On September 9, a historic moment for Vietnam's livestock industry took place at Long An International Port as the first consignment of Vietnamese chicken was exported to Japan. The event was graced by the presence of former President Truong Tan Sang, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, alongside leaders from various departments, agencies, and provinces including Ho Chi Minh City, Long An, Binh Duong, and Binh Phuoc.
Vietnam's first-ever shipment of chicken to Japan, celebrated recently at Long An International Port, marked a significant milestone for the nation's livestock sector. This success is a testament to the integrated efforts of a robust supply chain involving Bel Ga, Hung Nhon, De Heus, and Koyo&Unitek. In this achievement, Hung Nhon Group from Binh Phuoc province played a pivotal role as Vietnam's leading chicken farmer, having successfully raised millions of broiler chickens to GlobalG.A.P standards, overcoming stringent quality controls to enable this export breakthrough.
During a recent discussion, when asked about his secret to success, Mr. Vu Manh Hung, Chairman and CEO of Hung Nhon Group, began by stating, "When people talk about experience, they usually refer to lessons from success. But in my opinion, failures are also a very precious kind of experience. I started my business in hardship, and my success came from acknowledging my failures and daring to confront and overcome them."
The Phoenix Rising: A Journey Forged in Failure
Mr. Hung's entrepreneurial journey began in 2001 with a modest chicken farm of about 300 birds. Just two years later, a devastating bird flu pandemic left him bankrupt. Adopting the motto, "Where you fall, there you rise," he mortgaged all his assets and borrowed from the bank to rebuild from scratch. However, the path of business proved to be fraught with challenges. "At that time, imported chickens flooded the market, my farm's chickens piled up in inventory, while bank interest rates reached 27% per year. All my capital was depleted, and there were many times I wanted to give up," Mr. Hung recalled.
One might have thought that after this second bankruptcy, Mr. Vu Manh Hung's business "flame" would extinguish. But looking at his 600 employees and the career he had painstakingly built, he motivated himself to press on. From this failure, Mr. Hung realized that he couldn't get rich by continuing with small-scale, traditional farming methods. One day, he decided to "go out" and observe how others conducted business. He questioned why others succeeded while he repeatedly failed.
Visiting chicken farms in Thailand and Germany, Mr. Vu Manh Hung discovered the root cause of his failures: he was raising chickens in open sheds, and with large quantities, he lacked the technical expertise for proper care, leading to slow growth and inevitable disease outbreaks. He concluded that the only solution was to invest in modern, high-tech farming, specifically "cold-house" systems. Upon returning home, he gathered all his capital, determined to embark on his third venture. In 2007, Hung Nhon Company inaugurated its first cold-house chicken farm, with an investment of 80 billion VND. On 20 hectares, he raised chickens using the most advanced model from the Federal Republic of Germany. The farming process was 100% automated, meticulously monitoring temperature, humidity, water intake, and daily feed for each chicken. With this advanced system, Hung Nhon's chicken farm now supplies over 4,500 tons of clean chicken meat to the market annually. This bold move led to Mr. Hung's significant breakthrough and subsequent rapid growth.
Expanding the Vision: From Poultry to a Comprehensive Safe Food Valley
After the success of the cold chicken farm, one might have expected Mr. Vu Manh Hung to stop there, but he chose an even more challenging path. He proceeded to build a pig farming model with a capacity of 9,600 sows, supplying over 300,000 piglets annually to farmers in the Southeastern region and 25,000 commercial pigs. This is the most modern model, on par with others in the region, representing an investment of over 170 billion VND. According to Mr. Hung, investing in a closed livestock chain is logical and solves the risk equation by "not putting all eggs in one basket." He explains that if chicken prices fall, there's pork; if pork prices fall, there are chicken eggs.
Most recently, Hung Nhon Joint Stock Company signed a cooperation agreement with De Heus Group (Netherlands) and Bel Ga Company (Belgium) to establish a "Safe Food Valley" in Binh Phuoc and Dong Nai provinces. This project, with a total investment of $50 million, aims to develop a closed livestock chain from breeding stock to finished products. Hung Nhon Company's objective is to supply a chain of clean, traceable products to the market. Mr. Vu Manh Hung emphasized, "The closed business model from input to output helps us minimize costs and create jobs for workers." This is the first time such a large-scale project for clean, safe, traceable food production has been signed between a domestic livestock enterprise and multiple foreign partners. The "Safe Food Valley" project has the capacity to supply three million broiler chickens, one million laying hens, 1,600 sows, and 15,000 commercial pigs annually. Additionally, it will produce and supply 900 tons of clean vegetables and fruits per year. At the "Building Vietnam's Agricultural Industry" conference held at the Independence Palace (Ho Chi Minh City) in late 2016, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, after reviewing the report and recognizing its scale and feasibility, expressed his strong support for Mr. Vu Manh Hung and his partners in the "Safe Food Valley" project.
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