Make Vietnam a key market for animal feed

​ Mr. John Ferring, General Manager of Cargill Feed Industry Southeast Asia

Below is an interview with Mr. John Ferring, General Manager of Cargill's feed industry for Southeast Asia.

*Reporter: Why did Cargill choose Dong Nai when coming to Vietnam, sir?

- Mr. John Ferring: With the desire to connect supply and demand around the world, targeting potential markets in the agricultural sector, Cargill chose Vietnam. The first animal feed factory was built in Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Zone. We chose Dong Nai because the province is strategically located in a very important position for the animal feed business of the region. From a small factory, with a small number of employees, we now have 2 factories in Dong Nai. In which, the factory in Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Zone produces a variety of animal and aquatic nutritional products.

The success of the first factory in Dong Nai is the foundation and stepping stone for Cargill to expand investment in other factories in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

*Is the success at the Dong Nai factory the foundation for businesses to expand their investment in Vietnam and Southeast Asia?

Yes. We are one of the first U.S. enterprises to set foot in Vietnam after the two countries normalized their diplomatic relations. The journey of more than a quarter of a century is marked by the inauguration of an animal feed factory in Dong Nai. Since then, we have continuously opened 11 feed processing factories in the following provinces of Hung Yen, Ha Nam, Nghe An, Binh Dinh, Binh Duong, Long An, Tien Giang, Dong Thap and Can Tho City; open a grain and oilseed supply warehouse; opened 2 technology application centers and distribution and transaction offices from South to North. Of the more than 1,400 employees, 99% are Vietnamese. They are industrious, skilled people.

During its operation in Vietnam, the group's 5 main business areas include: animal nutrition and health, food and beverage ingredients, agricultural product supply, imported meat, iron and steel have respectively served the customers, farmers and people of Vietnam.

* In the last 2 years, the global economy has "volatile" because of the Covid-19 epidemic, but Cargill still expands investment in Dong Nai?

- At the end of 2020, at the 25th anniversary of its establishment, Cargill announced a plan to invest US$28 million in building more factories in Dong Nai Province. This factory is under construction, expected to be completed by the end of this year. The factory is equipped with modern technology, focusing on specialized nutritional products and complementary products to meet the diverse needs of farmers. In the next 5 years, we will continue to expand our business in Vietnam. Our goal is to make Vietnam a key investment market in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2021, we will launch two nutritional products for the Vietnamese market: Neopigg feed for piglets and Provisoy super-digestible protein supplement for livestock, poultry and seafood. In the same year, Cargill launched the Vietnamese version of the website Feeding Intelligence to provide farmers with the necessary information, tools and solutions to help them raise livestock in a more sustainable, responsible and smarter manner.

*In 2021, Cargill completed the project of 100 schools for the community. This project comes from a promise, doesn't it, sir?

- In 1995, Cargill started operating in Vietnam. At that time, the economic and educational conditions in Vietnam were still difficult, the company's leadership promised to pursue the purpose of community development in parallel with business goals.

The factory went into operation at the same time the Cargill Cares Foundation was established. The Fund has connected staff, customers, suppliers and partners to join hands to implement the school construction project. The first project was built in Giang Dien Commune, Trang Bom District. So far, Cargill has raised a total of over US$5.5 million and completed a project of 100 schools, including five in Dong Nai Province.

This promise is still in force when recently, the fund set a goal to build 50 more schools by 2030.

*Is building schools the only job Cargill does to the community and building the business brand?

- Cargill's activities in Vietnam during the past 26 years have not only stopped in the business field but also made many good manners through efforts to improve the lives of farmers and promote improvement of conditional conditions. That will bring positive changes to the community in the future.

For many years, we have persistently implemented training programs, technology transfer, professional experience, and effective breeding models in the world for Vietnamese farmers. In the past year, we have expanded the scale of our training programs, putting many training sessions on an online platform in Vietnamese so that farmers can access this knowledge in the easiest way.

When the Covid-19 epidemic occurred, Cargill donated and supported VND1.5 billion to the Government's Covid-19 prevention fund to partially support the cost of medical equipment and supplies for prevention work, anti-epidemic.

Responding to the call of the Prime Minister, since 2019, Cargill Vietnam has researched and implemented many initiatives to reduce waste, switch to more environmentally friendly packaging.

*From your point of view, what advantages does Dong Nai have in attracting investment? What should the province improve to continue to attract foreign investors?

- Dong Nai is the strategic choice of Cargill. The authorities, departments and branches of Dong Nai are very interested in the investor community. The province organizes meetings and talks to remove difficulties for businesses; issues reasonable preferential policies; constantly improves the business environment. We decided to invest in more factories in the province for this same reason.

Dong Nai is attracting investment very well. I have a small suggestion that the traffic infrastructure needs to be improved to promote the strengths of the airport, seaport and highways; to welcome a new wave of investment after the epidemic outbreak and the effects of international trade agreements that Vietnam participates in.

Cargill hopes that the Vietnamese Government will continue to have more policies to support businesses to recover from losses and difficulties caused by the epidemic; improve the supply chain of agricultural products. We believe investing in infrastructure and supply chains will ensure the success and sustainable growth of the Agriculture industry.

*The animal feed market is always volatile and risky. In your opinion, what should your company do to help farmers develop sustainably?

- We have seen many stories. The farmer became a billionaire, earning hundreds of billions of VND from a few chickens, pigs, and shrimp. But there are also people from the rich and rich who become empty-handed from livestock due to diseases, unsafe food sources or prices.

These are the risks that the livestock industry in particular and Vietnam's agricultural production are facing. In order to reduce risks for farmers, we always try our best to find raw materials from within the country to reduce costs; develop specialized pet nutrition products that improve health from within, thereby reducing drug use and disease. In addition, we support technical solutions to help livestock farmers achieve high livestock productivity with cost savings.

Thank you, Sir!

                                                                                                Phan Anh