Many investors have funded projects involving the processing of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables over the past three years to leverage Vietnam’s abundance of local agricultural products and meet the market demand, Tuoi Tre Online reported.

Customers inspect fresh foodstuffs  at Co.op Food Dinh Tien Hoang, which was put into service on February 24 

At the beginning of this year, Lavifood JSC put into service its fruit and vegetable processing plant, Tanifood, in Go Dau District in the southern province of Tay Ninh, with total investment reaching VND1.8 trillion.

Tanifood’s production lines could meet demand for processing a wide range of products made from fresh fruits and vegetables, such as fruit juices, dried fruits and frozen items, said Dinh Hung Dung, Lavifood’s deputy director.

At the plant, which uses advanced technology, premium-grade fresh fruits are processed and packaged for export, while second-grade fruits are frozen, and the balance are dried or pressed for juice.

Meanwhile, traders previously purchased only high-grade farm produce from local farmers and refused second-grade products or bought them at very low prices. As for low-quality items, many farmers had to throw them away as they used to do with dragon fruit in recent years, Dung added.

Local farmers can now sell over 80% of their yield to the plant, instead of the previous 50%. The launch of the plant has helped stop them from discarding their farm produce, while increasing the products’ value and improving farmers’ incomes, the Lavifood representative said.

In August last year, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group and Truong Hai Auto Corporation, known as Thaco, established a collaboration between farmers and agricultural product processors in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Also, DOVECO, a local foodstuff export JSC, launched its processing plant in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. The plant purchases and processes a large volume of fruits and vegetables such as passion fruit, banana, durian and pumpkin in the regional provinces, according to Dinh Cao Khue, chairman of the board of directors at DOVECO.

As of end-2018, Vina T&T company had started work on its coconut processing plant, Kim Thanh, in Chau Thanh District, Ben Tre Province, with a designed processing capacity of 25 million coconuts per year. The project is slated to begin operation this year.

Vina T&T general director Nguyen Dinh Tung said the plant, once put into operation, would be able to help local coconut farmers consume a large volume of coconuts at high prices.

Apart from that, some companies have even built processing plants before looking for sources of raw materials to attract cooperation from local farmers that supply safe and high-quality farm produce.

Vo Mai, vice president of the Vietnam Gardening Association, expressed approval for the investment in these processing facilities, saying that the world demand for both fresh and frozen agricultural products is on the rise.

Franchised Co.op Food store put into service in HCMC

Two suppliers of farm produce, Millennials Market Co., Ltd, and Winstar company, on February 24 jointly launched a convenience food store, Co.op Food, in HCMC’s District 1, under a franchise contract with local retail operator Saigon Co.op.

The new store stocks over 5,000 products, including safe farm produce, foodstuffs and essential items. Located at 45 Dinh Tien Hoang Street and surrounded by universities and State agencies, the facility is expected to attract many consumers and promote the consumption of clean farm produce in the city.

The two suppliers are set to open four more Co.op Food stores this year under the franchise format to boost the sale of farm produce among cooperatives in the city.

 SGT