Vinamilk – Vietnamese No.1 dairy company – came to possession of an export code to China in February. And after 2 months, by April 16, Vinamilk had completed production steps needed to export the first batch of Ong Tho condensed milk to China, when both Vietnam and China still applied tight measures to prevent and control the Covid-19 pandemic.
Along with a $20 million dairy export contract with Gulfood Dubai earlier this year, the first official shipment of Ong Tho condensed milk to China is a positive signal to Vinamilk as well as the Vietnamese dairy industry in general, despite facing many obstacles due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This also helps contribute to Vietnam’s export turnover in the declining situation of all industries’ export in the first quarter of 2020.

After the successful launch in China in October 2019, despite the outbreak of Covid-19 and its impacts on doing business, Vinamilk continues to cooperate closely with their Chinese partners by exporting a diversified range of dairy products and beverages.
Currently, under the Chinese Government’s continuous efforts to prevent the pandemic; the Chinese partners and Vinamilk has implemented plans to promote trading through the import of other Vinamilk products, including Ong Tho condensed milk – the traditional product of Vinamilk, loved by consumers both at home and abroad.

According to Vinamilk’s representative in China, there are potentials for the export of condensed milk to grow exponentially. The statistics show a quadruped amount of China’s product import from 2016 to 2019. Meanwhile, condensed milk is one of the key product lines of Vinamilk, exported since 1997.
Up until now, this product is in 30 countries including those with stringent import requirements such as USA, Canada, Japan and South Korea. The total export volume reached over 208,000 tons, making it a brand trusted by consumers as well as international partners. Therefore, this will be an opportunity for Vinamilk to increase its revenue through export into China and strive to bring Vietnam to become one of the 5 largest dairy exporters to China in terms of output at the same time.

Mr. Vo Trung Hieu – Vinamilk’s Director of International Business added: “Vinamilk has to operate production in the situations where epidemic prevention and social distancing methods are taking place on one hand, and ensuring sufficient supply of products for consumers on the other. However, the company keeps on promoting product research, strategizing production plans to meet export order requirements; especially for the Chinese market in particular. China is still a potential market and Vinamilk has made appropriate plans to develop and double the export volume to this 1.4 billion consumers market in this period, ending 2021.

Thong Nhat Dairy Factory – one of the factories with experience in producing condensed milk for export to markets such as the US, Korea and Japan – is in charge of the first production.
“With large production capacity, modern processing technology and the application of international quality management standards, Vinamilk is fully capable of fulfilling large orders from most demanding markets in the world.” – Mr. Voadded.

At the time being, 5 out of 13 Vinamilk factories across the country are producing condensed milk, meeting the needs of the domestic market and exports. The plants are modern with automatic EU-imported machinery.

In recent years, Vinamilk has continuously invested in expanding international business activities to boost its growth rate. As a result, the export revenue of Vinamilk in 2019 increased by nearly 15% compared to that of 2018.
Todays, Vinamilk has been exporting products to 53 countries and territories. With many remarkable achievements on international business, in 2019, Vinamilk won the Asian Export Enterprise Award.

In this difficult time for the world and Vietnam economies, especially for agriculture-based companies having international trading activities, setting out a long-term plan for sustainable development and keep on going forward even in crisis is to be considered utmost important.
Along with the support and guidance from the State, especially from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vinamilk believes that the proactive and good preparation of businesses will bring opportunities to sustainable growth and contribute significantly to the development of the economy as a whole; overcome pandemics and be ready for recovery.
Translate & Edit: Hagen & KC