50 years of Vinamilk: A journey of constantly upgrading standards

First standard: Must be master

In 1976, when Vinamilk began its journey, the first problem was not competition or growth. It was how to maintain production in conditions of lack of raw materials, foreign currency, spare parts and technology. The stories told in the documentary "50 years of Vinamilk - Constantly upgrading standards, working to the end" show a period when to keep the factory operating, workers had to repair and manufacture equipment that could not be purchased from outside.

But what is noteworthy is not only how Vinamilk managed in that situation. More importantly, the choice was made very early: to continue to depend on or find a way to take ownership. In 1989, Dielac Factory was restored with a cost of about 200,000 USD, less than 1/10 of the offer of foreign companies. Later, when it realized the danger from the can-body lead welding technology that was still popular at that time, Vinamilk invested more than 450,000 USD in the Swiss Soudronic electric welding line. The decision was noteworthy because removing this technology was not yet a mandatory requirement at that time.

Food that enters the body has no right to be wrong," said Ms. Mai Kieu Lien - Former Member of the Party Central Committee, Labor Hero, General Director of Vinamilk, in the film. From a very basic requirement of the early days - to be able to do it, to be self-reliant - "standard" began to be placed higher: not waiting for a risk to become a banned thing to be eliminated, not taking the minimum accepted as the final limit.

By 1997, the first batches of milk powder were exported to Iraq. Before that, as Ms. Mai Kieu Lien recalled, almost no one thought that a country that originally imported infant milk powder could export this product itself. From a test order of 300 tons being continuously produced to be delivered on time, a new test began: quality is not only recognized in the factory, but must be strong enough to enter international competition.

When quality standards go out the factory gate

From the early 1990s, Vinamilk began to develop domestic fresh milk raw material areas, supporting farmers in terms of breeds, techniques and output. From the initial goal of proactively securing milk sources, the problem gradually shifted to a more difficult requirement: quality control right from the source of raw materials. Today, at Vinamilk farms, each individual cow is identified and monitored for health and reproductive indicators using a chip system. Feed rations, barn conditions, milking processes, preservation and transportation all become links of the same control system.

In 2013, Vinamilk was granted a registration number by the US Food and Drug Administration, meeting the conditions for exporting products to the US. In 2023, the company's infant formula brands won the Purity Award of the Clean Label Project. In 2026, Optimum A2 Pro+ was honored as "Best Children's Dairy Product" at the World Dairy Innovation Awards held in Barcelona, Spain.

Constantly raising standards" for tomorrow's problems

At Vinamilk, data and research are becoming an increasingly important part of this process: from recognizing needs, developing formulas to finding needs that consumers themselves may not yet name.

And today's "standard" goes further than the product itself. One liter of milk creates nutritional value, but behind it are also energy, water, emissions, packaging and logistics.

After half a century, Vinamilk's "standard" has gone from production lines to raw material areas, international markets, community nutrition and the impacts of the entire chain on the environment. Each time that scope expands, it also means that businesses put new requirements on themselves. "At Vinamilk, especially when it comes to quality, there is no controversy. That is both honor and ethics," said Ms. Mai Kieu Lien.