Cargill expanding Vietnam feed, cocoa output

Cargill’s feed and nutrition business unit late last week celebrated the completion of its $20 million expansion of its animal feed plant in the central province of Binh Dinh.

The expanded plant is one of Cargill’s eight feed production facilities in Vietnam and will extend the company’s ability to meet growing demand for animal feed. With this expansion, Cargill has invested more than $110 million in Vietnam’s livestock and aquaculture industry over the last decade.

“The expansion of our Binh Dinh plant will allow us to even more effectively serve our customers in Vietnam, so we can deliver the right products, expertise and capabilities and support faster business growth,” said Jorge Becerra, general manager for Cargill Feed & Nutrition Vietnam.

The expansion, which began in 2012, has increased the plant’s capacity by four times, from 60,000 tonnes per year to 240,000 tonnes.

“Our investments demonstrate our confidence and commitment to the growth and future of Vietnam’s feed industry,” said Joe Stone, Cargill’s animal nutrition business leader.

Cargill is one of Vietnam’s leading animal nutrition firms. In 2012, the company committed itself to double their feed capacity to 1.5 million tonnes a year by 2015 to meet growing demand.

Cargill has also trained over 1.5 million Vietnamese farmers in best practices in animal health and nutrition to help raise farming productivity and incomes. Late this April, Cargill opened the first cocoa technology transfer centre in Ba Ria-Vung Tau for use by the Xa Bang Cocoa Co-operative and the province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department.

The $60,000 centre, constructed with Cargill’s support, acts as a cocoa training campus for about 2,000 novice farmers in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai and Binh Thuan. The centre, together with its technical training programmes, is expected to help farmers improve yields by 30-50 per cent in three years.

Cocoa is a relatively new crop for Vietnam. It is current cultivated by about 25,000 farmers in the Central Highlands, Mekong Delta and southeast provinces. Cargill expects the centre to promote greater knowledge, skills and expertise to achieve higher cocoa yields.

Cargill started its cocoa business in Vietnam in 2004, with the aim of establishing a supply chain of good quality fermented cocoa beans. It has three buying stations in Dak Lak, Ben Tre and Binh Phuoc provinces. The beans are meant to supply Cargill’s cocoa processing plants in Europe and its soon-to-open processing facility in Indonesia.