Vinamilk's subsidiary in the US; and it was quickly welcomed by many consumers. Since then, we have become more confident in our decision to invest in this segment. After more than 3 years of construction, with a total cost of 200 billion VND, on March 13, 2017, Vinamilk inaugurated an organic dairy farm meeting European standards in Da Lat.

We are proud to be the first company that can produce premium organic fresh milk with European organic standards right in Vietnam. This not only contributes to stabilizing the domestic milk supply, giving consumers more choices, but also creates trust and a foothold for Vietnamese products and Vietnamese milk brands in the world market.

Vinamilk's dairy farm. Photo: Hoang Hao

PV:What are the difficulties and advantages of investing in an organic dairy farm in Vietnam, madam?

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien:We have surveyed and researched for many years and found that in our country there are many areas of land that are very suitable for developing organic dairy cows. That is a great advantage not only for Vinamilk but for all dairy enterprises in Vietnam. In the first stage, we chose Da Lat to build the first organic dairy farm because the natural conditions here are perfect: in addition to the red basalt soil which is very good for crops, the weather is mild, the climate is similar to that of Europe, very ideal for raising cows.

The difficulty is that investing in an organic farm requires a large amount of money, requiring meticulousness and strictness in even the smallest steps. Vietnam is located in a tropical monsoon climate zone, with high humidity and many types of diseases. For many years, Vietnamese farmers have been used to using pesticides, which has affected the environment; All processes of land improvement, construction, and control from the grass on the farm to selecting qualified organic cows take a lot of effort. New technologies and processes must be updated according to European organic standards. Because the regulations of European organic standards are extremely strict.

On organic farms, cattle are raised freely, the barn system is open, cows are completely free to choose to go to pasture, playground when the weather conditions are favorable; Cows are also fed with 100% organic food, imported and carefully selected mombasa grass and seedmix for cow feed with strong immunity, not attacked by pests and have good natural growth; absolutely no use of chemicals, synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, food additives and other supporting substances, stimulants; Absolutely no use of genetically modified substances. Therefore, the source of organic milk from organic farms is completely free of other residues and growth hormones.

Visiting Vinamilk Organic milk factory. Photo: Hoang Hao

PV:How do you evaluate the potential of the Vietnamese organic milk market? After the Vinamilk Dalat Organic Farm, will Vinamilk continue to develop other organic farms in Vietnam?

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien:It can be said that most Vietnamese people know that using completely natural organic foods has obvious health benefits. However, currently Vietnamese consumers do not have many choices. In conferences, when talking about the strategic development orientation of Vietnam's agricultural sector, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has repeatedly emphasized the phrase "organic agriculture", through which the Prime Minister directed us to build an environmentally friendly agriculture, producing many high-quality organic products, not only to ensure the safety of Vietnamese people's health but also to be competitive and export to the world market. With the strong direction of the Government and strong propaganda from the media, the trend of using organic foods in general and organic milk in particular will certainly spread quickly among the Vietnamese consumer community. Therefore, the potential of the organic milk market is very large, but the ability to meet it is currently extremely limited.

Dalat Organic Dairy Farm has a new scale of only 500 cows, so the raw material source only meets a very small part of the market demand. In the coming time, Vinamilk will continue to increase the number of organic cows and will survey and research to build a number of organic farms to bring many high-quality organic products rich in natural nutrients. Of course, as I said above, organic farming is not simple, building an organic dairy farm and selecting organic dairy cows requires even more care, so it cannot be done quickly.

In line with the global organic trend, we hope that Vietnamese consumers will have the opportunity to access organic products with international quality right in Vietnam. This is also an opportunity for Vinamilk to export this high-end product to the world market.

Vinamilk Dairy Factory Campus. Photo: Hoang Hao

PV:Currently in Vietnam, Vinamilk is the only milk producer that produces organic fresh milk. So it can be said that Vinamilk has a monopoly in this segment. Are you afraid that in the future, other milk producers will also produce organic milk and compete with Vinamilk?

Ms. Mai Kieu Lien:That is inevitable when market demand increases. Certainly, in the next few years, competition in this segment will be fierce. But that is a good thing, because competition leads to development and helps businesses improve themselves, improve product quality, bring benefits to consumers and will promote the rapid development of the Vietnamese dairy industry.

PV:Thank you for the conversation!

Hoang Hao

(Perform)