More farm produce expected to join global supply chain
By Pham Thai - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will enhance the cooperation with multinational groups under the public-private partnership (PPP) form to introduce more farm products into the global supply chain.
Currently, the ministry is cooperating with 15 multinational groups operating in Vietnam such as Unilever, Metro Cash & Carry, Monsanto, Nestlé and Pepsi to give training to farmers and set up a sustainable production process for domestic consumption and export.
The operation a fish platform of Metro Cash & Carry under the PPP form in Can Tho City has been highly evaluated by agriculture minister Cao Duc Phat. The platform has supplied live and processed fish of the Mekong Delta to 15 Metro wholesale centers nationwide.
Minister Phat also expects products of the platform to be exported to more Metro centers in the world.
Nguyen Huu Dung, vice chairman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (Vasep), told the Daily that the number of local seafood firms selling products to Metro Cash & Carry was still small.
Regarding coffee, Vu Quoc Tuan, head of Nestlé’s marketing department, said that the firm would expand its pilot project of sustainable coffee farming under the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C) from two hectares to 50 hectares in the Central Highlands provinces of Lam Dong, Dak Lak and Dak Nong.
However, the coffee production volume under the cooperation project with the agriculture ministry will be very small compared to 250,000 tons Nestlé buys each year, Tuan said.
The ministry and 12 international enterprises such as Metro Cash & Carry, Nestlé, Unilever, Sygenta, Foods, Pepsi and Yara International in 2020 set up five PPP agricultural groups to farm coffee, tea, vegetables, fish and other plants. Currently, the number of enterprises joining this cooperation program is 15.