C.P. Vietnam: Sustainability from the very core

C.P. Vietnam Sustainability from the very core

In addition to carefully set business targets, sustainable development has been the guiding star of C.P. Vietnam. Now, these principles are the guiding star for the subsidiary of the diversified Thai transnational conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (C.P. Group) at every single stage of its extensive value chain, from breeding to production and processing, as well as distribution.

C.P. Vietnam provides local customers with more than five million pigs, 200 million eggs, and 80,000 tonnes of chicken every year – all a result of responsible and sustainable farming and production practices. This also enables the company to export around 2,000 tonnes of foodstuff and processed seafood to the Americas and the European Union, and make significant contributions to the country’s GDP.

Over more than 25 years of steady growth, C.P. Vietnam has created 200,000 jobs and has been transferring technology related to clean agriculture and value chains to co-operatives and farmers.

Awards galore

Based on these contributions, C.P. Vietnam was honoured with numerous prestigious awards such as the Third-class Labour Medal from the state president, the Volunteer Award from the United Nations, and other awards from ministries, agencies, and organisations – adding to its bursting stash of corporate social responsibility (CSR) awards for its contributions to social development and agricultural restructuring.

Montri Suwanposri, CEO of C.P. Vietnam, said, “Our decision to invest in Vietnam for the long term was a result of careful research about the society, economy, culture, and Vietnamese people. We realised that the country’s policies on mobilising foreign direct investment are very attractive, the people are hard-working and innovative, and the climate and soil are also very good. Vietnam was the perfect fit for our clean agricultural model.”

Besides transferring technology and knowhow on sustainable agriculture to locals, as well as training initiatives, C.P. Vietnam follows the circular economy model to minimise its environmental footprint – while earning significant gains.

Accordingly, as early as in 2008, C.P. has been using sci-tech methods to transform the waste of livestock and poultry into biogas and replace industrial gas. The initial investment costs of this are repaid manifold through the environmental gains and the reduced energy bills every month.

Besides, C.P. reuses organic animal waste to process fertiliser for its farms, harvesting around 33 vegetable beds on the area of 1,500 square metres, producing more than 5,000kg of vegetables every month. These vegetables are planted in line with VietGAP standards and are sold to the corporation’s staff and customers.

As an additional point of pride, the wastewater generated at every single factory of C.P. Vietnam goes through a four-step filtration and treatment process from collecting tanks to regulating tanks, aerobic biological tanks, and sedimentation tanks with sonadezi before being discharged into the environment as completely harmless, potable water.

Highlighting environmental protection and CSR

C.P. Vietnam considers the recognition from the Vietnamese government as the first-ever Thai company to receive the Third-Class Labour Medal for its outstanding achievements in agriculture a monumental honour.

CEO Suwanposri said the medal was approved by the president of Vietnam for the company’s long-term contributions to the country’s economic and human development. It reflects the success of the Three-Benefit principle (benefiting the country, the people, and the company), as well as the efficacy of putting the country and the people ahead of the pure interests of the company.

This approach gives equal weight to business development and social contributions in C.P. Vietnam’s development strategy. For this reason, the company set up C.P. Vietnam’s Donation Fund in 2009, providing various kinds of support to society, including education support and initiatives to support the poor. The company also provides a platform for medical volunteers to gather and initiate projects to support underprivileged people.

C.P. Vietnam has also been an enthusiastic supporter of the blood donation campaigns carried out by the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Vietnam Red Cross Society, and other organisations. So far, C.P. Vietnam’s employees have contributed over 200,000 blood units (around 62 million CC of blood) to the national blood bank.

Additionally, C.P. funded healthcare services for 250,000 poor patients, especially in remote areas of the country, as well as built three residential buildings in Hanoi’s K Hospital for poor patients and their families. The company also funded several charity funds as well as education and startup activities.

C.P. Vietnam is set to continue providing high-quality foodstuff to nourish and nurture customers as well as the environment to produce growth that leaves none behind and help unlock Vietnam’s tremendous potential.