Vinamilk wins grand awards at the Global Dairy Congress 2025

In its fifth participation, Vinamilk remained the sole representative from Vietnam invited to deliver a presentation at this global dairy congress. Its presentation was assessed as a significant breakthrough for the dairy industry, highlighting how science can unlock nature's nutritional value to elevate the industry's nutrition standards.

Within the framework of the congress, Vinamilk won two major categories at the World Dairy Innovation Awards 2025: Best Yogurt and Best Packaging Design.

A global dairy playground and the rise of Asia

The Global Dairy Congress is a high-level forum that gathers nearly 200 industry leaders to share, discuss, and update on the latest developments and future trends in the dairy industry. This year's theme, “Dairy for All Ages,” raised a major issue: how dairy products can better meet all nutritional needs while affirming the natural nutritional value of milk as a foundation for sustainable development.

Alongside participants from countries traditionally considered the “cradles of the dairy industry,” such as the U.S., New Zealand, and Europe, the congress in recent years has seen the presence of major Asian enterprises, including China and India, with their advantage of billion-person markets, and Japan, renowned for its technological advancement. From Southeast Asia, Vietnam began participating in the congress in 2019, represented by Vinamilk, which has consistently been the sole delegate from the region to present at the forum.

Ms. Laurence Rycken, Director General of the International Dairy Federation (IDF), commented, “IDF currently includes members from India, Japan, South Korea, and China. We look forward to welcoming new members from Vietnam and other Asian countries. Vinamilk is a leading enterprise in the region. Through its years of participation in the Global Dairy Congress, I have seen that both Vietnam and Vinamilk have many success stories that other markets can learn from.”

During the two-day congress, more than 20 valuable presentations and four in-depth seminars were delivered by leading corporations and units in the global dairy industry. Key themes included natural, pure, and safe products; Innovation - Future of the dairy industry; the development of dairy products aligned with personalized nutrition; and sustainable development. With the scale and influence of leading enterprises, these strategies were not only their stories but also contributed to shaping the future of the dairy industry.

Science 'unlocks' nature, elevating nutritional value

At the congress, Mr. Nguyen Quang Tri, Marketing Director at Vinamilk, opened his presentation titled “Born by Nature, Perfected by Science” by emphasizing, "The future of the dairy industry lies in its ability to combine nature's nutritional values with advanced scientific progress in order to 'unlock' nature and enhance the nutritional value of milk. This philosophy serves as the guiding principle behind every innovation at Vinamilk, with the goal of continuously elevating the nutritional value and quality of dairy products to meet all needs across all age groups."

Specifically, Vinamilk shared that Vinamilk Green Farm fresh milk using dual vacuum suction technology is an “unbelievable” step forward in the dairy industry. After two years of research and testing, the company successfully reduced up to 50% of oxygen-free radicals in Vinamilk Green Farm fresh milk, helping to preserve its freshness and natural floral-grassy aftertaste.

Despite being common in the food industry, implementing this technology for fresh milk is highly complex and had no prior precedent in Vietnam. As a result of this investment, Vinamilk Green Farm has won numerous international awards for both taste and quality, including Superior Taste and Monde Selection (Belgium). It also passed more than 400 rigorous criteria related to product quality and manufacturing conditions to meet the safety and purity standards of the Clean Label Project (the U.S.), setting a new benchmark for fresh milk in Vietnam.

With the rising trend of personalized health, today's consumers are no longer simply looking for “fresh milk,” but they need precise nutritional content in every milk box. This led Vinamilk to adopt advanced microfiltration technology from Sweden, enabling the creation of a new smart nutritional milk: high in protein, low in fat, rich in calcium, and lactose-free. This technology enables Vinamilk to precisely refine the levels of protein, fat, and lactose directly from fresh milk, resulting in a high-protein content without the need for added protein sources. This achievement is considered “impossible” for traditional technology.

“Scientific and technological breakthroughs have allowed us not only to preserve the best values from nature but also to develop nutritional solutions that come as close to nature as possible,” said Mr. Nguyen Quang Tri when speaking about “the first 6 HMOs in Vietnam” breakthrough.

In 2024, Vinamilk became the pioneer in successfully adding six types of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which account for 58% of the HMO content in breast milk and cover all three subgroups (Sialylated, Fucosylated, and Non-fucosylated), to its Optimum Gold and Optimum Colos products. This marked a major breakthrough in the Vietnamese market, offering a solution for mothers who, for various unavoidable reasons, are unable to exclusively breastfeed their infants.

Mr. Richard Hall, Chairman of the Global Dairy Congress, shared, "Milk has long been a good nutritional foundation, but it must constantly innovate to meet the changing needs of people. We cannot consume hundreds of products at once, but we must choose what is best for our bodies. More than ever, technology enables the sustainable development of the dairy industry. Over the past five years of participation, the Vietnamese delegation has consistently shared valuable insights. This year’s products are exceptionally creative, featuring impressive technologies, high quality, and great taste. I believe that is exactly what the dairy industry needs to grow."

In addition to fresh milk and formula milk, Vinamilk also introduced several innovations in other product lines. Among them was the Vinamilk Green Farm pasteurized drinking yogurt, which for the first time integrates six live probiotic strains sourced from Europe. Another highlight was the Vinamilk 9-Nut Milk, produced using whole-bean grinding technology to maximize natural nutrients and flavor from nuts while significantly reducing byproducts (soy pulp) compared to traditional methods.

Leading innovation in line with global trends

At the Global Dairy Congress in the Netherlands, two of Vinamilk's products were honored at the World Dairy Innovation Awards 2025. Specifically, the Best Yogurt Award was presented to Vinamilk Green Farm High-Protein Greek Yogurt, while Best Packaging Design went to Vinamilk Plant-Based Spoonable Yogurt.

This achievement helped strengthen the global dairy industry's impression of Vinamilk as a brand that strongly invests in science and technology and as a symbol of innovation from Vietnam, a country whose dairy brand now ranks sixth in the world by value. Although Vietnam is still considered a young player in the global dairy industry, the pioneering efforts of its leading enterprises have affirmed the position and identity of Vietnamese dairy on the international playground through products that are “Made in Vietnam” yet possess world-class technologies and standards.

“I was truly impressed by today's presentation from Vietnam, especially the innovative products like Vinamilk Green Farm and formula milk with six HMOs. Many of their products also won awards this year. Having worked in the nutrition industry for many years, I find it exciting to see Vinamilk promoting ingredient innovation while also achieving notable progress in sustainable development. Compared to many other places in the world, the level and speed of digital technology application in Asia, particularly in Vietnam, is remarkably high,” said Ms. Sandra Einerhand, Founder of Einerhand Science & Innovation in the Netherlands.