A partnership with farmers is not established in a single day, but over a long period of time. Le Nguyen Doan Duy, director of Business Development at Asia Ingredients Group, told VIR’s Hai Yen about the rapidly devised complementary solutions that can gain trust and enhance farmers’ livelihoods.
With over two decades of experience supplying food ingredients for Vietnamese food processing market, how do you evaluate the position of Asia Ingredients Group (AIG) in the market?
We started our operation as an authorised dealer for many international food ingredients companies 21 years ago. AIG has spent some of this time saving money, learning about technology, attracting clients, and creating our own markets.
AIG’s leader Nguyen Thien Truc convinced overseas suppliers to join and invest in the firm with the belief that Vietnam is a farming country with a major source of raw materials to supply ingredients for the food and beverage processing industry.
We have positioned ourselves as the leading manufacturer and supplier of food ingredients in Vietnam and have a large volume of domestic and international clients that are large food processing companies. Accordingly, our group’s revenues are 70 per cent based on the domestic market, while the rest comes from exports. Besides manufacturing, we are partnered with well-known international brands to provide high-quality food ingredients to Vietnam’s market.
Le Nguyen Doan Duy
Director of Business Development at Asia Ingredients Group
Vietnam agriculture’s annual export volume exceeds $50 billion, yet most items are still unprocessed. Does AIG have a strategy to increase exports using processed goods?
The agricultural business exports huge amounts annually, but the vast majority, such as prawns, basa fish, cashews, and coffee, contribute to just a small amount of the total value. The processed food, beverage, and instant noodle industries have a high need for all ingredients. Thus, we concentrate on generating a wider variety of components from native raw material locations. We hope that more firms will collaborate to invest in the manufacturing and processing of food ingredients so that they may share their knowledge and serve a larger local and international market.
We have developed two main raw material areas in Ben Tre and Nghe An provinces. In Ben Tre, a coconut hub of the Mekong Delta, we established ACP Asia Coconut Processing JSC. Meanwhile, Nghe An province was chosen to become a raw materials area for processing tapioca starch and glucose at Asia Hoa Son Corporation. In addition, a system of eco-smart cold storages in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Bac Ninh ensures that food products for customers and consumers are always accessible.
Additionally, we have created a European-certified organic raw material area in Ben Tre and we guarantee farmers a high and stable purchasing price for their high-quality raw materials. Likewise, in Nghe An, AIG shares risks with farmers by providing money for seed and fertiliser as we believe that farmers are essential to business sustainability.
AIG is investing in new manufacturing facilities, and expansion of its current facility. Can you elaborate on these projects?
It is now collaborating with Thai experts to invest in a cold storage facility in Binh Duong province. In addition to preserving the group’s raw materials, a smart cold storage system with AS/RS automation systems, energy-saving technology, and eco-friendly standard cold storage can be used as an additional rental service. It is anticipated to be operational by the end of the year.
The plant will use a lot of solar energy, reducing the greenhouse impact. AIG seeks to make its factories environmentally friendly.
We also favour investing in developing raw material regions in the north. To prepare for this, we established an office in Hanoi and constructed a warehouse system in Hung Yen and Bac Ninh. When the opportunity arises, the company will immediately deploy the investment.
AIG has invested significant resources in sophisticated equipment and innovative technology. How has this benefited the company?
From the beginning of the production shift, we invested substantially in infrastructure, constructing production facilities with the most modern machinery and equipment in various raw material regions to manufacture high-quality goods.
For example, the factory of Asia Saigon Food Ingredients JSC, a member of our ecosystem, specialises in the production of non-dairy powder creamers and is equipped with spray drying technology, the latest and most innovative technology in the industry, which was brought in from Denmark.
Since 2009, the milk cream powder plant has been efficiently run by the factory’s highly technical staff. Alternatively, at the Asia Coconut Processing JSC, AIG invests in ultra-high temperature sterilisation technology. Liquid products are sterilised and disinfected at a high temperature for 3-5 seconds, which helps to preserve nutrients and natural flavours while maintaining hygiene.