Japfa, a leading pan-Asian industrial agri-food company, has marked 30 years of growth and development in Vietnam.
Clemens Tan, General Director of Japfa Comfeed Vietnam (Japfa Vietnam), explained the role of innovation and sustainable development as Vietnam’s livestock industry moves towards a more modern, integrated and responsible future.
A feed-farm-food value chain pioneer
Mr Tan stressed that Japfa Vietnam never stop innovating. For the company, innovation is not a communication slogan. It is the way it operates every single day in its factories, on its farms and in every management decision it makes.
“We believe innovation and sustainable development will not only drive more effective production solutions and long-term growth for businesses, farmers and communities, but also help transform Vietnam’s livestock industry into a more modern, precise and sustainable sector. Japfa’s development direction is also aligned with the Vietnamese Government’s strategy to promote a more modern, large-scale and sustainable livestock industry,” Mr Tan explained.
Promoting large-scale farms and automation
Mr Tan believes large-scale operations and automation are essential to improving productivity, enhancing product quality and strengthening disease control and food safety.
This direction is also encouraged by the Vietnamese Government under the livestock development strategy for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2045, which promotes a more industrialised, modern, value-chain-based livestock sector that ensures biosecurity, disease safety and environmental sustainability.
For Japfa, he said, farmers are strategic partners and a vital link in its integrated feed-farm-food value chain. Today, the company works with around 1,400 partner farms across the country, building a new livestock farming model that provides farmers with more stable income, lower risks and access to a more transparent and modern value chain.
“I firmly believe that automation will help farmers do less manual work while achieving better results. By improving efficiency, automation can help farmers become more productive and prosperous, but not replace them,” said Mr Tan.
“Moreover, we are entering a new phase of growth by enhancing our operations and delivering the Japfa Total Solutions approach. Beyond providing high-quality breeding stock, we offer technical expertise, market insights, and comprehensive support to help farmers achieve better production outcomes.”
Japfa Total Solutions
With today’s market situation becoming more competitive and more regulated, and with consumers demanding higher quality, Mr Tan believes Japfa Total Solution is a strong ecosystem that integrates feed, farm and food.
Through this solution, Japfa Vietnam is better able to control quality across the entire value chain and provide safe food for consumers. Food safety is one of the issues that Vietnamese consumers care deeply about today, and Japfa Total Solution allows the company to respond to that concern in a more complete and responsible way.
“We believe that when feed, farm and food are managed as one ecosystem, we can strengthen traceability, improve standards and ensure that quality is controlled from the first stage of production to the final product. This is how we believe Japfa can create long-term value for consumers, farmers and the livestock industry as a whole,” he explained.
Traceability, transparency and sustainability
“We have been expecting changes for a long time and Japfa Vietnam is well prepared to embrace the challenges,” said Mr Tan.
“Today, we are moving toward larger-scale farming and implementing systems to ensure that every step of the farming process is properly managed. We understand what is happening on the farms and with the livestock, while also ensuring traceability throughout the value chain.”
According to Mr Tan, Vietnam is entering a critical phase of transformation in agriculture and animal husbandry. The national livestock development strategy toward 2030 envisions large-scale farming models contributing the majority of production output.
Export markets are also demanding greater traceability and transparency across the value chain. Japfa Vietnam is not standing outside of this transformation; the company chose to move with it and help lead it.
“In Vietnam, we have completed life cycle assessments for our entire poultry and swine value chains, not simply for ESG reporting purposes, but to better understand where meaningful improvements must be made to reduce environmental impact. At Japfa Vietnam, we believe growth must always go hand in hand with responsibility and sustainable development,” Mr Tan revealed.
“But for us, sustainability is not only about the environment. It is also about sustaining livelihoods for farmers, rural communities, and the broader agricultural ecosystem. Growth only truly matters when it creates shared prosperity for farmers, for consumers and for Vietnam.”