Cows on a Vinamilk organic farm. — Photo vinamilk.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares in dairy giant Vinamilk have unexpectedly soared by 4 per cent in the last two days after the company’s milk products were launched in China last week.

Vinamilk, the country's second-largest company by market capitalisation, presented its products at the “Launch of Vietnamese Dairy Products” within the framework of the 2019 China International Food & Catering Expo, held on September 21 in the Chinese province of Hunan.

It was jointly organised by the Việt Nam Dairy Association (VDA) and the Department of Commerce of Hunan Province.

Through this programme, the two countries’ enterprises would have the opportunity to meet and connect in order to find appropriate partners for further co-operation, said Peng Zheng, director of the Hunan Department of Commerce.

VDA Chairman Trần Quang Trung stated that Vinamilk was the first and only Vietnamese company to make the list of the world’s 50 largest dairy companies.

For Chinese consumers’ convenience, Vinamilk has set up online stores on Chinese e-commerce websites, in addition to stepping up distribution via large Chinese supermarket chains.

In 2018, Vinamilk started to supply its products to the Hema supermarket chain belonging to Alibaba Group, creating the momentum for expansion to other distribution chains in China.

Hema is one of China's largest chains with more than 150 supermarkets favoured by Chinese consumers in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

The company has also introduced products to other large supermarkets such as Tian Hong, Hao Huankui and Ho Me Me.

According to one expert, Vinamilk's rapid penetration into the Chinese market had been accompanied by a series of other moves to expand its market in foreign countries.

It has increased its organic farm complex in Laos to an area of 20,000 hectares and 100,000 cattle.

The company has raised its ownership in GTNfoods, Driftwood Dairy Holding Corporation.

These steps showed Vinamilk’s ambitions to penetrate international markets to become one of the top dairy companies in the world, the expert told online newspaper Cafef.vn. — VNS