Sowing a bright future for economic development and women’s empowerment

There are great opportunities to increase vegetable production in Son La and through these vegetable value chains empower local ethnic women and increase their technical as well as their management skills.

Successful vegetable production starts with access to good quality seeds, seedlings and access to knowledge and technologies for more advanced vegetable production. Without ensuring that these points are well implemented and present locally it will be difficult to bring vegetable production chains to a higher level.

This project will enable access to good quality seeds, seedlings and knowledge and technologies for more advanced vegetable production to hundreds of local farmers and farmers groups, specifically targeting ethic women.

Project objectives

  • Establishment of a seedling production sector creating increased capacity, additional income and jobs for ethic women in Moc Chau and Van Ho, with further upscaling in other areas.
  • More professional vegetable production resulting in better quality vegetables, produced year-round, in compliance with Viet GAP and against a better cost price generating higher incomes for over 500 famer households in Moc Chau and Van Ho and other areas in Son La province.
  • Establishment of 13 successful agri-businesses led and managed by women.
  • Creation of new and stable jobs within the agriculture sector suitable for local women.
  • Increased capacity of over 350 local women in technical and management skills through extension services, field days and training sessions
  • Accelerate the development of an inclusive, sustainable and modern horticulture production sector in Son La province
  • Increased cooperation between the public and private sector to develop the horticulture sector in Son La providing women more choice to beneficially engage in agriculture.

Project donor

Project partners

  • Applied Horticultural Research
  • BvB Substrates
  • Royal Brinkman
  • Semillas Fito
  • Semences Gautier
  • Fresh Studio

Retail Diversity for Dietary Diversity (RD4DD)

Preventing nutrition deserts for the urban poor within the transforming food retail environment in Vietnam.

Nutrition insecurity among a growing number of urban poor in modernizing Southeast Asian metropolises is a critical issue. To enlarge the capacity of local authorities in planning and implementing all-inclusive food-safe and nutrition-sensitive food retailing infrastructures, the research project “Retail Diversity for Dietary Diversity (RD4DD)”, conducted between 2016 and 2018, seeks to answer the question ‘Why do the urban poor eat the food they do’, in the context of transformations in the food retail environment and the organization of daily life.

The project aims to provide an understanding on how the urban poor, within the organization of their daily lives, cope with progressing food retail system transformations and how and to what extent these changes impact their daily dietary intake in terms of nutrition, diversity and food safety guarantees. The research utilizes sequential mixed methods. Field work was conducted in two phases:

  • In the first phase, the Fresh Studio research team conducted a retail outlet census and two household surveys with 400 women responsible for household food provision. The surveys explore food safety perception, shopping patterns and practices. Following a 24-hour recall survey, reveals consumers’ nutrition knowledge and attitudes.
  • To deeply understand the food practices and daily diet of low income urban consumers, in the second phase, the Fresh Studio team conducted a dozen multigenerational interviews. We visited their homes, observed shopping practices, and conducted semi-structured interviews with intergenerational family members. In the final step, the Fresh Studio team produced an essay film to present key issues drawing from the research. The film was screened at the Multi-stakeholders consultation workshop “Retail Diversity for Diet Diversity” in Hanoi on October 3rd,2018.

The project is awarded within the Drivers of Food Choice (DFC) Competitive Grants Program, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK government, and is managed by the University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health: www.driversoffoodchoice.org

Project Partners: Environmental Policy Research Group of Wageningen UR; Bioversity International and Fresh Studio Vietnam.


 An informal market in Dong Da district, Hanoi.
A multi- generation interview with a poor household in Dong Da district, Hanoi.

Investigating the presence of branded fresh produce in HCMC supermarkets

Walk down the supermarket aisle and you will find shelves full of products with familiar logos such as Lays, Dannon, and Coke, but look around the fruit and vegetable section and how many familiar brands do you see? Fresh Studio dug deeper into the presence of local fresh produce brands in one of Vietnam’s largest modern retail markets, Ho Chi Minh City, where surveys of 82 supermarkets and hypermarkets were conducted. The study encounters a fragmented market where the presence of product branding depends strongly on both the type of product and the store where it is sold.  

Can traders and producers of fresh food products break out of the commodity trap and differentiate their products from the rest of the market?  Are they even trying? To gain a better understanding of how fresh fruit and vegetable producers, traders and the retailers are selling their products in Ho Chi Minh City’s supermarkets, Fresh Studio designed and executed a survey to evaluate the presence of branded vs non-branded fresh fruits and vegetables from the domestic market. 

Development of survey methodology

First and foremost, a measurement system including classifications for shelves and products and measuring methods was developed. For instance, as shown in Fig. 1, standard shelves, premium shelves and standing refrigerators are found to be the most common types of display shelves. However, the sizes of similar shelf types vary between different supermarkets and supermarket chains, requiring that a uniform method of measuring be devised that can work regardless of store and shelving configuration. To devise this method, a market observation was conducted prior to the survey.  During this observation phase, proper definitions and classifications of product branding and/or labelling were also developed to ensure that information was captured uniformly across all locations and all products, regardless of who was doing the measuring.

Figure 1: Most common shelves and the frequency of their presence in supermarkets

The quality of data was highly guaranteed by the tablet-based data collection method and a skilful fieldwork team. The survey was programmed on a real-time platform with validation checks that allowed the FS team to monitor the data collection progress and to control the submitted data quality. Enumerators experienced in working in the F&V zones were recruited and trained on the survey methodologies and how to input data in the tablets.

General outcomes and findings

The F&V zones are usually divided into three segments: fruits, vegetables and fresh cut fruits. Each category contains a diverse range of products. Therefore, to gain meaningful insights for the client, we tailor-made our survey content to focus on their top selling products. As a result, the floor space allocation of 24 products across 5,723m2 of total F&V display area in 82 supermarkets was measured during the survey.

Figure 2: Average fruit and vegetable zone display area by supermarket chains (m2)

For each of these products the floor space allocation by product and for branded and non-branded products was measured.  This provided a clear overview of which product types are being sold as branded products, which brands are active in the fresh fruits and vegetables sector and for which products these brands are active.  Insights with respect to the presence of branded vs non-branded by retailer were also gleaned from the study.

Figure 3: Contribution of branded and non-branded products to total F&V zone and each segment display area

Example of a product-specific analysis

Banana is the most popular fresh produce studied with a total display area of over 90m2 and was found in 75 out of 82 supermarkets. It is also one of the most intensively branded products with 15 brands.

Figure 4: Contribution of branded and non-branded banana brands in HCMC supermarkets

Banana producer and supplier companies can track how their products are distributed across SM chains (or at the supermarket store level), their brand share of shelf space and their key competitors’ performance. The results also showed unit price – an indicator to compare one brand’s performance to the others. 

FS Expertise and Services

Fresh Studio is the leading consulting and R&D firm in Southeast Asia focusing on agriculture and food. Our mission is to make our clients successful in the sustainable production and marketing of food.

With a thorough understanding of the retail sector in Vietnam, Fresh Studio develops solutions that provide producers and companies insights into the fresh produce market. Combined with expertise in consumer marketing, our clients gain insight into the current market, existing opportunities, and the factors that drive customers’ decision-making, providing actionable insights that can be used to drive the development of their brand in the retail market. 

Fresh studio offers seafood container inspection service to an airline company

There are many different types of seafood and just as many supply chains. In this context, meeting product specifications for each market end can be a real headache for customers. As part of our inspection service offer, we have been responsible for assuring the integrity of the seafood purchased by a renowned airline for more than 4 years. The seafood we inspect is produced in the heart of the Mekong Delta and served to thousands of passengers every year across the world.

One of our best customers is a leading international airline. As part of the high standard of its services, their catering department works in close collaboration with suppliers to offer a product that meets the particular specifications required for air travel in order to ensure that it provides an enjoyable moment to every passenger.

Over the past few years, Pangasius has been chosen as a main ingredient of their menu. Sourced from the heart of the Mekong Delta, many actors take part in producing and delivering the end-product served on-board. At Fresh Studio, we are one of the final links in this supply chain, making sure the strict product specifications of our client are met.

Based on the shipment forecast provided by the customer, our team of experienced inspectors arrange each inspection directly at the factory. Because the stakes are high, we work in close collaboration with our customer to make sure procedures are clear, not allowing any room for interpretation. In addition, random sampling together with clear AQL (Acceptance Quality Limits) is applied for all inspection criteria fixed by our client.

Like most third-party inspectors, we search for critical defects that may deceive the consumer or cause the whole shipment to be rejected at the border. These include fraudulent quantity and dimensions, overglazing, microbiological hazards and faulty packaging information.

More than just providing inspection service, we also support our client to deliver a menu comprised of quality food products that can bring enjoyment to its customers. For this, we conduct simple but essential sensory testing to provide feedback about the texture, smell, appearance and taste of the product.

Finally, all results of the inspections we conduct are compiled in an official report accompanied with our recommendations. Fresh Studio’s role means that our customer can rest assured that the product is in line with its specifications and that they can work safely with the supplier for the purchase. We are proud to support our client in developing its business and delivering better food to its customers every year.

Note: From our base in the Mekong Delta, we inspect at any seafood buyer. We do not take commission from local producers, and can assure clients that product specifications are met and that the vast expense of defective shipments can be avoided. Contact us for more information.

Training for Pangasius and Tilapia farmers in Vinh Long and Dong Thap provinces

Aquaculture is a vital component of the social and economic tissue for many provinces in the Mekong Delta. In the riverine provinces of Vinh Long and Dong Thap, where nearly half of the national Pangasius production takes place, sustainable expansion of aquaculture is constrained by several factors. Among those, the lack of appropriate extension approaches, limited technological know-how, and variable input quality are very often stressed by local farmers.

Through the PAP “Powering Aquaculture Progress” project launched in 2013, De Heus together with its implementing partners Fresh Studio, Can Tho University and Wageningen University have envisioned the development a state-of-the-art R&D facility serving as a nexus in the Mekong Delta where innovations could be developed, tested and adapted to local conditions in collaboration with local farmers.

After 4 years of development, 2017 marked a new milestone with the first training sessions held at the facility.

Sessions featured stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds, including more than 100 Pangasius and Tilapia farmers, members of the De Heus’ Research and Sales team, local and international industry experts, and academics from Can Tho University.

Because project partners knew that farmers often find training programs irrelevant to the practicalities of their work, Fresh Studio conducted a field survey of farm practices among nearly 50 farms throughout the rainy season to identify knowledge gaps and understand the difficulties experienced during production.

The results from this survey helped select relevant topics and support trainers prepare adapted materials and methodologies.

Using the research conducted in preparation for the program, sessions led by Dr. Mahmoud Haidar and Mr. Nguyen Van Khanh from the De Heus technical team shed light upon the power of data application, and its potential value added on farm efficiency.

Fresh Studio team interviewing a Tilapia grow out farmer during the survey

Disease management, the topic most often requested by the farmers, was led by the renowned Dr. Tu Thanh Dung from Can Tho University. Dr. Dung emphasized the need for more thorough diagnostic procedures to treat the root causes of a disease. She also discouraged use of chemicals and pharmaceuticals as a primary treatment, describing the importance of preventive measures.

Before the workshop sessions, attendees were given to a tour of De Heus’ state-of- the-art R&D facility. This allowed the R&D team to demonstrate the systems and explain how their research could be applied in practice. Fresh studio was responsible for preparing the sessions and facilitating the workshops and Q&A sessions.

Demonstrating technologies applied during the tour of the R&D facility

Farmers were actively involved in the training by raising many questions during presentations and hour-long exchange sessions. The open speaking platform and small number of attendees at each session (15-25 individuals) gave farmers the opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics. These included vaccination, antibiotic resistance, seed selection, water quality management, and even emerging diseases.

For our partner De Heus, the opening of the R&D farm and the development of its own internal training program are key steps toward proposing services that should help address a wider range of issues facing producers in the region. Through these efforts, De Heus is beginning to establish itself as a major player in the aquafeed market and contributor to the sustainable development of fish farming in Vietnam.

Miss Tu Thanh Dung talking about disease prevention

Study Tour for HAS Den Bosch students

Fresh Studio had the pleasure to organize a study tour for International Food & Agribusiness students from the HAS University of Applied Sciences Den Bosch of the Netherlands in April 2018. In addition to studying the agriculture sector in Vietnam, the students had also the opportunity to explore Vietnamese history and culture. 

The study tour started in Da Lat, in the central highlands of Vietnam. This area is a major horticulture production center for vegetables and flowers. Due to the mild climate, animal husbandry is also an important sector in this area. During the first 2 days, visits were made to a plant nursery, a modern greenhouse vegetable producer, a local dairy and pig farm, local vegetable farmers, the Fresh Studio R&D farm, a professional vegetable trader and the local wholesale market. The visits allowed students to gain insight into the organization of agriculture production and trade in one of the major horticulture regions of Vietnam.

After the cool central highlands, the program continued in the Mekong Delta starting at the Cu Chi tunnels followed by a visit to the Cu Chi Hightech Agricultural park. Combining study and tourism, the tour introduced the students to an important historical area where they could see an example of Vietnamese ingenuity from the war. Later they saw how innovation has been applied to the aquaculture and fruit sectors, two sectors where Vietnam is a major exporter. Visits to fish and fruit farms were integral to the program. Students also could see how these products are handled further up the supply chain through visits to a professional fruit exporter and Binh Dien whole sale market. During the last day SOFRI (Southern Horticulture Research Institute), Vinacas (Vietnamese cashew nut association) and the Dutch consulate in HCMC were visited before the program was completed with a visit to Nong Lam University where Dr. Võ Thái Dân (Dean of the Faculty of Agronomy) was kind enough to present how agriculture education is organised in Vietnam.

After covering a wide range of agricultural subsectors, different actors in each supply chain, and exchanging information on the roles of governments and educational institutions in agriculture, the students wrapped up their studies in Vietnam. Fresh Studio thanks the students and teachers from the HAS Den Bosch for their enthusiastic participation as well as all of the hosts and facilitators who shared their knowledge and time with the participants.

Shrimp Tails, the first and only shrimp industry magazine

A complex and varied shrimp industry

2017 was a productive year for shrimp in most of the main countries of origin. Despite a strong performance, fundamental constraints continue to threaten the shrimp sector, which revolve around the tangle of actors in the supply chain, and questionable practices at different steps of production.

“The aquaculture sector is far from being homogeneous”, explained Daniel Knoop in 2016, international aquaculture program manager at Solidaridad and co-founder of STIP. “There are a lot of products on the market and an equal amount of distribution channels. It is alsothe world’s fastest growing food industry. New initiatives and businesses are springing up everywhere. However, this type of rapid growth tends to come at the expense of sustainability.”

Pressure to address these issues is growing, particularly as regulators in Europe and the U.S. are tightening regulations on food safety and traceability of imported products. Meeting such expectations is however difficult, as the vulnerability of shrimp to bacterial and viral diseases destabilize the consistency of supply, and the dominance of small-scale farming among the multitude of developing countries frustrates efforts to implement quality standards.

2017 has also seen historical changes in the global shrimp trade order. Although shrimp has traditionally gone for export, domestic consumption is increasing as producing countries are becoming better-off. It is also becoming more accessible as the value of their shrimp in real terms is dropping. For instance, while China would have exported large amounts of its own shrimp production few years ago, the country became last year a net importer. With the magnitude of its own population China is the new determinant of the global shrimp market.

Knowledge sharing via Shrimp Tails

In this context, buyers urgently needed greater transparency in order to identify the opportunities and risks of procurement in specific countries, acquire knowledge on traceability, gain insight into problems affecting their production chains and find suppliers capable of providing sustainable products.

Yet despite the very globalized state of the shrimp sector, no tool was capable of offering a sufficient information set.

On the basis of this observation The Seafood Trade Intelligence Portal initiated the idea of Shrimp Tails, the only magazine compiling news and analysis of the shrimp sector worldwide.

“In each edition of Shrimptails, we will give you a look at the recent trends and near-future projections of the shrimp industry in Bangladesh, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Peru, and Vietnam. Each edition will also give you market trends and insights of European countries and regions. These standardized country updates are complemented with in-depth background stories and interviews to add additional context to the wealth of information provided” said Willem van der Pijl, director at STIP.

Partners in all countries of origin participated in this unique assignment, gathering and compiling intelligence for the STIP team based in The Netherlands. Fresh Studio, as the local STIP partner, took care of Vietnam’s section. For this job our passionate aquaculture team worked closely with farmers, processors, diagnosticians, feed suppliers, and government officials, to provide a realistic diagnosis of what is happening in reality on the ground.

Read the first edition of Shrimp Tails Magazine for more details about our Vietnam’s shrimp sector review, and don’t miss the second edition in June!

(https://seafood-tip.com/shrimptails/register/)

Our team talking about production with a White Leg shrimp farmer in Tra Vinh province
STIP’s team proof reading Shrimp Tails before publishing
The Shrimp Tails magazine finalized

GAP Sein Ta Lone Mango Value Chain Study in Myanmar

Fresh Studio is commissioned to analyze several reduced-input value chains in several GMS countries including Myanmar.

In the last week of November 2017, Fresh Studio Vietnam and Myanmar conducted a value chain analysis of GAP certified mango in Mandalay and Sagaing region in Myanmar. Besides analysing the mango chain in Myanmar, two other chains are being analysed as part of this assignment: coconut in Vietnam and vegetables in Thailand.

The research is part of a program, which enhances market access for sustainable environmentally friendly and safe agricultural produce using reduced chemicals. A key objective of the program is to identify opportunities and approaches to improve the competitiveness of high value fruit chains.

Only recently Myanmar started to develop GAP standards, mango is one of the first 14 products to receive a GAP standard/guideline/protocol. Myanmar produces a unique mango variety called Sein Ta Lone (‘one diamond’) and has a special flavour well adapted in the Mandalay region, Myanmar. Within the analysis a closer look was given to GAP certified mango growers and particular GAP certified Sein Ta Lone growers.

With a multi-disciplinary team consisting out of 9 members the intensive field work week focused on GAP mango supply chain actors including input suppliers, farmers (GAP and non-GAP), collectors, wholesalers, processors, exporters and policy makers. The teams collected the information through various RDA-techniques: focus group discussions, production calendar, gross margin analysis, in-depth interviews, time-lines etc. Within the teams there was a different focus on stakeholders.

The largest share of mango production is traded as fresh fruit both for export and domestic market; the remainder is mostly processed into dried and frozen mango, puree and leather. The largest portion of mango goes to China through border trade and 1st grade mangoes go to Singapore. For Sein Ta Lone (GAP) it is still challenging to get premium price. The major challenges include weak institutional linkages together with low capacities between and within the different stakeholders along the value chain and the mango-demand outside Myanmar is not requesting a Myanmar GAP-standard.

Vitalizing the Vietnamese potato sector: results year 3

How to achieve food security, improved nutrition and accelerate sustainable agriculture in Vietnam? How to increase the income of small scale farmers in Vietnam? The ‘Growing out of poverty with potato’ project aims to tackle this challenge and sets an example by creating a value chain for a high quality and sustainable potato production system in Vietnam.

Since its launch in 2014, the ‘Growing out of poverty with potato’ project made a great deal of progress and we are pleased to share the results of the 3rd project year. 22 March 2017, the Dutch Vice Minister for Agriculture Ms. Marjolijn Sonnema visited the ‘Growing out of poverty with potato’ project Pro Poor Potato project in Vietnam. During her visit she visited the potato fields in Tu Son district and Bac Ninh where she handed over the official certificates to farmers that successfully completed the three potato training modules introduced by the project and helped to harvest potatoes. These activities and direct discussion with Vietnamese farmers gave her a good impression of the positive impact the project is already having to vitalise the Vietnamese potato sector.

Supply

  • First 2 potato varieties passed phase 1 of the registration process and are now in final registration phase (commercial production of these varieties).
  • Continuation of potato variety trials and registration of 6 more potato varieties.
  • Potato production enhancing equipment, like irrigation systems and machinery to plant and harvest potatoes introduced to potato farmers.
  • 1,691 farmers (of which 72% female) received a training certificate after attending 3 potato training modules regarding potato production.
  • Training of 27 potato production advisors was completed. Potato production advisors will visit contract farmers at least once every two weeks to assist them in optimizing their production performance.

Demand

  • Over 1,000.000 consumers were reached through awareness campaigns in 21 wet markets and 7 supermarkets in Hanoi and HCMC.
  • 400 consumers were interviewed to get more insight in their potato preferences.
  • Food labs: 600 consumers participated in the sensory evaluation of potato varieties.
  • 50 households prepared 4 selected potato varieties at home and provided feedback per potato variety.

Supply chain development

  • 28 field days were organized and attended by 19 traders and over 400 farmers.
  • 875 farmers signed contracts with farmers for table potatoes and 979 contracts signed for processing potato.
  • Over 800,000 kg table potatoes contracted and bought from farmers by traders involved in project.

Policy development

  • Potato policy brief developed and presented to various Vietnamese authorities and the Dutch Vice-Minister of Agriculture Ms. Marjolein Sonnema.
  • Potato policy workshop organized with all project partners, Dutch embassy, Vietnamese authorities and research institutes.
  • For more in-depth information about the progress in year 3 of the ‘Growing out of Poverty’ with potato project and projection to year 4 kindly download the full newsletter of Year 3 below:

Successful launch of the Fresh Academy in Vietnam

In the presence of Vietnamese and Dutch representatives of the public and private agribusiness sectors, Fresh Studio launched the Fresh Academy on Thursday October 5 in Ha Noi.

Dutch and Vietnamese knowledge institutions, supported by the industry, have been working together since 2015 on the design and establishment of the Fresh Academy. This includes the development of training programs, training materials, implementing and testing them by training the trainers. All this hard work has resulted in the start of actual operations of the Fresh Academy. The first commercial training courses in practical horticulture will be available from early 2018 onwards in Vietnam.

The agricultural sector in Vietnam, including horticulture, develops strongly. Still one of the shortcomings in the sector development is the lack of well qualified professionals who can manage farms, individual greenhouses and fields and provide technical support to growers. Not only horticulture production companies are facing problems in finding well qualified staff, but also companies providing inputs to the sector and successful farmers who are expanding their farms and need to recruit workers and supervisors to manage their growth. Although training for farmers and other participants in the value chain are occasionally offered under government schemes and donor programs, the Fresh Academy is the first training & knowledge center in Vietnam offering training courses continuously on a commercial basis within the agricultural sector. These courses aim to develop professional farm managers, supervisors, senior workers and local farmers. The practical approach used in these courses fill an important gap, which is indispensable to come to a sustainable and technically advanced agricultural sector in Vietnam.

For the horticulture training courses, the Fresh Academy brings together the best of two worlds: practical training courses and trainers from the best applied universities and horticulture schools in the Netherlands and Vietnam, and all experience and local industry insights from Fresh Studio who has been developing successful horticulture value chains in Vietnam for over 10 years.

Fresh Studio, the Dutch HAS University of Applied Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Lentiz Course & Consult, Demokwekerij Westland, Kenlog b.v. and 4 Vietnamese universities (Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Nong Lam University, Da Lat University and Dong Thap University) have worked together since 2015 in a project, with co-funding of the Netherlands government, to lay the foundations for the Fresh Academy. From now onwards, the knowledge and training center will operate as a business unit of Fresh Studio. In order to support the development of training courses and to ensure solid embedding in the Vietnamese agriculture industry, the Fresh Academy works with strategic educational partners in Vietnam: Vietnam National University of Agriculture in Ha Noi and Nong Lam University in Ho Chi Minh City. Furthermore, the Fresh Academy has a strategic partnership with the Lentiz Education Group in the Netherlands for developing and conducting advanced horticulture training courses.

Whereas the first phase of the Fresh Academy will focus on courses in horticulture (vegetables and flowers), on the long term the training portfolio will cover other agricultural sectors such as fruits, arable crops (e.g. potato and corn), aquaculture, and animal husbandry. For each agriculture subsector, the Fresh Academy will form partnerships with the best applied universities and training institutes in the world to develop training courses which are relevant and value added to local conditions. The Fresh Academy also envisages to play a regional role in Southeast Asia, in which participants from neighboring countries can join the training courses and at a later stage potentially training courses in countries like Myanmar and Indonesia can be setup.

Register for courses here

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