Vinamilk opens milk processing and packaging facility in Vietnam

Vinamilk, a dairy company based in Vietnam, has opened a new $110m liquid milk processing and packaging facility, Vietnam Milk Factory, in Binh Duong province.

The plant, which covers an area of 20ha, will initially have the capacity to process 400 million litres of milk per year and more than 800 million litres in the second phase.

The facility features equipment and technology provided by Swedish food processing and packaging solutions provider Tetra Pak.

It houses nine Tetra Pak A3 / Speed iLines, eight Tetra Pak A1 / iLines, complete iLine XT solutions with 14 laser guided vehicles with intermediate warehouse management software (iWMS) and Tetra PlantMaster system, which allows Vinamilk to monitor entire plant operations including incoming raw materials to the processed, packaged and palletised products.

Tetra Pak Vietnam managing director Bert Jan Post said that the new factory is the most advanced plant in automation and integration that Tetra Pak has ever built.

"And thanks to the Tetra PlantMaster system, all of the individual machines are working together ‘as one’ to deliver optimal performance, with factory-wide integration ensuring high levels of efficiency and uncompromising food safety," Post added.

Vinamilk chairwoman and general director Mai Ki?u Liên said: "This new plant has laid solid foundation for Vinamilk to achieve our goals to become one of the world’s top 50 dairies with over $3bn revenues by 2017."

Headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Vinamilk produces condensed milk, powdered milk, yoghurt, ice-cream, cheese, and other milk-based products, and exports its products to the US, France, Canada, Poland, Germany, the MiddleEast and South-East Asian countries.

In 2012, the company reported revenues and net earnings of $1.29bn and $277m respectively; it expects revenue of $1.5bn and net profit of $325m in the current fiscal.

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Image: Vietnam Milk Factory will process 400 million litres of milk per year in the first phase. Photo courtesy of TETRA PAK INTERNATIONAL S.A.