CEO aims to improve rice quality in Vietnam

VIETNAM produces 45 million tonnes of rice a year, exporting seven million tonnes of that production - making it the world’s 3rd largest rice exporter.

Phung Hoang Rice is one that has been helping raise the profile and value of Vietnam’s rice crop through continued investment in premium rice milling technology to resolve issues in quality which can vary from kernel breakages to weevil infestations. Quality largely depends on the methods and machines used for processing. 

For Hồng Thị Bίch Tuyền, CEO of Phung Hoang Rice Mills, there is a need to show export markets that Vietnam can produce high-quality rice. "I want Vietnam to produce the best rice in the world," she says. “But the image of the rice exported is not what it should be, mainly because of outdated technology, which doesn’t take food safety needs into account and doesn’t allow rice producers to control their mills to achieve the highest efficiency and the best, consistent rice quality.”

Ms Hồng Thị Bίch Tuyền, CEO of Phung Hoang Rice with Lương Trung Hiếu, Bühler rice expert

Her company is investing in a fully-automated, energy-efficient, 24/7 Bühler plant to increase their total daily production to 1,200 tonnes of premium quality, ‘Phung Hoang’ branded rice. The company currently exports their rice to customers in Europe and the Middle East and have just announced plans to further extend their rice processing business in 2018, with the introduction of a fourth Bühler plant.

Phung Hoang’s newest rice plant, the company’s third Vietnamese operation in the Mekong Delta – Vietnam’s largest rice-growing region, is capable of handling 400 tonnes per day of wet paddy and turning it into, high value, bagged rice for export.

This top level integral solution includes conveying, reception and handling of the still moist, unhulled, and often dirty paddy rice, to cleaning, drying, hulling, polishing, sorting, packing and despatch to the harbour. The Phung Hoang lines feature the SORTEX S UltraVision™, a patented technology launched just three years ago and widely regarded as the most technologically advanced, energy-efficient range available for rice sorting.

Trust in Bühler technology

Bίch Tuyền says the plant has four SORTEX S UltraVision™ lines, capable of optically assessing each rice kernel for discolouration or damage at a rate of 20 million kernels per minute, with 250 data points and an outstanding hit rate. “This has enabled us to meet a quality level unknown up to now in Vietnam and, as contaminated kernels are systemically removed from the food chain, we can now guarantee the highest level of food safety standards,” she adds.

Phung Hoang Rice Mills is one of many Bühler customers in Vietnam and South East Asia, where it has secured more than $100m USD of rice processing contracts within the past two years. Its relationship with Bühler began back in 2013 when it installed Bühler rice hulling technology on the advice of Lương Trung Hiếu, a Bühler engineer and rice industry expert.

Broken rice is of inferior quality and around 35 % less valuable, so Bühler’s hulling technology played a significant role in generating 5% fewer broken kernels and it was the introduction of these hulling machines that paved the way for Phung Hoang’s second project with Bühler in 2014.  This plant, aiming to double capacity to 400 tonnes a day, included; new optical sorters, automatic bagging machines and 30, new, 100-tonne storage bins. This completely new automated rice reprocessing system, was installed in a record time of four months, and became the most advanced plant in Vietnam and achieved an input capacity of 500 tonnes per day, with 20% better efficiency and maximum uptime.

Quick access for checking rice quality on the SORTEX S UltraVision™

Speaking about the installation, Hồng Thanh Hải, Technical Manager of Phung Hoang, adds: “I was very impressed with the Bühler team. They worked hard and completed the installation to an excellent standard.”

It was the remarkably improved results that gave Bίch Tuyền the confidence to invest in the company’s third and most recent, completely new, Bühler-powered, rice processing mill. What’s more, it was installed in time to be up and running for Tân Niên, the first day of TET (Vietnam’s New Year), a vitally important trading time for Vietnamese businesses.

“The best business is done just after TET. If we’d failed to start up the plant by then, we’d have been behind for the whole business year. It was a particularly challenging time for both Phung Hoang and Bühler Vietnam, but from the very first day of our collaboration, Bühler always delivered what it promised,” said Bίch Tuyền.

The installation began in mid-November and was finished ready to begin production after the Vietnamese New Year celebrations in February. As a result, Bίch Tuyền was able launch into an export offensive, delivering 1,000 tonnes of top quality rice to Dubai, while also expanding to more customers across the Middle East and Europe. Proud of what she has achieved so far, she now has her sights firmly focused on the future, with an ambition to increase the plant’s capacity by the factor of five.

Lương Trung Hiếu said, “Producing premium quality rice isn’t possible without premium processing technology. Bühler’s investment in ground-breaking research and cutting-edge technology means we can engineer our customer success. And it is Bίch Tuyền’s passion and vision, teamed with her belief and trust in Bühler’s technology, that has elevated her business to become a leading global player in the rice market. We very much look forward to helping her take the business to the next level as it continues to expand.”

Bίch Tuyền said, “I have seen the Bühler effect. Bühler is central to my business and how I will develop it in the future, because they deliver on what they promise - enabling me to deliver safe, high quality rice, consistently.”