In the past few years, dairy industry has become one of the fastest growing sectors in the packaged food industry of Vietnam. However, the value-added creation among different activities in the value chain of Vietnam dairy sector is distributed unequally. In the production activities, the dairy farmers gain low value-added rate due to high input cost. Whereas the processing activities, which managed by big companies, generates high profitability and Vietnamese consumers seem to have few choices due to the lack of dairy companies in the market. These wicked problems caused an unsustainable development to the dairy value chain of Vietnam. This paper, therefore, will map and analyze the value chain of the dairy industry in Vietnam. It will also assess the value created in each activity in order to imply solutions for a sustainable development of Vietnam’s dairy industry

Khoi, Nguyen V.

SpringerPlus

PubMed

Nguyen Viet Khoi

Crossref

a SpringerOpen JournalKhoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161RESEARCH Open AccessWicked problems: a value chain approach fromVietnam’s dairy productNguyen Viet Khoi1,2AbstractIn the past few years, dairy industry has become one of the fastest growing sectors in the packaged food industryof Vietnam. However, the value-added creation among different activities in the value chain of Vietnam dairy sectoris distributed unequally. In the production activities, the dairy farmers gain low value-added rate due to high inputcost. Whereas the processing activities, which managed by big companies, generates high profitability andVietnamese consumers seem to have few choices due to the lack of dairy companies in the market. These wickedproblems caused an unsustainable development to the dairy value chain of Vietnam. This paper, therefore, will mapand analyze the value chain of the dairy industry in Vietnam. It will also assess the value created in each activity inorder to imply solutions for a sustainable development of Vietnam’s dairy industry.JEL code: M10, M11Keywords: Value chain analysis, Dairy industry, Vietnam’s dairy industry, Production managementMapping the value chain of Vietnam’s dairyindustryEach industry has their own value chain systems andthese value chains will also be adjusted due to regionalcharacteristics. The value chain of Vietnam’s dairy sectorconsists of five activities as: ingredients, production, pro-cessing, marketing and consumption (See Figure 1 Thevalue chain map of Vietnam’s dairy industry). We will beable to understand these activities by analyzing each ac-tivity and player participating in these value chains. Bythoroughly examine the two most important activities,milk production and processing, we will have a clear an-swer why there still existed inadequacies of value addedcreation in these two activities. In addition, this researchdoes not carry out on humans, which does not have tobe in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration. And thisresearch does not contain any experimental research onanimals, which does not need to follow internationallyrecognized guidelines.Correspondence: khoivnu@gmail.com1VNU University of Economics and Business, 144 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, Hanoi,Vietnam2Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, USA© 2013 Khoi; licensee Springer. This is an OpenLicense (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bmedium, provided the original work is properlyActivity 1: Input ingredients include the import of dairybreeds for husbandry and the purchasing of raw milkpowder ingredients for processing activitiesIn dairy farming, the import turnover of dairy cattle iscurrently 3.5 times as much as the export turnover. (Seethe chart of import and export turnover of dairy cattlesince 2009 and forecast until 2020 - Figure 2).Since the dairy farming is underdeveloped, Vietnamhas to import a large quantity of milk powder materialsto serve processing activities. It is estimated that theimported milk powder materials account for 70% of thedemand for milk powder. Thus, the import of dairy cat-tle and milk powder materials shows significant depend-ence of Vietnam on the world’s material resources,which affects the sustainable development of the dairyindustry. Therefore, in input ingredients, the dairy sectorhas been seeking permanent solutions like improvingdairy cattle breed selection and crossing to increase milkquantity and productivity.Activity 2: Production activity includes dairy cattlehusbandry, milking and milk maintenanceThis activity is the worst one of the value chain as it isnow facing the following difficulties:Large initial investment: Estimatedly, a dairy cow has arelatively high price of approximately 20-30 millionAccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attributiony/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in anycited.Input Ingredients ProcessingTradingDistribution- Domestic dairy cattle farming - Dairy cattle importing from abroad- Milk powder importing - Dairy farming, milking and milk maintainance- Transporting- Distributing - Purchasing/ collecting - Processing: Fluid milk, powder milk, yoghurt, cheese…- Packaging: iron packages, paper packages, paper cartons…- Using directly or with other types of foodDairy farmers’ profit Dairy processors’ profitDairy distributors and Operationretailers’ profitFigure 1 The value chain map of Vietnam’s dairy industry.Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 2 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161VND/head. In addition, dairy cattle are in need of spe-cial care. Apart from basic conditions such as spacy andprevailing holding pens, well-equipped cooling systemsand milking machines, the feed requirements are im-posed very strict. These factors entail a large amount ofcapital invested from dairy farmers. However, in thecurrent animal husbandry system of Vietnam, there areup to 95% of small-scale dairy farming households (withonly 8 - 10 cows). Therefore, farmers do not meet thecapital requirements to ensure adequate facilities fortheir dairy farming.Import           $ MilsFigure 2 The import and export turnover of dairy cattle.Furthermore, a lot of difficulties can be seen regardingthe supply of feed. The amount of natural grass andgrown grass only satisfies about 30% forage needs ofdairy cattle. Additionally, the expansion of grasslands en-counters great difficulties: in major cities and towns, theprice of land is the biggest obstacle for farmers; mean-while, the land-abundant areas are not qualified enoughto develop dairy farming. Some cattle farming regionsmainly depend on poor-quality pastures which are un-safe for the health of dairy cows due to the effect ofchemicals used in herbicides, insecticides or otherExportKhoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 3 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161hazardous waste of industrial plants. Insufficient rawgreen feed causes farmers to increase the proportion ofprocessed feed – which affects milk quality. In additionto that, the dairy industry “encounters” the shortage ofspecialized dairy farmers. Realizing that dairy farmingbrings economic efficiency, farmers rush into making in-vestment decision without acquiring essential farmingknowledge. Besides, local authorities do not provide ad-equate support, which leads to the low effectiveness ofdairy cattle farming.As a result of an inefficient dairy farming sector, thedairy industry now meets only 25% of the demand forfresh milk consumption in the market. The followingtable compares the production and consumption of freshmilk in recent years (See Table 1 The production andconsumption of fresh milk and % satisfaction of domes-tic demand):Therefore, although the capacity to meet demandhas increased over the years, the market-demandsatisfying level is still not high. This suggests thatthe dairy industry has a lot of potentials for furtherdevelopment.Activity 3: The next activity in the value chain isprocessing. In this part, processing plants will collect,then process and package milkCurrently, three major players are involved into collectingmilk, including enterprises purchasing through their inter-mediary agents as well as co-operatives (co-operatives areestablished only in the places where many smallholderdairy farmers are concentrated and raw milk will bebulked at co-operatives before being transported to pro-cessors) and purchasing/collecting system through privatecollectors. The method of purchasing/collecting milkthrough private collectors is the most popular at presentbecause up to 95% of dairy farmers follow the small anddispersive scale of production. Moreover, milk purchas-ing/collecting system has been developed incoherentlyand unpromptedly. Besides, low preservation technologyTable 1 The production and consumption of fresh milkand % satisfaction of domestic demandYear Milk production(thousandtons/year)Milk consumption(thousandtons/year)Rate of domestic milkproduction as comparedto the demand (%)2005 197,679 1004 19,672006 215,953 1056 20,452007 234,438 1239 18,772008 262,160 1257 20,072009 278,190 - -2010 306 1224 25Source: Do Kim Tuyen (2010), The development of dairy farming in Vietnam 2001 -2009 and forecast 2010-2020, Vietnam Livestock Production Department.reduces the quality of raw milk before it is sold toprocessors.Meanwhile, although the dairy farmers offer a lowmilk price, it “escalates” sharply because it is soldthrough many intermediaries. Vietnam has 2 main com-panies involved in to purchasing/collecting and pro-cessing milk, namely Vinamilk and Dutchlady occupying60% and 25% respectively of the total amount of milkproduced nationwide (Van Cai D 2009). This leads tomonopoly pricing behaviors in collecting milk. InJanuary 2011, the highest collecting price of processorswas 11.500VND/kg. However, after milk was pasteur-ized, the price of milk increased by 2.5 times. The milkcollecting method between Companies and dairy farmersis not transparent and fair, which makes the farmers feelthey suffer from disadvantages. Although the input milkstandard set by processors is not high, 20-50% of milkdoes not satisfy the quality requirement (according tothe statistics of Vinamilk at the first half of 2008). Dairyfarmers suspects about the milk evaluation of processorsbecause the quality assessment procedure is conductedwithout their witness. This is “potential controversy” be-tween sellers and buyers. Therefore, it is necessary toimprove and enhance the mutual understanding betweendairy farmers and processing plants to increase twosides’ profits.Notably, the returning on investment of processors isquite high and assessed the highest in the whole valuechain (See Table 2 The returning on investment of pro-cessing plants based on types of dairy products).According to the authors, the average-priced powdermilk generates the highest profit among dairy productsdue to some following reasons: At present, there are few mill processing plants. As aresult, this easily leads to monopoly price set for milkproducts. Statistically, according to FAPRIAgricultural Outlook (2010), the Vietnamese dairyprice level is high compared to the one of the regionalcountries (See Figure 3 World market price 2008).ECM stands for Energy Corrected Milk standardizedat 4% fat and 3.3% protein.Table 2 The returning on investment of processing plantsbased on types of dairy products% cost % retailing priceCondensed milk 17% 12%Liquid milk 48% 28%Yogurt 54% 30%Low-priced whole milk 22% 15%Average-priced whole milk 86% 40%Source: Jaccar Vietnam.Figure 3 World market price 2008 (USD).TaCoThFuSkHiThDHCaCoSoDeFull cream Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 4 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161 Psychologically, consumers tend to pay thehigher price for dairy products containingnutritional components such as DHA, calciumand so on. Nevertheless, in fact, these nutrientsonly represent the small ratios of 1 kg milk.Meanwhile, their prices are not too high. Forexample, DHA, an expensive component of milk,occupies only the ratio from 0.2% to 0.5% of 1kg milk. With the price around 80 USD/kg, theDHA per 1 kg milk costs around 5000-7000VND (See Table 3 The price of some maincomponents of milk). Therefore, the cost fornutritional components is remarkably small incomparison to the total one of milk product. Theoutstandingly higher milk price in Vietnam thanin other regional countries helps to generatehuge profits for dairy producers. According tothe surveyed information of Jaccar investmentfund, the return of dairy producers from average-priced powder milk achieves 86% compared toproduction cost.ble 3 The price of some main components of milkmponent Price (USD)/ton Price (VND)/kge prices of milks with imported ingredientsll-cream milk powder 3.400 USD/ton 61.200immed milk powder 3.000 USD/ton 54.000gh-protein fat milk 5.000 USD/ton 90.000e prices of some other componentsA 80 USD/kg 1.440.000lcium 7 USD/kg 126.000mplex vitamin 10 USD/kg 180.000urce: Trương Minh Huy (2009), Dairy sector value chain analysis, Researchpartment - Tai Viet Jointstock company, Hanoi, p.12.In conclusion, after processing activity, dairy productsprices are much higher than the collection one. As a re-sult, this activity is considered to create the highestadded value for dairy products.Activity 4: There are, currently, two major dairydistribution channels, namely traditional trade(distributors- wholesalers- retailers-consumers) andmodern one (distributors-supermarkets-consumers)According to the survey conducted by Jaccar investmentfund, the ROI of distributors per retailing price occupies13.4% of retailing price.Activity 5: Dairy consumptionDuring recent years, dairy consumption of Vietnam mar-ket has been sharply increasing. 10% of Vietnamese po-pulation in the two big cities, namely Hochiminh CityLiquid milk64%Butter3%Skimmed milk20%milk13%Figure 4 The types of dairy products consumed in 2010.Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 5 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161and Hanoi has been consuming 78% of dairy products.According to Habubank Securities' Dairy Sector Report,in (Habubank Securities 2009), per capital average con-sumption of dairy products reached 14 liters/capita/year,which was fairly low in comparison to other country inthe region (such as in Thailand 23 liters/capita/year orChina 25 liters/capita/year). Nevertheless, this ratio hasbeen considerably increased as compared to the ones oflast years. Currently, the segment “liquid milk” still oc-cupies the largest market share in Vietnamese dairy con-sumption demand thanks to its high nutritional value(See Figure 4 The types of dairy products consumed in2010). Moreover, it is easier to use this type of milk thanothers. However, due to high consumption demand andlimited supply source, producers mainly imports powdermilk from abroad and process it into fresh milk. Thisnegatively affects the benefits of consumers.In conclusion, dairy sector value chain analysis repre-sents some remarkable points as follow: First, producing activity, namely cow farming is theweakest in the value chain at present. Second, the value of dairy products increases themost after processing activity. Third, the activities of the value chain have not beentightened with one another, especially betweendairymen and processing plants. This causes somenegative effects on the actors as well as thesustainable development of dairy sector.MeasuresAccording to the aforementioned analysis, two packagesof measures related to producing and processing activ-ities have been recommended for the sustainable devel-opment of the dairy sector.The package of measures for milk producing Encouraging the support from local authorities:Currently, dairy cattle supplying source are mainlyimported. Therefore, to help dairy cattle farmingdevelop sustainably, local farmers should expandtheir breeding selection, breeding crossing. This willhelp to enhance the quality of breeding cow andreduce the dependence on external supplyingsource. Besides, training courses for dairy farmingshould be organized to enhance farmers’ knowledgeabout animal husbandry, which assists to improvethe quality of raw milk. Local authorities should encourage local residents toraise dairy cattle in a larger scale. Centralized cowfarming brings many benefits such as fully utilizingthe economy of scale and reducing the cost per unitand so on. Therefore, it will help to increase milkproductivity as well as profits from dairy cattlefarming. Stable feed supplies will also bring enormousbenefits for dairy cow farming. To the source offorage, it is essential to have effective solutions todevelop grass system for dairy husbandry. Moreover,preserving feed source for dry season is necessary.To the source of corn/grain, authorities shouldintervene to stabilize the market and limit themonopoly pricing behaviors as well as regularlyinvestigate in order to prevent the making corruptuse of market to increase the price.A package of measures for processing It is necessary to plan milk collecting network andeliminating unqualified purchasing/collecting pointsin order to improve the quality of raw milk before itis transported to processors. Consistent assessment standard should beestablished to reduce controversy between dairyfarmers and processors. Processing plants should be financially sponsoredand encouraged to improve their technology andenhance their quality as well as diversify theirproducts. Furthermore, for the better developmentof the milk processing industry, local authorities arerecommended to have policies to support milkprocessing subsectors such as package productionand processing additive.In conclusion, Value chain upgrading will not onlystrengthen Vietnamese local companies but also increasethe competitiveness of local products against the importedones. This improvement will offer Vietnamese people toconsume more local products with a reasonable price.For the sustainable development of Vietnam dairy sectorwith higher added value, local enterprises should focus onand analyze the activities in the value chain to eliminateredundancies and implement missing components.Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.Author’s informationDr. Nguyen Viet Khoi has been working for VNU University of Economics andBusiness at Hanoi, Vietnam since 2001. In the academic year 2012-2013,Dr. Khoi works as post-doc researcher under Fulbright Program Award atColumbia University, USA. Dr. Khoi also worked as visiting researcher andprofessor at University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, USA in 2006 and 2008. Thisauthor’s main research areas are International Economics, Global Value Chainand E-Commerce. His latest researches have addressed some key issues inMNCs and Trade, Supply Chains under Globalization.Website: http://ueb.vnu.edu.vn/enNewdetail/44/staff/6141/Nguyen%20Viet%20Khoi.htmReceived: 12 March 2013 Accepted: 4 April 2013Published: 15 April 2013Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 6 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161ReferencesFAPRI (2010) World dairy products: Agricultural Outlook 2010. Food andAgriculture Policy Research Instiute, USAHabubank Securities (2009) Dairy sector report. Habubank, Hanoi, Vietnam, p 2Minh Huy T (2009) Dairy value chain analysis. Research Department - Tai VietJoint Stock Company, Hanoi, VietnamTuyen DK (2010) The development of dairy farming in Vietnam 2001–2009 andforecast 2010–2020. Livestock Production Department 2010Van Cai D (2009) “Vietnam dairy market and issues related to dairy cattle farmingdevelopment”. Vietnam Farming Journal:11, No 8, 2009doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-161Cite this article as: Khoi: Wicked problems: a value chain approach fromVietnam’s dairy product. SpringerPlus 2013 2:161.Submit your manuscript to a journal and beneﬁ t from:7 Convenient online submission7 Rigorous peer review7 Immediate publication on acceptance7 Open access: articles freely available online7 High visibility within the ﬁ eld7 Retaining the copyright to your article    Submit your next manuscript at 7 springeropen.com

Wicked problems: a value chain approach from Vietnam’s dairy product

Springer - Publisher Connector

a SpringerOpen Journal
Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161
http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161RESEARCH Open AccessWicked problems: a value chain approach from
Vietnam’s dairy product
Nguyen Viet Khoi1,2Abstract
In the past few years, dairy industry has become one of the fastest growing sectors in the packaged food industry
of Vietnam. However, the value-added creation among different activities in the value chain of Vietnam dairy sector
is distributed unequally. In the production activities, the dairy farmers gain low value-added rate due to high input
cost. Whereas the processing activities, which managed by big companies, generates high profitability and
Vietnamese consumers seem to have few choices due to the lack of dairy companies in the market. These wicked
problems caused an unsustainable development to the dairy value chain of Vietnam. This paper, therefore, will map
and analyze the value chain of the dairy industry in Vietnam. It will also assess the value created in each activity in
order to imply solutions for a sustainable development of Vietnam’s dairy industry.
JEL code: M10, M11
Keywords: Value chain analysis, Dairy industry, Vietnam’s dairy industry, Production managementMapping the value chain of Vietnam’s dairy
industry
Each industry has their own value chain systems and
these value chains will also be adjusted due to regional
characteristics. The value chain of Vietnam’s dairy sector
consists of five activities as: ingredients, production, pro-
cessing, marketing and consumption (See Figure 1 The
value chain map of Vietnam’s dairy industry). We will be
able to understand these activities by analyzing each ac-
tivity and player participating in these value chains. By
thoroughly examine the two most important activities,
milk production and processing, we will have a clear an-
swer why there still existed inadequacies of value added
creation in these two activities. In addition, this research
does not carry out on humans, which does not have to
be in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration. And this
research does not contain any experimental research on
animals, which does not need to follow internationally
recognized guidelines.Correspondence: khoivnu@gmail.com
1VNU University of Economics and Business, 144 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, Hanoi,
Vietnam
2Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, USA
© 2013 Khoi; licensee Springer. This is an Open
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b
medium, provided the original work is properlyActivity 1: Input ingredients include the import of dairy
breeds for husbandry and the purchasing of raw milk
powder ingredients for processing activities
In dairy farming, the import turnover of dairy cattle is
currently 3.5 times as much as the export turnover. (See
the chart of import and export turnover of dairy cattle
since 2009 and forecast until 2020 - Figure 2).
Since the dairy farming is underdeveloped, Vietnam
has to import a large quantity of milk powder materials
to serve processing activities. It is estimated that the
imported milk powder materials account for 70% of the
demand for milk powder. Thus, the import of dairy cat-
tle and milk powder materials shows significant depend-
ence of Vietnam on the world’s material resources,
which affects the sustainable development of the dairy
industry. Therefore, in input ingredients, the dairy sector
has been seeking permanent solutions like improving
dairy cattle breed selection and crossing to increase milk
quantity and productivity.Activity 2: Production activity includes dairy cattle
husbandry, milking and milk maintenance
This activity is the worst one of the value chain as it is
now facing the following difficulties:
Large initial investment: Estimatedly, a dairy cow has a
relatively high price of approximately 20-30 millionAccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
y/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
cited.
Input 
Ingredients 
Proce
ssing
Tradi
ng
Distri
bution
- Domestic 
dairy cattle 
farming 
- Dairy cattle 
importing 
from abroad
- Milk 
powder 
importing 
- Dairy 
farming, 
milking and 
milk 
maintainance
- Transporting
- Distributing 
- Purchasing/ 
collecting 
- Processing: 
Fluid milk, 
powder milk, 
yoghurt, 
cheese…
- Packaging: 
iron packages, 
paper 
packages, 
paper 
cartons…
- Using 
directly or 
with other 
types of food
Dairy farmers’ profit Dairy processors’ 
profit
Dairy 
distributors and 
Opera
tion
retailers’ profit
Figure 1 The value chain map of Vietnam’s dairy industry.
Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 2 of 6
http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161VND/head. In addition, dairy cattle are in need of spe-
cial care. Apart from basic conditions such as spacy and
prevailing holding pens, well-equipped cooling systems
and milking machines, the feed requirements are im-
posed very strict. These factors entail a large amount of
capital invested from dairy farmers. However, in the
current animal husbandry system of Vietnam, there are
up to 95% of small-scale dairy farming households (with
only 8 - 10 cows). Therefore, farmers do not meet the
capital requirements to ensure adequate facilities for
their dairy farming.Import           
$ Mils
Figure 2 The import and export turnover of dairy cattle.Furthermore, a lot of difficulties can be seen regarding
the supply of feed. The amount of natural grass and
grown grass only satisfies about 30% forage needs of
dairy cattle. Additionally, the expansion of grasslands en-
counters great difficulties: in major cities and towns, the
price of land is the biggest obstacle for farmers; mean-
while, the land-abundant areas are not qualified enough
to develop dairy farming. Some cattle farming regions
mainly depend on poor-quality pastures which are un-
safe for the health of dairy cows due to the effect of
chemicals used in herbicides, insecticides or otherExport
Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 3 of 6
http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161hazardous waste of industrial plants. Insufficient raw
green feed causes farmers to increase the proportion of
processed feed – which affects milk quality. In addition
to that, the dairy industry “encounters” the shortage of
specialized dairy farmers. Realizing that dairy farming
brings economic efficiency, farmers rush into making in-
vestment decision without acquiring essential farming
knowledge. Besides, local authorities do not provide ad-
equate support, which leads to the low effectiveness of
dairy cattle farming.
As a result of an inefficient dairy farming sector, the
dairy industry now meets only 25% of the demand for
fresh milk consumption in the market. The following
table compares the production and consumption of fresh
milk in recent years (See Table 1 The production and
consumption of fresh milk and % satisfaction of domes-
tic demand):
Therefore, although the capacity to meet demand
has increased over the years, the market-demand
satisfying level is still not high. This suggests that
the dairy industry has a lot of potentials for further
development.Activity 3: The next activity in the value chain is
processing. In this part, processing plants will collect,
then process and package milk
Currently, three major players are involved into collecting
milk, including enterprises purchasing through their inter-
mediary agents as well as co-operatives (co-operatives are
established only in the places where many smallholder
dairy farmers are concentrated and raw milk will be
bulked at co-operatives before being transported to pro-
cessors) and purchasing/collecting system through private
collectors. The method of purchasing/collecting milk
through private collectors is the most popular at present
because up to 95% of dairy farmers follow the small and
dispersive scale of production. Moreover, milk purchas-
ing/collecting system has been developed incoherently
and unpromptedly. Besides, low preservation technologyTable 1 The production and consumption of fresh milk
and % satisfaction of domestic demand
Year Milk production
(thousand
tons/year)
Milk consumption
(thousand
tons/year)
Rate of domestic milk
production as compared
to the demand (%)
2005 197,679 1004 19,67
2006 215,953 1056 20,45
2007 234,438 1239 18,77
2008 262,160 1257 20,07
2009 278,190 - -
2010 306 1224 25
Source: Do Kim Tuyen (2010), The development of dairy farming in Vietnam 2001 -
2009 and forecast 2010-2020, Vietnam Livestock Production Department.reduces the quality of raw milk before it is sold to
processors.
Meanwhile, although the dairy farmers offer a low
milk price, it “escalates” sharply because it is sold
through many intermediaries. Vietnam has 2 main com-
panies involved in to purchasing/collecting and pro-
cessing milk, namely Vinamilk and Dutchlady occupying
60% and 25% respectively of the total amount of milk
produced nationwide (Van Cai D 2009). This leads to
monopoly pricing behaviors in collecting milk. In
January 2011, the highest collecting price of processors
was 11.500VND/kg. However, after milk was pasteur-
ized, the price of milk increased by 2.5 times. The milk
collecting method between Companies and dairy farmers
is not transparent and fair, which makes the farmers feel
they suffer from disadvantages. Although the input milk
standard set by processors is not high, 20-50% of milk
does not satisfy the quality requirement (according to
the statistics of Vinamilk at the first half of 2008). Dairy
farmers suspects about the milk evaluation of processors
because the quality assessment procedure is conducted
without their witness. This is “potential controversy” be-
tween sellers and buyers. Therefore, it is necessary to
improve and enhance the mutual understanding between
dairy farmers and processing plants to increase two
sides’ profits.
Notably, the returning on investment of processors is
quite high and assessed the highest in the whole value
chain (See Table 2 The returning on investment of pro-
cessing plants based on types of dairy products).
According to the authors, the average-priced powder
milk generates the highest profit among dairy products
due to some following reasons:
 At present, there are few mill processing plants. As a
result, this easily leads to monopoly price set for milk
products. Statistically, according to FAPRI
Agricultural Outlook (2010), the Vietnamese dairy
price level is high compared to the one of the regional
countries (See Figure 3 World market price 2008).
ECM stands for Energy Corrected Milk standardized
at 4% fat and 3.3% protein.Table 2 The returning on investment of processing plants
based on types of dairy products
% cost % retailing price
Condensed milk 17% 12%
Liquid milk 48% 28%
Yogurt 54% 30%
Low-priced whole milk 22% 15%
Average-priced whole milk 86% 40%
Source: Jaccar Vietnam.
Figure 3 World market price 2008 (USD).
Ta
Co
Th
Fu
Sk
Hi
Th
DH
Ca
Co
So
De
Full cream 
Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 4 of 6
http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161 Psychologically, consumers tend to pay the
higher price for dairy products containing
nutritional components such as DHA, calcium
and so on. Nevertheless, in fact, these nutrients
only represent the small ratios of 1 kg milk.
Meanwhile, their prices are not too high. For
example, DHA, an expensive component of milk,
occupies only the ratio from 0.2% to 0.5% of 1
kg milk. With the price around 80 USD/kg, the
DHA per 1 kg milk costs around 5000-7000
VND (See Table 3 The price of some main
components of milk). Therefore, the cost for
nutritional components is remarkably small in
comparison to the total one of milk product. The
outstandingly higher milk price in Vietnam than
in other regional countries helps to generate
huge profits for dairy producers. According to
the surveyed information of Jaccar investment
fund, the return of dairy producers from average-
priced powder milk achieves 86% compared to
production cost.ble 3 The price of some main components of milk
mponent Price (USD)/ton Price (VND)/kg
e prices of milks with imported ingredients
ll-cream milk powder 3.400 USD/ton 61.200
immed milk powder 3.000 USD/ton 54.000
gh-protein fat milk 5.000 USD/ton 90.000
e prices of some other components
A 80 USD/kg 1.440.000
lcium 7 USD/kg 126.000
mplex vitamin 10 USD/kg 180.000
urce: Trương Minh Huy (2009), Dairy sector value chain analysis, Research
partment - Tai Viet Jointstock company, Hanoi, p.12.In conclusion, after processing activity, dairy products
prices are much higher than the collection one. As a re-
sult, this activity is considered to create the highest
added value for dairy products.
Activity 4: There are, currently, two major dairy
distribution channels, namely traditional trade
(distributors- wholesalers- retailers-consumers) and
modern one (distributors-supermarkets-consumers)
According to the survey conducted by Jaccar investment
fund, the ROI of distributors per retailing price occupies
13.4% of retailing price.
Activity 5: Dairy consumption
During recent years, dairy consumption of Vietnam mar-
ket has been sharply increasing. 10% of Vietnamese po-
pulation in the two big cities, namely Hochiminh CityLiquid milk
64%
Butter
3%
Skimmed 
milk
20%
milk
13%
Figure 4 The types of dairy products consumed in 2010.
Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 5 of 6
http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161and Hanoi has been consuming 78% of dairy products.
According to Habubank Securities' Dairy Sector Report,
in (Habubank Securities 2009), per capital average con-
sumption of dairy products reached 14 liters/capita/year,
which was fairly low in comparison to other country in
the region (such as in Thailand 23 liters/capita/year or
China 25 liters/capita/year). Nevertheless, this ratio has
been considerably increased as compared to the ones of
last years. Currently, the segment “liquid milk” still oc-
cupies the largest market share in Vietnamese dairy con-
sumption demand thanks to its high nutritional value
(See Figure 4 The types of dairy products consumed in
2010). Moreover, it is easier to use this type of milk than
others. However, due to high consumption demand and
limited supply source, producers mainly imports powder
milk from abroad and process it into fresh milk. This
negatively affects the benefits of consumers.
In conclusion, dairy sector value chain analysis repre-
sents some remarkable points as follow:
 First, producing activity, namely cow farming is the
weakest in the value chain at present.
 Second, the value of dairy products increases the
most after processing activity.
 Third, the activities of the value chain have not been
tightened with one another, especially between
dairymen and processing plants. This causes some
negative effects on the actors as well as the
sustainable development of dairy sector.
Measures
According to the aforementioned analysis, two packages
of measures related to producing and processing activ-
ities have been recommended for the sustainable devel-
opment of the dairy sector.
The package of measures for milk producing
 Encouraging the support from local authorities:
Currently, dairy cattle supplying source are mainly
imported. Therefore, to help dairy cattle farming
develop sustainably, local farmers should expand
their breeding selection, breeding crossing. This will
help to enhance the quality of breeding cow and
reduce the dependence on external supplying
source. Besides, training courses for dairy farming
should be organized to enhance farmers’ knowledge
about animal husbandry, which assists to improve
the quality of raw milk.
 Local authorities should encourage local residents to
raise dairy cattle in a larger scale. Centralized cow
farming brings many benefits such as fully utilizing
the economy of scale and reducing the cost per unit
and so on. Therefore, it will help to increase milkproductivity as well as profits from dairy cattle
farming.
 Stable feed supplies will also bring enormous
benefits for dairy cow farming. To the source of
forage, it is essential to have effective solutions to
develop grass system for dairy husbandry. Moreover,
preserving feed source for dry season is necessary.
To the source of corn/grain, authorities should
intervene to stabilize the market and limit the
monopoly pricing behaviors as well as regularly
investigate in order to prevent the making corrupt
use of market to increase the price.
A package of measures for processing
 It is necessary to plan milk collecting network and
eliminating unqualified purchasing/collecting points
in order to improve the quality of raw milk before it
is transported to processors.
 Consistent assessment standard should be
established to reduce controversy between dairy
farmers and processors.
 Processing plants should be financially sponsored
and encouraged to improve their technology and
enhance their quality as well as diversify their
products. Furthermore, for the better development
of the milk processing industry, local authorities are
recommended to have policies to support milk
processing subsectors such as package production
and processing additive.
In conclusion, Value chain upgrading will not only
strengthen Vietnamese local companies but also increase
the competitiveness of local products against the imported
ones. This improvement will offer Vietnamese people to
consume more local products with a reasonable price.
For the sustainable development of Vietnam dairy sector
with higher added value, local enterprises should focus on
and analyze the activities in the value chain to eliminate
redundancies and implement missing components.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Author’s information
Dr. Nguyen Viet Khoi has been working for VNU University of Economics and
Business at Hanoi, Vietnam since 2001. In the academic year 2012-2013,
Dr. Khoi works as post-doc researcher under Fulbright Program Award at
Columbia University, USA. Dr. Khoi also worked as visiting researcher and
professor at University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, USA in 2006 and 2008. This
author’s main research areas are International Economics, Global Value Chain
and E-Commerce. His latest researches have addressed some key issues in
MNCs and Trade, Supply Chains under Globalization.
Website: http://ueb.vnu.edu.vn/enNewdetail/44/staff/6141/Nguyen%20Viet%
20Khoi.htm
Received: 12 March 2013 Accepted: 4 April 2013
Published: 15 April 2013
Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 6 of 6
http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161References
FAPRI (2010) World dairy products: Agricultural Outlook 2010. Food and
Agriculture Policy Research Instiute, USA
Habubank Securities (2009) Dairy sector report. Habubank, Hanoi, Vietnam, p 2
Minh Huy T (2009) Dairy value chain analysis. Research Department - Tai Viet
Joint Stock Company, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tuyen DK (2010) The development of dairy farming in Vietnam 2001–2009 and
forecast 2010–2020. Livestock Production Department 2010
Van Cai D (2009) “Vietnam dairy market and issues related to dairy cattle farming
development”. Vietnam Farming Journal:11, No 8, 2009
doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-161
Cite this article as: Khoi: Wicked problems: a value chain approach from
Vietnam’s dairy product. SpringerPlus 2013 2:161.Submit your manuscript to a 
journal and beneﬁ t from:
7 Convenient online submission
7 Rigorous peer review
7 Immediate publication on acceptance
7 Open access: articles freely available online
7 High visibility within the ﬁ eld
7 Retaining the copyright to your article
    Submit your next manuscript at 7 springeropen.com


Columbia University Academic Commons

a SpringerOpen JournalKhoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161RESEARCH Open AccessWicked problems: a value chain approach fromVietnam’s dairy productNguyen Viet Khoi1,2AbstractIn the past few years, dairy industry has become one of the fastest growing sectors in the packaged food industryof Vietnam. However, the value-added creation among different activities in the value chain of Vietnam dairy sectoris distributed unequally. In the production activities, the dairy farmers gain low value-added rate due to high inputcost. Whereas the processing activities, which managed by big companies, generates high profitability andVietnamese consumers seem to have few choices due to the lack of dairy companies in the market. These wickedproblems caused an unsustainable development to the dairy value chain of Vietnam. This paper, therefore, will mapand analyze the value chain of the dairy industry in Vietnam. It will also assess the value created in each activity inorder to imply solutions for a sustainable development of Vietnam’s dairy industry.JEL code: M10, M11Keywords: Value chain analysis, Dairy industry, Vietnam’s dairy industry, Production managementMapping the value chain of Vietnam’s dairyindustryEach industry has their own value chain systems andthese value chains will also be adjusted due to regionalcharacteristics. The value chain of Vietnam’s dairy sectorconsists of five activities as: ingredients, production, pro-cessing, marketing and consumption (See Figure 1 Thevalue chain map of Vietnam’s dairy industry). We will beable to understand these activities by analyzing each ac-tivity and player participating in these value chains. Bythoroughly examine the two most important activities,milk production and processing, we will have a clear an-swer why there still existed inadequacies of value addedcreation in these two activities. In addition, this researchdoes not carry out on humans, which does not have tobe in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration. And thisresearch does not contain any experimental research onanimals, which does not need to follow internationallyrecognized guidelines.Correspondence: khoivnu@gmail.com1VNU University of Economics and Business, 144 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, Hanoi,Vietnam2Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, USA© 2013 Khoi; licensee Springer. This is an OpenLicense (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bmedium, provided the original work is properlyActivity 1: Input ingredients include the import of dairybreeds for husbandry and the purchasing of raw milkpowder ingredients for processing activitiesIn dairy farming, the import turnover of dairy cattle iscurrently 3.5 times as much as the export turnover. (Seethe chart of import and export turnover of dairy cattlesince 2009 and forecast until 2020 - Figure 2).Since the dairy farming is underdeveloped, Vietnamhas to import a large quantity of milk powder materialsto serve processing activities. It is estimated that theimported milk powder materials account for 70% of thedemand for milk powder. Thus, the import of dairy cat-tle and milk powder materials shows significant depend-ence of Vietnam on the world’s material resources,which affects the sustainable development of the dairyindustry. Therefore, in input ingredients, the dairy sectorhas been seeking permanent solutions like improvingdairy cattle breed selection and crossing to increase milkquantity and productivity.Activity 2: Production activity includes dairy cattlehusbandry, milking and milk maintenanceThis activity is the worst one of the value chain as it isnow facing the following difficulties:Large initial investment: Estimatedly, a dairy cow has arelatively high price of approximately 20-30 millionAccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attributiony/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in anycited.Input Ingredients ProcessingTradingDistribution- Domestic dairy cattle farming - Dairy cattle importing from abroad- Milk powder importing - Dairy farming, milking and milk maintainance- Transporting- Distributing - Purchasing/ collecting - Processing: Fluid milk, powder milk, yoghurt, cheese…- Packaging: iron packages, paper packages, paper cartons…- Using directly or with other types of foodDairy farmers’ profit Dairy processors’ profitDairy distributors and Operationretailers’ profitFigure 1 The value chain map of Vietnam’s dairy industry.Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 2 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161VND/head. In addition, dairy cattle are in need of spe-cial care. Apart from basic conditions such as spacy andprevailing holding pens, well-equipped cooling systemsand milking machines, the feed requirements are im-posed very strict. These factors entail a large amount ofcapital invested from dairy farmers. However, in thecurrent animal husbandry system of Vietnam, there areup to 95% of small-scale dairy farming households (withonly 8 - 10 cows). Therefore, farmers do not meet thecapital requirements to ensure adequate facilities fortheir dairy farming.Import           $ MilsFigure 2 The import and export turnover of dairy cattle.Furthermore, a lot of difficulties can be seen regardingthe supply of feed. The amount of natural grass andgrown grass only satisfies about 30% forage needs ofdairy cattle. Additionally, the expansion of grasslands en-counters great difficulties: in major cities and towns, theprice of land is the biggest obstacle for farmers; mean-while, the land-abundant areas are not qualified enoughto develop dairy farming. Some cattle farming regionsmainly depend on poor-quality pastures which are un-safe for the health of dairy cows due to the effect ofchemicals used in herbicides, insecticides or otherExportKhoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 3 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161hazardous waste of industrial plants. Insufficient rawgreen feed causes farmers to increase the proportion ofprocessed feed – which affects milk quality. In additionto that, the dairy industry “encounters” the shortage ofspecialized dairy farmers. Realizing that dairy farmingbrings economic efficiency, farmers rush into making in-vestment decision without acquiring essential farmingknowledge. Besides, local authorities do not provide ad-equate support, which leads to the low effectiveness ofdairy cattle farming.As a result of an inefficient dairy farming sector, thedairy industry now meets only 25% of the demand forfresh milk consumption in the market. The followingtable compares the production and consumption of freshmilk in recent years (See Table 1 The production andconsumption of fresh milk and % satisfaction of domes-tic demand):Therefore, although the capacity to meet demandhas increased over the years, the market-demandsatisfying level is still not high. This suggests thatthe dairy industry has a lot of potentials for furtherdevelopment.Activity 3: The next activity in the value chain isprocessing. In this part, processing plants will collect,then process and package milkCurrently, three major players are involved into collectingmilk, including enterprises purchasing through their inter-mediary agents as well as co-operatives (co-operatives areestablished only in the places where many smallholderdairy farmers are concentrated and raw milk will bebulked at co-operatives before being transported to pro-cessors) and purchasing/collecting system through privatecollectors. The method of purchasing/collecting milkthrough private collectors is the most popular at presentbecause up to 95% of dairy farmers follow the small anddispersive scale of production. Moreover, milk purchas-ing/collecting system has been developed incoherentlyand unpromptedly. Besides, low preservation technologyTable 1 The production and consumption of fresh milkand % satisfaction of domestic demandYear Milk production(thousandtons/year)Milk consumption(thousandtons/year)Rate of domestic milkproduction as comparedto the demand (%)2005 197,679 1004 19,672006 215,953 1056 20,452007 234,438 1239 18,772008 262,160 1257 20,072009 278,190 - -2010 306 1224 25Source: Do Kim Tuyen (2010), The development of dairy farming in Vietnam 2001 -2009 and forecast 2010-2020, Vietnam Livestock Production Department.reduces the quality of raw milk before it is sold toprocessors.Meanwhile, although the dairy farmers offer a lowmilk price, it “escalates” sharply because it is soldthrough many intermediaries. Vietnam has 2 main com-panies involved in to purchasing/collecting and pro-cessing milk, namely Vinamilk and Dutchlady occupying60% and 25% respectively of the total amount of milkproduced nationwide (Van Cai D 2009). This leads tomonopoly pricing behaviors in collecting milk. InJanuary 2011, the highest collecting price of processorswas 11.500VND/kg. However, after milk was pasteur-ized, the price of milk increased by 2.5 times. The milkcollecting method between Companies and dairy farmersis not transparent and fair, which makes the farmers feelthey suffer from disadvantages. Although the input milkstandard set by processors is not high, 20-50% of milkdoes not satisfy the quality requirement (according tothe statistics of Vinamilk at the first half of 2008). Dairyfarmers suspects about the milk evaluation of processorsbecause the quality assessment procedure is conductedwithout their witness. This is “potential controversy” be-tween sellers and buyers. Therefore, it is necessary toimprove and enhance the mutual understanding betweendairy farmers and processing plants to increase twosides’ profits.Notably, the returning on investment of processors isquite high and assessed the highest in the whole valuechain (See Table 2 The returning on investment of pro-cessing plants based on types of dairy products).According to the authors, the average-priced powdermilk generates the highest profit among dairy productsdue to some following reasons: At present, there are few mill processing plants. As aresult, this easily leads to monopoly price set for milkproducts. Statistically, according to FAPRIAgricultural Outlook (2010), the Vietnamese dairyprice level is high compared to the one of the regionalcountries (See Figure 3 World market price 2008).ECM stands for Energy Corrected Milk standardizedat 4% fat and 3.3% protein.Table 2 The returning on investment of processing plantsbased on types of dairy products% cost % retailing priceCondensed milk 17% 12%Liquid milk 48% 28%Yogurt 54% 30%Low-priced whole milk 22% 15%Average-priced whole milk 86% 40%Source: Jaccar Vietnam.Figure 3 World market price 2008 (USD).TaCoThFuSkHiThDHCaCoSoDeFull cream Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 4 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161 Psychologically, consumers tend to pay thehigher price for dairy products containingnutritional components such as DHA, calciumand so on. Nevertheless, in fact, these nutrientsonly represent the small ratios of 1 kg milk.Meanwhile, their prices are not too high. Forexample, DHA, an expensive component of milk,occupies only the ratio from 0.2% to 0.5% of 1kg milk. With the price around 80 USD/kg, theDHA per 1 kg milk costs around 5000-7000VND (See Table 3 The price of some maincomponents of milk). Therefore, the cost fornutritional components is remarkably small incomparison to the total one of milk product. Theoutstandingly higher milk price in Vietnam thanin other regional countries helps to generatehuge profits for dairy producers. According tothe surveyed information of Jaccar investmentfund, the return of dairy producers from average-priced powder milk achieves 86% compared toproduction cost.ble 3 The price of some main components of milkmponent Price (USD)/ton Price (VND)/kge prices of milks with imported ingredientsll-cream milk powder 3.400 USD/ton 61.200immed milk powder 3.000 USD/ton 54.000gh-protein fat milk 5.000 USD/ton 90.000e prices of some other componentsA 80 USD/kg 1.440.000lcium 7 USD/kg 126.000mplex vitamin 10 USD/kg 180.000urce: Trương Minh Huy (2009), Dairy sector value chain analysis, Researchpartment - Tai Viet Jointstock company, Hanoi, p.12.In conclusion, after processing activity, dairy productsprices are much higher than the collection one. As a re-sult, this activity is considered to create the highestadded value for dairy products.Activity 4: There are, currently, two major dairydistribution channels, namely traditional trade(distributors- wholesalers- retailers-consumers) andmodern one (distributors-supermarkets-consumers)According to the survey conducted by Jaccar investmentfund, the ROI of distributors per retailing price occupies13.4% of retailing price.Activity 5: Dairy consumptionDuring recent years, dairy consumption of Vietnam mar-ket has been sharply increasing. 10% of Vietnamese po-pulation in the two big cities, namely Hochiminh CityLiquid milk64%Butter3%Skimmed milk20%milk13%Figure 4 The types of dairy products consumed in 2010.Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 5 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161and Hanoi has been consuming 78% of dairy products.According to Habubank Securities' Dairy Sector Report,in (Habubank Securities 2009), per capital average con-sumption of dairy products reached 14 liters/capita/year,which was fairly low in comparison to other country inthe region (such as in Thailand 23 liters/capita/year orChina 25 liters/capita/year). Nevertheless, this ratio hasbeen considerably increased as compared to the ones oflast years. Currently, the segment “liquid milk” still oc-cupies the largest market share in Vietnamese dairy con-sumption demand thanks to its high nutritional value(See Figure 4 The types of dairy products consumed in2010). Moreover, it is easier to use this type of milk thanothers. However, due to high consumption demand andlimited supply source, producers mainly imports powdermilk from abroad and process it into fresh milk. Thisnegatively affects the benefits of consumers.In conclusion, dairy sector value chain analysis repre-sents some remarkable points as follow: First, producing activity, namely cow farming is theweakest in the value chain at present. Second, the value of dairy products increases themost after processing activity. Third, the activities of the value chain have not beentightened with one another, especially betweendairymen and processing plants. This causes somenegative effects on the actors as well as thesustainable development of dairy sector.MeasuresAccording to the aforementioned analysis, two packagesof measures related to producing and processing activ-ities have been recommended for the sustainable devel-opment of the dairy sector.The package of measures for milk producing Encouraging the support from local authorities:Currently, dairy cattle supplying source are mainlyimported. Therefore, to help dairy cattle farmingdevelop sustainably, local farmers should expandtheir breeding selection, breeding crossing. This willhelp to enhance the quality of breeding cow andreduce the dependence on external supplyingsource. Besides, training courses for dairy farmingshould be organized to enhance farmers’ knowledgeabout animal husbandry, which assists to improvethe quality of raw milk. Local authorities should encourage local residents toraise dairy cattle in a larger scale. Centralized cowfarming brings many benefits such as fully utilizingthe economy of scale and reducing the cost per unitand so on. Therefore, it will help to increase milkproductivity as well as profits from dairy cattlefarming. Stable feed supplies will also bring enormousbenefits for dairy cow farming. To the source offorage, it is essential to have effective solutions todevelop grass system for dairy husbandry. Moreover,preserving feed source for dry season is necessary.To the source of corn/grain, authorities shouldintervene to stabilize the market and limit themonopoly pricing behaviors as well as regularlyinvestigate in order to prevent the making corruptuse of market to increase the price.A package of measures for processing It is necessary to plan milk collecting network andeliminating unqualified purchasing/collecting pointsin order to improve the quality of raw milk before itis transported to processors. Consistent assessment standard should beestablished to reduce controversy between dairyfarmers and processors. Processing plants should be financially sponsoredand encouraged to improve their technology andenhance their quality as well as diversify theirproducts. Furthermore, for the better developmentof the milk processing industry, local authorities arerecommended to have policies to support milkprocessing subsectors such as package productionand processing additive.In conclusion, Value chain upgrading will not onlystrengthen Vietnamese local companies but also increasethe competitiveness of local products against the importedones. This improvement will offer Vietnamese people toconsume more local products with a reasonable price.For the sustainable development of Vietnam dairy sectorwith higher added value, local enterprises should focus onand analyze the activities in the value chain to eliminateredundancies and implement missing components.Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.Author’s informationDr. Nguyen Viet Khoi has been working for VNU University of Economics andBusiness at Hanoi, Vietnam since 2001. In the academic year 2012-2013,Dr. Khoi works as post-doc researcher under Fulbright Program Award atColumbia University, USA. Dr. Khoi also worked as visiting researcher andprofessor at University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, USA in 2006 and 2008. Thisauthor’s main research areas are International Economics, Global Value Chainand E-Commerce. His latest researches have addressed some key issues inMNCs and Trade, Supply Chains under Globalization.Website: http://ueb.vnu.edu.vn/enNewdetail/44/staff/6141/Nguyen%20Viet%20Khoi.htmReceived: 12 March 2013 Accepted: 4 April 2013Published: 15 April 2013Khoi SpringerPlus 2013, 2:161 Page 6 of 6http://www.springerplus.com/content/2/1/161ReferencesFAPRI (2010) World dairy products: Agricultural Outlook 2010. Food andAgriculture Policy Research Instiute, USAHabubank Securities (2009) Dairy sector report. Habubank, Hanoi, Vietnam, p 2Minh Huy T (2009) Dairy value chain analysis. Research Department - Tai VietJoint Stock Company, Hanoi, VietnamTuyen DK (2010) The development of dairy farming in Vietnam 2001–2009 andforecast 2010–2020. Livestock Production Department 2010Van Cai D (2009) “Vietnam dairy market and issues related to dairy cattle farmingdevelopment”. Vietnam Farming Journal:11, No 8, 2009doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-161Cite this article as: Khoi: Wicked problems: a value chain approach fromVietnam’s dairy product. SpringerPlus 2013 2:161.Submit your manuscript to a journal and benefi t from:7 Convenient online submission7 Rigorous peer review7 Immediate publication on acceptance7 Open access: articles freely available online7 High visibility within the fi eld7 Retaining the copyright to your article    Submit your next manuscript at 7 springeropen.com

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