Masan subsidiary forms strategic partnership with De Heus Vietnam

The signing ceremony were witnessed by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, H.E. Christoph Prommersberger, Chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Vietnam, Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam Alain Cany, Chairman of Masan Group Nguyen Dang Quang, and representatives of Masan Group, Masan MEATLife Corporation, Royal De Heus and De Heus Vietnam.

Under the partnership, global feed major De Heus will support Masan to optimize and drive productivity of Vietnam’s 3F (feed-farm-food) animal protein value chain by leveraging on each respective parties’ strength and capabilities. The 3F model is expected to ensure safe, innovative, and affordable chilled meat products for 100 million Vietnamese consumers.

Masan MEATLife will focus on the branded chilled meat business while De Heus Vietnam will prioritize providing animal nutrition, genetics and husbandry solutions. The two corporation will partner with independent livestock and aquaculture farming entrepreneurs and provide an end-to-end solution for them to be competitive and win over in the medium and long-term.

The MOU embodies the spirit of the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and Investment Protection Agreement and the strategic partnership between the two companies can greatly benefit Vietnam’s animal protein value chain and socio-economic development.

In particular, the combination of De Heus Vietnam’s expertise in the upstream sector and Masan’s champion integrated FMCG-retail platform has the potential to accelerate the modernization of the animal protein value chain.

The parties will establish a Steering Committee to discuss investments by one or both parties in new or existing ventures and supply chain cooperation to ensure stable and predictable volume of input materials for the downstream meat business.

The partnership is expected to contribute to the modernization of Vietnam’s animal protein infrastructure to be on par with those of developed countries, said Danny Le, CEO of Masan Group cum Chairman of Masan MEATLife.

Photo: Masan

“Higher regulatory standards are being implemented in Vietnam’s animal protein value chain in terms of food safety, biosecurity, traceability, animal welfare and antibiotics usage. In the meantime, it is also crucial to promote the competitiveness of the country’s animal protein products compared to those from developed countries. To achieve this, it is important for the various links in the value chain to optimally work more closely together. I am confident that by combining the knowledge and experience of Masan and De Heus, we will be able to accelerate the desired progress in these areas,” said Gabor Fluit, CEO De Heus Asia.

The MOU is a non-binding agreement, but the parties are committed to develop one or more collaboration agreements by the first quarter of 2022. All cooperation agreements and/or ventures are subject to customary corporate and regulatory approvals.

Royal De Heus is one of the global leaders in the animal nutrition and husbandry industry. Since its entry into Vietnam in 2009, De Heus has been driving dynamic growth to become one of the largest and well-established animal feed producers in the country.

With the company’s strategic investments in genetics and active role in value chain cooperation, De Heus contributes significantly to professionalising the independent livestock and aquaculture farming sector in Vietnam.