Businesses reap sweet fruits on the path of sustainable development

Phan Minh Thong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phuc Sinh Group visited the coffee growing area in Son La.

Sustainability must go with persistence

Looking back on the journey of more than 14 years of pursuing the path of sustainable development, Mr. Phan Minh Thong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phuc Sinh Group, an enterprise with annual agricultural export sales of US$300 million, said that originating from the request of a major partner in the Netherlands, since 2010, Phuc Sinh has started making pepper according to RA standards (Rainforest Alliance - Sustainable Agriculture Standards) of the Netherlands for sustainable development. At that time, sustainable development was a very new concept, so Phuc Sinh encountered many difficulties.

In the first 2 years, Phuc Sinh spent most of the company's sustainable development budget of US$250,000, but did not achieve certification. "It is not easy for a production and commercial enterprise to work with thousands of farming households, convince them to participate in the project and change the farming process towards sustainability" - Mr. Thong shared.

However, with the perception that this is an extremely important criterion for selling to Europe and also the foundation for sustainable development in the future, Phuc Sinh has mobilized additional budget to continue implementation. Perseverance and persistence have brought worthy results. In 2014, Phuc Sinh achieved RA certification. Thanks to that, selling to Europe became very easy. After only 1 year, the company recovered the entire investment amount for RA certification.

PAN Group Joint Stock Company is also one of the enterprises that soon transformed itself along the path of sustainable development. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Tra My, General Director of PAN Group, in the early days of converting to a sustainable development model, shareholders expressed skepticism about the group's decisions for many times. Eventually, convincing the leaders of member companies is not easy. Typically, the decision to invest in a high-tech rice processing factory worth VND350 billion has faced many questions about cost and necessity.

After many efforts, this proposal was also approved. Thanks to that, Vina Rice's product selling price to European and American markets reached US$1,100/ton, double the normal level. Currently, PAN Group is applying many solutions to reduce emissions into the environment, typically applying the circular economy model in the ecosystem of member companies. Specifically, this company's by-products are raw material inputs for another company.

Typically, shrimp and fish manure at Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company and Ben Tre Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company are being researched to be produced into fertilizer for Vinaseed's rice growing. Similarly, shrimp heads and shells are sold to a number of animal feed and biopolymer manufacturing companies to both reduce emissions and gain tens of billions of dong in revenue each year...

Single benefit, double benefit

After more than a decade of pursuing the path of sustainable development, Mr. Phan Minh Thong affirmed that it was one of Phuc Sinh's wise decisions. “Regarding the technical barrier that Europe has recently set up, we have been preparing for it for 14 years. This is an advantage for us to accelerate in this market and become one of the companies selling the most spices to Europe in 2023" - Mr. Thong shared.

In particular, at the beginning of this year, Phuc Sinh was valued at US$320 million when it received capital from a European investment fund. This was seen by Mr. Thong as a lucky coincidence because the results of Phuc Sinh's sustainable development process are consistent with the current ESG orientation. This is also a prerequisite for a business to be able to access capital from this investment fund.

At Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company, amid a decline in pangasius exports due to major markets such as the EU, China, and South Korea sharply reducing imports, this company's business results for the first quarter of 2024 still recorded growth to 28 percent compared to the same period in 2023, reaching VND2,855 billion. According to Vinh Hoan's leaders, the company is still developing well in three main markets: the US, China and the domestic market. Notably, deeply processed products have helped Vinh Hoan increase product value.

In 2024, Vinh Hoan Collagen - a subsidiary of Vinh Hoan targets revenue growth thanks to increased production capacity from the new gelatin production line.

In addition, Vinh Wellness business group also plans to invest in specialized collagen products and collagen application products, while increasing technical support for customers to develop products and markets in this year.

As for PAN Group, according to Ms. Tra My, thanks to ESG, PAN has been able to export goods to markets with high requirements for ESG such as the EU, US and Japan. PAN's products such as shrimp and rice are exported at higher prices than other companies in the same industry. ESG also helps PAN access green capital from financial institutions.

Recently, within the framework of COP28, Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam and PAN signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in implementing ESG financial solutions and services. Ms. Tra My acknowledged that ESG not only impacts business but also helps develop the brand, increase reputation and help the company best manage risks.