From the aspiration of “milk fields” to the brand that changes the nature of the Vietnamese dairy industry

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duong (former Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chairman of the Vietnam Animal Husbandry Association) said that in 2008, many people, including famous experts in animal husbandry and many officials, were skeptical about this high-tech dairy farming and fresh milk processing project. They thought that dairy farming in a dry land with only sunshine and Lao wind like Nghia Dan - Nghe An was an adventurous idea.

The seemingly "unimaginable" project has been successful, creating a brilliant mark in the Vietnamese dairy farming industry.

"I myself am a livestock management officer who has worked, studied, and visited many countries with dairy farming and milk processing industries in Europe, America, and Asia, but I still have concerns about this project," Mr. Duong recalled.

In a newspaper, the then Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Cao Duc Phat - who studied management at Harvard University (USA) - said about the decision to implement the TH true MILK fresh milk project: "If Ms. Thai Huong is right, then all the theories we learned in the US are wrong. And if TH is right, that is, technology will overcome the problems of competitive advantage, then the face of Vietnamese agriculture will change."

However, in reality, TH has succeeded!

The TH true MILK project, in which THMF is the main implementer, has initiated a revolution in clean fresh milk in Vietnam.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duong still remembers the story at the end of 2008 when he accompanied Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Cong Tan on a field visit to the TH milk project. On the field of newly plowed land that was still messy, Ms. Thai Huong - founder of TH Group, enthusiastically presented to the Deputy Prime Minister her aspirations for the Vietnamese dairy industry. When the Deputy Prime Minister said that Vietnam must have a "milk river", the businesswoman - later awarded the title of Hero of Labor in the renovation period, asserted that "TH will also build a "milk field" in this Nghia Dan land".

Based on the foundation of sustainable development, THMF company has learned and applied 4.0 technology and world-class end-to-end technologies to the project. Good experts from countries with the world's leading dairy farming industry are invited to work directly and provide technical guidance. The farm also imports the best purebred high-yielding dairy cows (Holstein Friesian cows) from the US and New Zealand.

"To be successful as it is today, in addition to the determination and aspiration of the investor, the mindset and vision of applying high technology in livestock farming, processing, advanced management, and the way the company chooses partners - all of which are world-leading partners, investing systematically in technology from the beginning, are the most important factors" - Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duong acknowledged.

Dr. Dang Kim Son, former Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, explained that this success comes from many factors. According to him, the first is the quality of the dairy herd. THMF imports purebred dairy cows, builds a standard barn system, has a visionary design, and applies advanced Israeli technical processes to raising, managing, and caring for the herd. Next is building a synchronous processing system to produce clean fresh milk. In addition, the management mindset, management methods, and staff building, creating conditions for high technology to enter production also contribute to the company's success.

In 2011, when visiting the project, Mr. Shimon Peres, the then President of the State of Israel, evaluated the TH true MILK fresh milk project as follows: "TH true MILK project has initiated a fresh milk revolution in Vietnam".

The revolution changes the nature of the dairy industry, for public health

Dr. Dang Kim Son said that when THMF started the project, Vietnam had about 500 different milk brands, but it was unclear which was reconstituted milk (remixed powdered milk) and which was fresh milk, in which the majority was actually reconstituted milk. According to a survey, reconstituted milk at that time accounted for 92% of the liquid milk market.

In that context, the successful TH milk project has had a profound impact on the nature of the dairy industry. With cows raised on a large scale and fresh milk processed right in Vietnam, the brand positioning of "true MILK" - clean and real fresh milk has created a competitive position in the market. The success of TH true MILK has also encouraged milk processing enterprises to compete on quality, to actually raise dairy cows, thereby increasing the proportion of fresh milk products from 8% in 2008 to about 55% in 2022.

As of December 2022, the project has owned a herd of nearly 70,000 cows, TH true MILK products account for about 45% market share in the fresh milk segment of the urban market in Vietnam.

High-tech fields of THMF company

Not only creating a revolution for the Vietnamese dairy industry, TH true MILK also convinced markets with the world's most stringent food standards, China is an example. The journey to the world of this National Brand product is further strongly affirmed with the $2.7 billion USD Dairy Farming Project in the Russian Federation.

Sustainable Development Platform

With the motto "Cherish Mother Nature" permeating all units of TH Group, THMF Company also determined the path of sustainable development right from the beginning, even though this is a difficult path, requiring high costs. THMF applies leading modern technologies and uses closed, circular processes: installing solar panels on farm and factory roofs to provide clean energy; building a factory to process clean biofertilizers according to international standards from dairy farm waste; treating wastewater... All are aimed at sustainable development with closed, circular processes.

THMF currently owns the world's largest high-tech concentrated farm cluster with a closed production process - a world record certified by World Records Union in 2020.

This is the development approach that the whole world is moving towards to adapt to climate change, and to ensure that no one is left behind.

"We have been constantly striving to find solutions for sustainable development and practice green economic and circular economic models," affirmed Mr. Tal Cohen - General Director of THMF Company.

Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong assessed that TH has contributed to sustainable development in many aspects, including promoting circular economy, one of the groups of solutions for developing the agricultural economy in particular and the Vietnamese economy in general.

Source: https://danviet.vn/tu-khat-vong-ve-canh-dong-sua-den-thuong-hieu-lam-thay-doi-ban-chat-nganh-sua-viet-20240710173417389.htm