Vinamilk develops tailor-made products for Vietnamese children

Vinamilk has signed an agreement with three European nutrition companies to create products that will better fit the particular needs of Vietnamese children.

Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) officially signed the agreement on March 1, in Zurich, Switzerland, with DSM Corporation, Lonza Ltd and Chr. Hansen, three leading European nutritional corporations. These firms have expertise in the application of micro-nutrition and bioscience .

The counterparts have been working with Vinamilk as long-term strategic partners in the application of micro-nutrition and bio-science into the liquid milk, spoon yoghurt products and especially formulated milk powder products under the various brand names of Dielac

The agreement is meant to strengthen cooperation between the firms in five key areas: Exchange and sharing of market information, new product research and development, evaluation of product quality, food safety control and brand marketing.

In 2009, Vinamilk cooperated with the Vietnam National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in comprehensive research on the nutritional situation of Vietnamese children grouped by age.

This research helped Vinamilk to develop products tailor-made to the needs of Vietnamese children.

The signing of the agreement will allow Vinamilk to further its progress and innovation in these key areas.

“Our strategy for the next 3 years is to continuously push forward our research on the nutritional needs of Vietnamese people, especially children. Moreover, our strategic cooperation with our global partners will significantly increase our capability to meet nutritional requirements of children in Vietnam," said Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Executive Director of Research, Development, and Production of Vinamilk, at the signing ceremony.

According research carried out nationwide by National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) between 2009 and 2010 on 50,000 children between the ages of 2 and 5, 48.67% of children are malnourished. Of those, 19.62% are mildly malnourished, and 29.05% are facing "stunting malnutrition".

The research showed that an important contributing factor for the poor nutritional condition of children is a lack of micro-nutrients.

Such findings have triggered Vinamilk to invest in research and development in order to create products that will better fit the particular needs of Vietnamese children. The firm says that this recent agreement marks the shows its commitment to finding solutions to the health problems facing young people today.

One immediate result of the agreement will be a new product named Dielac Pedia, which has been in development, in cooperation with the international partners, for 2 years. The product applies recent advancements in probiotics and digestive absorption, developed by Chr. Hansen and Carnipure of Lonza Ltd.