A Vinamit farm in Binh Duong, one of three the company has in the province, received an organic certificate from the USDA and the EU’s Ecocert. — VNS Photo

Vinamit Joint Stock Company, a producer and exporter of vacuum-fried fruit and dried-fruit products, has had its farming and processing certified as organic separately by the US Department of Agriculture and EU’s Ecocert.

It received the USDA and EU organic certifications for around 80 products, its three farms totalling 171ha in Binh Duong Province and its two processing and packaging plants in the province.

The certification follows its efforts to strictly conform to US and EU organic farming requirements for the past three years, Nguyen Lam Vien, the company’s chairman and general director, said.

Organic certification is considered the highest food hygiene and safety standard globally.

To obtain the certificate, growers must not only ensure they do not use fertilisers, pesticides, chemicals, stimulants, hormones or genetically modified seeds, but also have to guarantee that their organic farming practices meet environment-friendly, bio-diversity and sustainable development standards, he said.

Achieving the certification would enable the company to export to fastidious markets like North America, Japan and the EU, he said.

Richard De Boer, managing director of Control Union Vietnam, said, “consumers are becoming more and more aware of what they eat.”

In the last three to five years organic consumption has been growing by 5-10 per cent a year.

The global organic market is worth around US$80 billion, with the US being the main consumer, De Boer said. — VNS