10 years of 'doing a lot, talking less', the different journeys of two 'female generals' of agriculture

During 10 years of 'doing a lot but talking little', for the first time, two female CEOs opened up about the different path of Hoa Phat Agriculture, from 'amateurs' to the top of the livestock industry with profits of thousands of billions each year, becoming the second pillar of the group.

In 2015, realizing that "it is impossible to just make steel forever", Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hoa Phat Group Tran Dinh Long decided to expand into the agricultural sector - one of the new pillars towards sustainable development of the group.

At that time, Ms. Pham Thi Hong Van (now General Director of Hoa Phat Agricultural Corporation, concurrently Director of Hoa Phat Animal Feed Company) and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van (now Vice President of Hoa Phat Agricultural Corporation, concurrently Director of Hoa Phat Livestock Development Joint Stock Company) were two of the members selected and assigned new tasks by Chairman Tran Dinh Long.

Before moving to agriculture, one had worked in the interior design sector for nearly 20 years, the other was in charge of accounting for the steel sector, both were “amateurs” in the new field. In a conversation with VietNamNet, the two female CEOs admitted that they “never thought they would work in agriculture”, but “the boss chose them to do it” with a very eager mindset because they had the opportunity to challenge themselves.

Choose a different path, do what no one believes in

- Ms. Hong Van, when starting with Hoa Phat Agriculture, what was the strategic direction that helped this young enterprise quickly affirm its position in the livestock market?

Ms. Pham Thi Hong Van: In 2015, Hoa Phat entered the agricultural sector. At that time, the livestock industry was growing very well, especially pig farming. At this time, many FDI units participated and were quite successful in the market, they controlled the breeding animals and feed.

However, we also see that most businesses in the industry choose to follow tradition: Not focusing on investing in barn infrastructure, most of them raise open barns, have small farms, focus on livestock areas, near residential areas, or choose the model of linking livestock processing with family farms.

Ms. Pham Thi Hong Van, General Director of Hoa Phat Agricultural Corporation, and Director of Hoa Phat Animal Feed Company.

As a latecomer, if we also choose the traditional path, it will be difficult for us to do better than the units that have been in the industry for a long time. Hoa Phat Agriculture chooses a more challenging path: We choose a closed-chain development orientation from Feed-Farm-Food. Orientation of large-scale concentrated livestock farming according to the biosafety model and selection of high-yielding breeds, the most potential in the world in terms of productivity to make a difference (Danish pig breed, Hyline-American egg-laying hens, Australian beef cattle).

Choosing to start with Feed and Farm production with pigs, cows, and laying hens is consistent with Hoa Phat's advantage in large-scale production management, requiring systematic and standard infrastructure investment right from the start.

The fact that Hoa Phat builds its own farm without renting or outsourcing is the main factor contributing to the success of Hoa Phat Agriculture today.

The clearest evidence is: In 2019, an unprecedented pandemic occurred in the livestock industry, African Swine Fever (ASF), causing severe and persistent damage to Vietnam's pig farming industry, and traditional farms, especially households, were greatly affected. Meanwhile, Hoa Phat's closed-loop farm, ensuring three biosafety buffer zones, was not affected.

- Ms. Thanh Van, when working with Ms. Hong Van at that initial stage, did you see anything special in the way Hoa Phat chose a different direction?

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van: Just like Ms. Hong Van shared, it is still a different choice. At that time, livestock enterprises mainly owned breeding pig breeds with a productivity of 22-25 weaned pigs/sow/year. We chose the purebred high-yielding pig breed of three lines L/Y/DU from Denmark for breeding.

This breed of pig has the best reproductive ability in the world. I remember when we decided to choose this high-yielding Danish breed, we also had to “learn from the masters” about animal husbandry and nutrition.

Many foreign experts, when hearing that we are from Vietnam, with a pig farm of up to 6,000 Danbred sows, wondered: "Why are you so reckless, why did you choose that breed to raise in Vietnam? This breed has strengths that everyone can see, but also has very challenging points even in the breeding conditions in Europe, not to mention the climate conditions in Vietnam". In fact, before that, the Danish high-yielding pig breed had been brought to Vietnam by some units for breeding at the experimental level but was not successful.

We chose it because we saw the potential and were determined to do the difficult work. The story of Hoa Phat doing agriculture in the early days is similar to when Hoa Phat started making steel.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, Vice President of Hoa Phat Agricultural Corporation, and Director of Hoa Phat Livestock Development Joint Stock Company.

Up to now, we can say that we have mastered the technology of raising the world's most high-yielding and demanding pig breeds in Vietnam's conditions, with an average reproductive capacity of 31-34 weaned piglets/sow/year. This productivity has surprised not only those in the industry in Vietnam but also our Danish partner who sold us pig breeds, who did not expect that Hoa Phat could achieve such a result. In the context of breeding sows in our country currently at a productivity of 22-25 weaned piglets/sow/year.

- Ms. Thanh Van, as the person directly in charge of pig farming, can you explain more clearly the advantages of the Danish high-yield pig breed that Hoa Phat is currently mastering to see more clearly the reason why in 2015 Hoa Phat chose a direction that was considered bold at that time?

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van: In addition to the above potential for reproductive productivity, this breed of pig has highly appreciated meat quality: lean, supple meat, naturally red. I remember that in May and June 2017, Hoa Phat's pork was first sold to the Van Don market (Quang Ninh). Buyers saw that the pig was not beautiful, complaining that its belly was a bit big, and its butt was not as wide as other breeds of pig. But they had already paid a deposit, so they had to buy the goods with the mindset that they would have to compensate for the loss.

The next day, all the vendors who had bought pork that day came back to order and requested “the same pork as yesterday”. At that moment, we knew we had made the right decision.

With the mastery of the closed breeding cycle and continuous learning, we seem to have domesticated this breed of pig. At the time Hoa Phat imported Danish pigs, there were also businesses in the industry importing a larger quantity of breed than us, but they were not successful with this breed.

Sometimes decisions are based on feelings and intuition, but so far we have never had a year of loss.

Choosing a different direction, Hoa Phat Agriculture's breeding sows achieve a productivity of 31-34 pigs/sow/year.

Sometimes decisions are based on feelings and intuition, but never suffered a loss.

- Over the past 10 years, the livestock industry has been constantly “tested” by diseases and price fluctuations. Ms. Hong Van assessed which period was the most difficult for Hoa Phat Agriculture and what did Hoa Phat do to overcome it?

Ms. Pham Thi Hong Van: We do not consider it a difficulty, we consider it a challenge. It is true that in the past 10 years, the livestock industry has faced many unprecedented challenges in history, so this challenge is new to even those with experience in the profession, not just Hoa Phat. Therefore, it can be said that we: Newcomers - oldcomers all face the same new challenges.

The first price storm was in late 2017 and early 2018, when the demand for pork from neighboring countries suddenly stopped, leading to oversupply and pork prices plummeting. Luckily, at that time, Hoa Phat was still small in scale.

Then in 2019, when the ASF epidemic swept through, causing severe damage to sows and pigs, many farms could not withstand and fell into a state of heavy losses, had to reduce production, hang up barns or convert to poultry farming. The scarcity of commercial breeds became serious.

For Hoa Phat Agriculture, the impact seems to be negligible. Because we have chosen a concentrated farming model in the direction of biosecurity, it contributes to the smooth control of epidemics. The price of pork is low, but at that time our finished pork quantity is still small. In 2020, the price of pork increased to a historical peak, right on the cycle we have pork and commercial breeding pigs to sell to the market.

In the period of 2020-2021-2022, the supply chain was broken, pushing raw material prices up continuously. Vietnam's livestock industry was greatly affected because we have a large proportion of imported raw materials for animal feed production, and Hoa Phat was also affected.

In addition to the challenges of price storms and epidemics, the Vietnamese livestock industry in general faces a major challenge of ensuring environmental safety in a hot and humid tropical climate. In the early stages, due to lack of experience, we also had some incidents. After those incidents, we seriously reviewed, increased investment, and improved the wastewater and livestock waste treatment system.

- And Ms. Thanh Van, during those times of crisis, what helped you two stay calm to continue maintaining the herd and overcome the market storms?

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van: Hoa Phat follows a systematic, long-term investment strategy with a solid financial foundation. These are factors that not only help the company survive crises but also seize opportunities when the market recovers.

When the market falls into a “price storm”, the biggest challenge for farms is the lack of cash flow for reinvestment, forcing many to cut herd size. Meanwhile, Hoa Phat has maintained a stable herd even during the pandemic or strong price fluctuations thanks to its strong financial potential.

Closed-loop biosafety farming, combined with strong financial resources, helps Hoa Phat Agriculture overcome industry crises.

Not only do we stand firm against risks, we also see opportunities in them. Because the market law is always that prices go up and then down, and when they go down, they will definitely go up again. Maintaining a stable herd size is an advantage for Hoa Phat to be ready for a big harvest when the price cycle reverses.

This is also the reason why in 2020, Hoa Phat's total herd was still quite modest but earned thousands of billions.

In disease prevention, Hoa Phat Agriculture applies the most stringent control process. We often say "the distance from the office to the barn is the longest distance because it takes up to 48 hours to get there (with a geographical distance of only a few hundred meters)", to talk about the strict quarantine requirements of the system. Thanks to that operational discipline, when the epidemic swept through the livestock industry, Hoa Phat was not shocked, still operated as usual and maintained the livestock herd.

Up to now, for 10 years, the livestock industry has gone through many crises, but Hoa Phat Agriculture has never had a year of loss.

Hoa Phat supplies the market with more than 300 million eggs each year.

- From the perspective of the group's strategy, how does Ms. Hong Van evaluate the current role of the agricultural sector in Hoa Phat's multi-industry picture - is it a parallel pillar or a complementary sector?

Ms. Pham Thi Hong Van: When starting agriculture, the Group's leaders expected that after 10 years, Hoa Phat Agriculture's revenue would be equal to that of steel.

This year, agricultural revenue is estimated to reach 8,000 billion VND, after-tax profit is expected to be nearly 1,500 billion VND, but the scale of Hoa Phat Agriculture is still not as expected.

The Group's leaders also admitted that "doing agriculture is really difficult. Even with good capital potential, we cannot do it quickly." We are determined to do it firmly, focus on efficiency, and accept that the scale has not grown quickly.

However, agriculture is still a strategic pillar along with steel and other sectors of the Group. In fact, since its establishment, Hoa Phat Agriculture has always been the second largest revenue sector of the Group, just behind steel.

Just do it, do it and you will get it, do it and you will have it

- Agriculture is considered a very difficult field. In your opinion, what advantages do women have when participating in agricultural business management?

Ms. Pham Thi Hong Van: I have gone through a very long process of working in the interior field, where meticulousness, detail, prudence, and calculation of every penny are required. We buy screws that cost a few dozen dollars, to materials and equipment that cost billions.

Moving to agriculture seems to have similarities, however the level of detail, meticulousness, and precision is required to be higher. Besides, it requires perseverance, patience, and thrift.

The agricultural sector in general and the livestock sector in particular are sectors with in-depth scientific research levels and are constantly being innovated and updated.

The industry has a high level of service, so it requires continuous learning, improving capacity, spending a lot of time and to be successful, you really have to love the job. With such demanding jobs, I think women managers seem to be more suitable.

- With heavy work and often away from home, how do you balance work and family? Do you ever feel exhausted?

Ms. Pham Thi Hong Van: Until now, I still feel passionate and dedicated to my job. Sometimes I think if one day there was less work, I would be very sad.

I know what I need to do in each role and how to balance it. There is only so much time in a day, I need to focus on improving my performance to try to be perfect. At work, I devote all my energy and focus. When I come home to my family, I fulfill my role as a daughter, sister, wife and mother. On Sundays, I usually spend half the day going to the market, cooking, preparing everything, and doing everything with my family. It is true that I have little free time.

At Hoa Phat, people often comment that “Hoa Phat’s sons-in-law are wonderful”. Indeed, we have great support from both extended and small families. They trust and are very proud of Hoa Phat, so they always support us wholeheartedly.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van: For me, it's not about balance, but knowing where I am and what I need to do. From there, I arrange and prioritize my family and work in a reasonable order.

I still remember what my father taught me: Everyone has their own job, but live in such a way that in the morning you want to go to work and in the afternoon you want to come home to your family. You have to balance your family life to have a good mindset for work.

- On the occasion of October 20, if you were to send a message to young women entering challenging careers like agriculture, what would you say?

Ms. Pham Thi Hong Van: Both men and women have their own strengths. Therefore, I think women should be confident, strive to contribute and show their full potential, and constantly learn to improve their abilities. When you work with effort, passion and dedication, success will surely come.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van: I always keep in mind that I should do my best with what I think is the best, not to receive anything in return, but so that people can trust and feel secure when assigning work to me. That trust only comes when you really take the initiative to make an effort, not wait for work to be assigned.

Just do your best, because only when you start working can you gain experience, practice adaptability and mature in your work. Young women, just boldly start - do it and it will come, do it and you will have it.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/10-nam-lam-nhieu-noi-it-hanh-trinh-khac-biet-cua-hai-nu-tuong-nong-nghiep-2454027.html