Liquid milk production in 2019 reached over 1 million liters, up 8.32 per cent compared to 2018. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

HÀ NỘI — VIRAC forecasts that the dairy industry prospect in 2020 will continue to grow at a high level, increase investment capital in dairy farms to reduce dependence on imported milk and to meet the needs of people’s domestic consumption. The goal for 2020 is to produce 2.6 billion liters of liquid milk, with an average consumption of 27 liters/person/year. Domestic fresh milk will reach 1 billion liters to meet 38% of demand, export turnover will reach 120-130 million USD.

The Việt Nam Industry Research and Consultancy (VIRAC)’s latest report said local dairy firms plan to produce at least 2.6 billion litres of milk to meet domestic consumption, with average consumption of 27 litres per person per year.

According to statistics from the General Statistics Office, liquid milk and yogurt reported the best growth last year. Liquid milk production in 2019 reached over one million litres, up 8.32 per cent compared to 2018. The country produced about 390,000 tonnes of yogurt, an increase of 17.65 per cent.

Regarding sales revenue, liquid milk also increased by 8.32 per cent and yogurt grew by 17.8 per cent.

Import turnover of milk and dairy products to Việt Nam reached over US$1 million, up 8.8 per cent over the same period in 2018, mainly from markets of New Zealand, Southeast Asia, EU and the US.

In the same year, the export of the products also reached over VNĐ10 trillion ($442.5 million), up 13.46 per cent compared to 2018.

Although the prevalence of health problems among the elderly in Vietnam is high,  the use of nutritional supplements such as milk for the ageing group still limited. Dairy firms saw increasing chances in serving those customers.

In 2019, the powdered milk market for adults in Việt Nam grew by 11 per cent. This shows the potential for good growth of nutritious milk products for the elderly in the country in 2020.

VIRAC mentioned the promising revenue and profit from the market of nearly 100 million Vietnamese people and the future market of 600 million ASEAN people.

While the company considers the dairy industry an attractive market, it said: “It is also not a piece of cake,” due to fierce competition between big local firms such as Vinamilk, TH True Milk and the foreign enterprises of Nestle and Abbott.

Recently, two multidisciplinary business giants of Vingroup and Masan have shown their eagerness to find opportunities to enter the local dairy market.

With the promise of huge revenue and profit from the market of nearly 100 million Vietnamese people, as a stepping stone to develop in the market of 600 million ASEAN people, and seeing an opportunity to step into the Chinese billion market, the Vingroup and Masan's joining the industry is just a story sooner or later, VIRAC said in its report. — VNS