March 10, 2021 – Bangkok, Thailand: VNU Asia Pacific has organized the Exclusive Dinner Talk on Food for Good: Best Practices and Lesson Learned in Bangkok. This exclusive event gathered industry leaders to network and share their insightful knowledge from the C-Level including Minister of Agriculture and Cooperative and Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, to share the market overview in different perspectives. Mr. Heiko M. Stutzinger, Managing Director of VNU Asia Pacific and VNU Europe/VIV Director led the panel discussion which was the key highlight of the event. It had the privilege to include the two leading companies in Livestock-Food industry, Charoen Pokphand Foods and Betagro, along with Food Processing Industry Club,Federation of Thai Industries. The 3 speakers touched upon on the topics “How to put our heart into Food Production / People’s Productivity / Packaging and Branding” for all attendees to learn and bring important notes to apply with their business management. The Dinner Talk was conducted in a hybrid form where the 170 guests were present at the venue while having 100 international virtual attendees via the livestreaming.

• Food and Animal Protein Production Updates / Importance of the Trade Exhibition

Mr. Alongkorn Polabut, Advisor of Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives gave welcoming remarks highlighting the importance of the livestock industry. He underlined the importance that “Food and animal protein production grows continuously, partly since protein is the preferred choice of consumption of Thai people. The government also recognizes this as one of the fast growing industries in Thailand.” He then added
“Therefore, VIV Asia and Meat Pro Asia will surely be two of the most noteworthy exhibitions and I would like to encourage all of you to support and probably even become part of these outstanding exhibitions where you’ll meet many stakeholders”.

Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, President of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau shared the development on Thailand: Sustainability Destination. “Bangkok has won second place in Asia coming only behind Kyoto, Japan on the Global Destination Sustainability Index. I believe we are all impressed with this, but we all know ranking goes up and comes down. The best we can do to maintain the sustainability is undoubtedly to work with more determination” said Mr. Chiruit. He added that “TCEB has recognized the importance of the trade exhibition role as the world’s growth engine. This prompts the bureau to encourage tradeshows particularly those that help strengthen Thailand’s development goals.”

Mr. Prinn Panitchpakdi Chairperson of the Agribusiness Committee, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and Advisor to Deputy Prime Minister delivered a keynote address focusing on the need for the public and private sector to work together to tackle the malnutrition crisis which is affecting people around the world. Mr. Panitchpakdi further suggested that “Corporates today should have social entrepreneurship mindset that creating a positive impact to society at large will also mean good business, which is easier said than done, it can only happen if you shift your conviction and DNA of your corporate”.

• How to put our heart into FOOD PRODUCTION / PEOPLE’S PRODUCTIVITY / PACKAGING AND BRANDING

Mr. Prasit Boondoungprasert, CEO of Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) was sharing on how CPF puts their heart into food production. Mr. Prasit described that “the goal of CPF is to provide nutritional and affordable food to all levels of consumers. To achieve this the company has integrated technologies such as AI, IoT, and robotic to improve efficiency in all processes from feed mill to slaughterhouse to logistic and to the table.” He further pointed out that “the other important part is to invest in people, people is the most important asset as they are the ones who are putting their hearts into the operation, into food”

Mr. Jakkrin Taepaisitpong, Executive Vice President of Betagro Group, shared Betagro’s lesson learnt on People’s Productivity that it was achieved through the integration of everyone under one thought, one goal & direction, and one team in order to make the people realize their values to the company and the industry. With the key point in communicating to understand altogether the business goal and direction. Mr. Jakkrinconcluded that “The balance between profit, people, and the planet is how we put our heart into people productivity.

Mr. Visit Limlurcha, Chairman of Food Processing Industry Club, the Federation of Thai Industries shared his view on how to put the heart into packaging and branding. Mr. Visit was explaining that “As food safety’s concern and food delivery have become prominent during the COVID 19 pandemic, the importance of food packaging increase significantly. The key aspect is to have an attractive packaging design, being reusable and sustainable. New technology such as RFID tracking systems is also being used on the packaging together with automation technology” Mr. Visit added that “Moreover, many producers are putting more information on the label with a QR code for consumers to learn about the products”.

Special thanks to our Platinum sponsors Ceva Animal Health and Big Dutchman as well as Munters as a Gold sponsor. The event was also supported by Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) and our media partners Asia Food Beverage Thailand, Bangkok Post Group, Food Focus Thailand, INNOLAB Magazine, Kom Chad Luek Newspaper, Pasusart News, and Thansettakij Newspaper. VIV Asia and
Meat Pro Asia will continue to strengthen and complete the animal protein production value chain and be the market and learning place for the industry through upcoming events. Stay tuned at www.vivasia.nl and www.meatpro-asia.com or contact VNU Asia Pacific at +662 1116611 (Bangkok’s Office).