Food enterprises build sustainable value chains

Production activities at Gia Bao Group Joint Stock Company.Photo: Provided by the company

Brand value grows strongly

According to the latest report (September 2024) of Brand Finance - the world's leading brand valuation consultancy, although the market faces many challenges and domestic demand weakens, the brand value of Vietnamese food brands still overcomes these difficulties.

Notably, 7 out of 11 listed Vietnamese food brands had double-digit increases in brand value, with Chin-Su seeing the highest increase in brand value (brand value increased by 71% to 123 million USD). Vinamilk led the Vietnamese food brands with the highest brand value of 2.6 billion USD, although it was 11% lower than the brand value in 2023.

Sharing with reporters, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Son, Brand Director of Richy Southern Food Joint Stock Company, said that in the first 6 months of 2024, Richy's Kenju cake, Jinju rice cake, and Oatmeal cake products created a fever in the Korean and Japanese markets. Richy is expected to continue to bring these product lines to conquer the US market through the Saigon Market and Mekong Market supermarket systems. In addition to the three markets mentioned above, the processed food products of this enterprise are now present in more than 30 countries and territories around the world, contributing greatly to the company's annual revenue of VND2,000 billion.

According to Ms. Son, in order to export to the above countries, partners have conducted many surveys, even visited the place to evaluate the growing areas, input materials and many other criteria. In which, input materials meeting safety standards are mandatory but not enough. In order to "join hands" with import partners to bring goods to the export market, the enterprise has continuously created many new product lines with the unique identity of Vietnamese culture.

Similarly, Luong Gia Food Technology Joint Stock Company (Luong Gia Food) has currently exported dried fruit products, cereals, etc. to about 20 countries around the world, with revenue growing steadily by 20% each year. Ms. Luong Thanh Thuy, General Director of Luong Gia Food, said that to conquer global consumers, the company's products must ensure quality, distinctive flavors, and achieve BRC, FSSC, ISO, HACCP, and other certifications according to mandatory criteria of each region, such as FDA and Halal certifications.

Building a green energy chain

Despite many achievements, businesses should not be complacent about the strict regulations and standards from major export markets on sustainable development. According to Our World in Data and Oxfam, the food and beverage production system, including agriculture, land use change, processing, transportation, packaging, retail and waste treatment, contributes about 25-34% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

To mitigate this situation, some countries and regions have begun to introduce policies and regulations to encourage companies, organizations and individuals to adopt carbon neutral measures with specific solutions such as efforts to develop sustainability in green energy, water management, packaging, sourcing and waste treatment.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Trung, Development Director of the Agricultural Emission Reduction Project (AgriCarbon), said that the issue of reducing emissions in agriculture in Vietnam is no longer new in the world. In the coming time, exported goods will be taxed according to carbon emissions. The Vietnamese Government has committed to the Net Zero target by 2050. Sustainable economic, environmental and social development requires implementing emission reduction strategies and enhancing carbon storage capacity, especially through forests and crops.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the recent 2024 Sustainable Food Forum, Mr. Tran Van Son, General Director of Gia Bao Group Joint Stock Company, said that in addition to economic benefits, businesses also pay attention to social factors, considering this an indispensable part of a sustainable business. Businesses want to build an ecosystem from farm to factory, bringing to the market products that meet green standards. The business's consumption market is expanding not only in Vietnam but also internationally, with major partners from Japan, Korea, Canada and Taiwan (China).

Businesses see an increasing demand for sustainable, transparent and environmentally friendly products. With support from foreign partners and international programs, the business's products have a wide opportunity to access the global market. On April 12, 2024, the Green Cashew Project - Green Cashew, founded and implemented by Green Journey Social Enterprise and Gia Bao Group, was officially launched. The goal of the Project is to develop a sustainable value chain.

However, according to Ms. Ly Kim Chi, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Food and Foodstuff Association, although knowing that greening is a mandatory requirement, many businesses still do not know where to start "greening", or do not have enough finance to do it. This is a difficult problem, especially for small and medium enterprises. She recommended that authorities and the banking sector provide financial support for businesses investing in greening production, specifically giving certain priorities to export-producing businesses investing in greening.