TH true MILK: Sowing trust, reaping rewards after 15 years of sustainable development

DNHN - Whenever TH launches a new product and enters a new field, consumers are ready to use it because they believe it is healthy and environmentally friendly. This is the result of the trust that TH Group have reaped after sustainable development strategy

Sowing the seeds

“In 2008, when TH Group launched its dairy farm project in Nghe An, we assessed it as a breakthrough in the orientation of production,” recalled Mr Nguyen Xuan Cuong, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Nghe An is the province with the largest area in the country, especially in the west, where there are vast land resources. However, the climate is very harsh, with cold winds in winter and the Lao wind in late spring and early summer, which is not suitable for agricultural development. It is also home to a large population of ethnic minorities, with low levels of production and many difficulties in life.

Therefore, when TH Group chose to develop a large-scale dairy farm with tens of thousands of cows in such a difficult area, not many people, including the leaders, believed that TH could succeed.

However, looking back over a decade, TH Group’s journey can be said to have been completely correct. The dairy farm complex now has a scale of nearly 70,000 cows, a cultivation area of over 8,100 hectares, and a total investment of over 1.2 billion USD. The fresh milk production capacity of the factory is up to 500 million litres per year. From the beginning of 2024, TH true MILK’s processing output will reach more than 1 million litres of milk per day.

TH’s closed high-tech production chain applies a circular economy with a modern production model, applying the most advanced processes in a synchronised manner, from management, breeds, ecosystem, and processing standards to distribution.

Over the past 15 years, TH True MILK has become a national brand, leading the market in the fresh milk segment with a market share of up to 45%. TH’s involvement has contributed to the transparency of the milk market, reducing the proportion of reconstituted milk powder on the market to less than 40% today (at the time when TH entered the milk industry in 2009, this proportion was 92%).

TH true MILK fresh milk products are now a popular brand, which can be found in every supermarket, shop and grocery store.

According to Mr Nguyen Xuan Duong, former Acting Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the success of TH Group comes from the great determination of Labour Hero Thai Huong, the founder of TH Group. Faced with difficulties, challenges and doubts during the start-up period, Ms Thai Huong still showed a strong belief in the success of the project.

“I still remember the image of Ms Thai Huong, a petite, beautiful woman, running to all the ministries and telling the leaders of the departments that she would listen to whatever they say, but they should not advise her not to do this fresh milk project,” Mr Duong recalled.

Dr Dang Kim Son, former Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development, shared that when TH decided to raise dairy cows, many experts, including himself, felt that it was not feasible. Because of an overall assessment of many factors, Vietnam only had one advantage, which was that the milk market still had a lot of room for growth. Meanwhile, we did not have any advantages in terms of production and processing.

Looking back over 15 years, explaining the success of the project, the expert highly appreciated TH Group’s vision in choosing high-tech agriculture combined with a circular economic model.

From the beginning of the project, TH has created a breakthrough in large-scale production, accompanied by mechanisation, combined with automation and digitalisation. After that, TH was also a leading enterprise in terms of serving well in terms of quality, transparency, and efficiency, which is good for both producers and consumers, as well as for managers.

Next, TH Group took a step further towards clean production, strengthening environmentally friendly solutions, and contributing positively to responding to climate change. The transition was not difficult because TH already had a foundation, an ecosystem that met this need.

According to Dr Dang Kim Son, this sustainable development is not only reflected in the way TH treats Mother Nature but also in the sustainable values for social security and the people. The process of producing fresh milk is always associated with the development of raw material production areas, in which there are not only large enterprises but also the participation of cooperatives and farming households.

TH Group has chosen an inclusive development approach, both “leaving no one behind” and creating opportunities for everyone. The future picture of Vietnamese agriculture is also what the whole world is aiming for greener, cleaner, kinder and more peaceful. In today’s volatile world, the foundation of this sustainability has become extremely strong, going beyond the story of mere agricultural products.

“TH Group has made a very positive contribution to the Vietnamese livestock industry, turning an industry with no advantages into one with advantages. More importantly, TH’s success has given people confidence. Confidence in investing in dairy farming in Vietnam is profitable, confidence in the transparency and quality of products, and confidence that we can do it,” shared Dr Dang Kim Son.

Reaping the rewards

Ms. Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy, Director of Sustainable Development at TH Group, said that right from the beginning, TH has taken sustainable development as the guiding principle for all of the Group’s core activities.

TH’s investment projects focus on the application of high technology, science and technology, and management science interwoven to create commodity products with superior productivity and quality, in the direction of sustainable development and beneficial to health.

As a result, after nearly 15 years of development, TH has made a strong mark as a leading enterprise, pioneering innovation with food and beverage products for the health of the community. The Group has also steadfastly overcome major challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Ms. Thuy, the greatest achievement in TH Group’s sustainable development process is trust. This is the trust from the Government, consumers, and the community, that domestic enterprises, with TH Group as the pioneer, are fully capable of doing it, of turning the impossible into possible, of overcoming nature, and that Vietnamese land and Vietnamese intelligence can produce world-class agricultural and consumer products.

To date, it can be said that TH Group is “reaping” this trust. TH’s other equally bold major projects, expanding development abroad such as implementing a fresh milk farming and processing project in Russia – becoming the largest Vietnamese investor in Russia in the agricultural sector, implementing agricultural projects in Australia or becoming the first Vietnamese enterprise to receive a permit to officially export fresh milk to China – have all received a lot of support from the Government as well as consumers and the community.

In the consumer sector, TH Group has firmly established its position as a pioneer in nutrition, leaving its mark in the minds of consumers as a brand that is good for health and for the community. When the Group decided to expand into new product lines beyond fresh milk such as beverages, processed foods, pharmaceuticals, or even beyond agriculture into education and healthcare, they were all well received by consumers.

“Every time TH launches a new product and enters a new field, consumers are ready to use it because they believe it is a product that is good for their health and friendly to the environment. This is the result of the trust that we have reaped after many years of being faithful to our sustainable development strategy,” said Ms Thuy.

To continue to maintain the trust of consumers, TH needs to persevere with its path of sustainable development.

The Group has developed a sustainable development policy consisting of 6 pillars, linked to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, including: Nutrition and Health, Environment, Education, People, Community, and Animal Welfare. Through this, TH ensures that its business activities benefit all stakeholders, with the top priorities being the environment and the community.

In a new step towards reducing emissions, TH Group aims for its farms and factories in its closed production chain to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, in line with the Vietnamese government’s commitment at the COP26.

To achieve this goal, Ms. Thuy said that TH is applying a range of high-tech solutions in production to reduce emissions, the most notable of which are in the areas of plastic reduction and green energy production.

The company has implemented many plastic reduction solutions, such as reducing by 50% (and moving towards reducing by 100%) the amount of single-use yoghurt spoons that come with TH true YOGURT yoghurt products to encourage consumers to use spoons at home or reusable spoons; eliminating the plastic shrink wrap on the lids of TH true WATER pure water products; reducing the weight of plastic bottle packaging; and reducing the thickness of the labels wrapped around the bottles. With the above series of actions and solutions, TH contributes to reducing hundreds of tonnes of plastic each year.

Since 2020, rooftop solar power systems have been deployed at TH farms and factories throughout the country. Each year, they produce about 7 million kWh, equivalent to reducing emissions by about 4,500-5,000 tonnes of CO2, meeting about 10% of the total internal electricity consumption. The Group plans to increase solar power production in the coming years, aiming to meet 15% of total electricity consumption.

With many expansion projects in areas including livestock farming, milk processing to wood, and sugar cane production, TH involves local farmers in the production linkage chain, especially in the first link of providing raw materials, contributing to creating sustainable livelihoods for the people and developing the socio-economy of the areas where TH is present.

Currently, there are more than 20,000 farmers supplying straw, corn and sawdust to TH dairy farms in Nghe An; nearly 19,000 farmers supplying sugarcane to the Nghe An Sugarcane Factory - NASU; more than 15,000 farmers supplying raw wood to the TH wood processing factory; and nearly 1,000 households supplying fresh milk and other raw materials to TH in Da Lat - Lam Dong.

Mai Anh