Shaking hands with foreign enterprises to invest, replacing imported beef

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Imported beef is sold at supermarkets. Photo: T.H

Cooperating, producing high quality beef

Vinabeef Tam Dao complex project is deployed on a total area of 75.6 hectares in Tam Dao, Vinh Phuc. The complex consists of two main subdivisions: A beef cattle farm with a capacity of 10,000 heads and a chilled beef processing factory with a capacity of 30,000 heads per year (10,000 tons of products per year).

The scale of investment cooperation between Vinamilk - through its member company Vilico, and Sojitz Group is approximately VND 3,000 billion in phase 1, of which the total investment in construction for farm clusters and factories in Tam Dao is VND 1,670 billion. The project is expected to come into operation in 2024 with the product of chilled beef processed by Japanese technology under the Vinabeef brand.

“As an assessment of the beef market in Vietnam, there is still a lot of room, the consumer demand and use of high-quality meat products is still very large, we believe that the project will create a breakthrough in the market after it comes into operation. Moreover, Vinamilk and Vilico are big, reputable partners with strengths in resources, experience in the livestock industry, operation, and market knowledge. We will be great partners to accompany and complement each other in the deployment of Vinabeef Tam Dao complex and many more projects in the future,” said Mr. Masayoshi Fujimoto, Chairman of Sojitz Corporation Japan.

A remarkable point about Vinabeef Tam Dao is that the project is planned to built and operate according to a closed 4-in-1 process: Livestock - Production - Processing - Distribution. Thereby, it will provide outstanding products including chilled beef that is fresh, delicious, nutritious and safe for Vietnamese consumers.

The 4-in-1 process starts from a natural breeding model, beef cattle will be raised at Global G.A.P standard ecological farms with special care and high technology application.

Here, Japanese experts cooperate with the experienced Vinamilk - Vilico team in farm operations to develop quality beef cattle. Next is the production process according to humane principles and Japanese standard regulations with a rapid cooling system on site, which inhibits the growth of bacteria, ensuring product safety standards.

With a factory with a production capacity of 10,000 tons of meat per year (equivalent to 30,000 heads per year), Vinabeef's chilled beef products are processed cleanly on a modern, closed, highly automated production line, using modern technology to ensure the highest freshness and nutrition for the product.

From that, the distribution process will continue to be strictly controlled, meeting the strict requirements of the frozen supply chain, and having traceability to ensure the quality and safety of each product from the farm to the dining table.

Towards beef export

According to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Vietnam's beef consumption in the period 2017-2020 averaged 9.2 kg/person/year. In which, domestic production only met 30%, the remaining 70% of beef must be imported from abroad.

Vietnam currently has 6.6 million cows, but beef only met a small part of the domestic demand, and depended greatly on imports. Each year, Vietnam imported nearly 700,000 tons of meat, of which beef was the main one.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that the quality of breeding cows improved a lot in Vietnam, but in order to have high quality cow breeds like those imported from Japan, along with the chilled meat production technology process needed international cooperation. This cooperation promoted livestock development, bringing the best products to consumers, and for export.

In 2022, Vietnam exported livestock products worth over US$ 400 million, with a new direction in international cooperation, beef will be the next export product. In the immediate future, with a project linking with foreign investors to produce chilled beef, it will meet domestic autonomy, gradually replacing imported meat.

Evaluating the project's cooperation in developing the export-oriented beef cattle industry, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that the success of this important project not only marked the cooperation between the two countries, affirming the strategic vision of investors and the dynamism, creativity, and spectacular resilience of enterprises in terms of the ability to participate more deeply in the global production and supply chain, but also elevate Vietnam's high-tech livestock production towards sustainable, green, circular development.

Mai Kieu Lien, General Director of Vinamilk, said: “With the available strengths of the partners in the project, Vinamilk, Vilico and Sojitz, the support of the Government and leaders of Vinh Phuc province, we believe that it will be a typical example for the cooperation between Vietnamese and Japanese enterprises in the field of high-tech agriculture, oriented towards sustainable development. Since then, making Vinabeef not only a brand of meat products in particular but also a brand of safe and reputable food in general, with products of international quality, serving the Vietnamese market and export.”