Da Lat Natural Food Joint Stock Company was set up in 2009 on a vast farming area in the south of Lam Dong province at an altitude of 1,500 metres, about 30 km from Da Lat City. This place is known as a primary supplier of highest-quality fruits and vegetables in Vietnam because of its mild, cool climate. Typical products are potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and maize.
Founder and CEO Nguyen Van Anh is an experienced specialist in food processing, and the former deputy CEO of a Japanese food company in Lam Dong province. He found out that the land in Duc Trong, Don Duong and Lam Ha districts and Da Lat City is suitable for growing and developing high-quality Japanese yam. However, the cultivated area and productivity decreased rapidly because farmers did not have good seedlings and scientific land enrichment methods.
To restore Japanese yam in Lam Dong province, in 2009, he set up the company to pilot growing yams with the tissue-grafting method. The company then cooperated with farmers to plant the new variety. Right in the very first harvest, the yield reached 25 tonnes per hectare, an increase of 5 - 10 tonnes compared with the old farming method.
The company purchased all 100 tonnes of Japanese yam under contracts signed with farmers. 70 percent of fresh products are directly exported to Singapore, while the remaining 30 percent are processed, dried, crisped, chilled and frozen for export to Taiwan and South Korea. In 2011, the company invested nearly VND10 billion to upgrade its export yam processing lines to scale up the capacity to 1,500 tonnes of finished products a year (100 tonnes of fresh yam are processed into 15 tonnes of finished products).
In 2012, the company expanded its cooperation with farmers in Lam Dong and Dak Nong provinces to restore 12 ha of ‘strange soil’ to grow Japanese yam and purchase all 300 tonnes, which were exported to Asian markets after being processed. And, in the first 11 months of 2013, the firm continued to introduce new techniques and methods to yam growers in Lam Dong and Dak Nong provinces. On average, the company purchased some 300 tonnes of products a month in 2012. In addition to close partners in South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, the firm shipped its products to Japan and Europe. On October 6, 2013, its frozen and dried yam was certified ISO 22000:2005 certificate by the UK-based BSI Group.
CEO Nguyen Van Anh said his company is building a modern yam processing line with a monthly output of 40 tonnes of products. With this new automatic line, the firm is negotiating to grow new tissue-grafted yams on nearly 100 ha of soil and introduce new techniques to farmers in Lam Dong province. The profit for farmers is VND300 million per ha.
With the business motto "Your Health - Our Responsibility", Da Lat Natural Food Processing Joint Stock Company introduces totally natural products to customers. Besides, the company has generated jobs for hundreds of local people and contributed to local social and economic development.
Hoang Ngoc
Vietnamese
