Cao Bang: milestone on TH Group’s strategy to cover dairy map in Vietnam

TH Group has broken ground on its new high-tech dairy farm and processing facility

On October 17, TH Group, the owner of the TH True Milk brand, started construction of its high-tech dairy farm and fresh milk processing plant with the total investment capital of VND2.54trillion ($110.43 million). Located in Hoa Thuan town, Quang Hoa district, the project will have a herd of 10,000 dairy cows with an annual capacity of 49,000 tonnes.

Covering an area of 66.7 hectares, the project will reserve 63.7ha for the dairy cow farm and 3ha for the processing plant. It is expected to start operation after four years of construction.

This project, in collaboration with another in Ha Giang province with a similar capacity are the two first provinces in TH group’s strategy to develop high-tech agricultural projects in the northern border provinces with the ambition to both serve the local market demand and catch up with the neighbouring market of China that has a population of 1.5 billion.

Thai Huong, chairwoman of TH Group, said, “The golden key, namely high-tech production, will continue to be applied in our farm and fresh milk processing projects. Notably, all steps from breeding to management will be applied modern terminal technology, including the most advanced dairy management system Afimilk (imported from Israel), disease and veterinary management procedures from New Zealand, as well as waste treatment systems imported from Japan, Israel, and the Netherlands.”

This breeding model has been successfully applied in TH Group’s farm in Nghia Dan district of Nghe An province. The $1.2 billion high-tech concentrated dairy and fresh milk production project made the first breakthrough in the domestic milk industry by using state-of-the-art technology for its grass cultivation and dairy cow breeding activities.

Lai Xuan Mon, party secretary of the Provincial Party Committee said, “This project will also boost local socioeconomic development, help restructure the agricultural sector of the province, and realise farmers’ dreams of wealth. In addition, it also plays a crucial role in the province’s smart agricultural planning in 2020-2025.”

Once completed, the project will contribute VND200 billion ($8.7 million) a year to the province’s budget, while simultaneously generating direct employment for 500 workers as well as thousands of workers growing material crops.

“TH Group acquired breakthrough growth in both local and international markets, including Russia and Australia. With abundant financial sources, strong brand, and expert team with rich experience, TH Group created a revolution in the dairy industry. I believe that the brand will continue to shine,” said Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“TH Group, in collaboration with numerous local groups, guided the dairy production and processing industries and other sectors, namely agricultural goods, medicine, and wood processing to develop in the direction of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which match with the government’s orientations,” Tien said.

Currently, TH Group is also constructing three other dairy farms and fresh milk processing facilities in the northernmost province of Ha Giang (VND2.5 trillion or $108.7 million), in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa (VND3.8 trillion or $165.2 million), and in central province of Phu Yen (VND1.15 trillion or $50 million). In addition, TH Group will continue pursuing a closed-loop production system and plans to roll out similar projects in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, aiming to expand its total cow herd to 400,000 heads by 2025.

At present, while constructing a $2.7 billion high-tech concentrated dairy and fresh milk production project in Russia, TH Group is constructing a similar major project in the Republic of Bashkortostan, a federal subject of Russia.

Mong Van Loi, director, Phuc Hoa Agriculture and Forestry Cooperative

The main income of local people comes from growing cassava and sugarcane to sell to businesses and factories, however, prices are low and unstable, resulting in low living standards. In addition, growing cassava is very taxing on soil. Since local people know that TH Group will implement a high-tech concentrated breeding farm and fresh mill processing project in the province, they expect great benefits and are looking forward to the construction. With our experience in growing biomass maize for dairy cows, we are confident to build high-quality material areas for TH Group. The provincial leaders said that they will directly encourage farmers to grow material crops for the farm.

Hua Van An, farmer, Hoa Thuan town

My family currently has 2 hectares of land to grow sugarcane and cassava. There is only one cultivated crop per year. The cultivated area is big but the average income is low. Notably, the selling prices of these products are VND800 dong (3.5 US cents) per kilogramme. After subtracting all the expenses, we acquired about VND50 million ($2,170) per year for the whole family of five people. Through the media channel, I know that at TH Group’s projects across the country, it has model to link with farmers to growing material area via providing seeds and guiding techniques. In addition, growing grass or biomass maize will create two or three cultivated crops per year, thus the capacity will much higher than that of cassava and sugarcane. We hope that the project will contribute to improving the local people’s living standard.

Hoang Van Tien, a farmer in Hoa Thuan town

Planting and harvesting sugarcane is hard work for me and my wife because we are not young anymore. The income from this crop is not enough to cover our life either, so my family had to start breeding goats. When I had the opportunity to attend the ground-breaking ceremony and watched the documentary about TH Group's major projects across the country, I could not help but hope that the farm and the factory would come into operation soon so that we can have an opportunity to increase our incomes. I also have have two sons who are raising goats with unstable incomes, so I hope they can start working for TH Group's project.