Japfa shows the way in Vietnam

Our greenfield project started during Covid-19 which was a handicap. With the collaboration and help of the Marel team we succeeded in installing the plant and training our workers, who had no prior experience. Despite this being the first Japfa processing plant in Vietnam, I’m proud of our employees who have adapted well and are handling all processes efficiently. That’s also because the automation and machines of Marel are user-friendly and easy to operate. It was a success right from the commissioning.”

Fresh or frozen in Vietnam

Consumers in Vietnam prefer fresh meat and expect it to be slaughtered at night and sold in the morning, just like at the wet market. Rico Rizki Aji says, “Some people still associate factory-processed chickens with chemicals, so it is important to demonstrate our processing plant’s controlled environment, as well as its excellent hygiene and have no secrets. Consumers must understand that technology is beneficial to meat safety and quality. Only then industrially processed meat will be fully accepted.” Vietnamese consumers can buy chicken in supermarkets, wet markets or Japfa Best shops. “Japfa Best is our brand name in the market. In Ho Chi Minh City, we have 40 Japfa Best stores. We also sell Japfa Best to supermarkets and restaurant chains in Vietnam, such as Lotteria. We are currently negotiating with Jollibee and McDonald’s.”

Broilers and native birds

Vietnam’s colored ‘backyard’ native birds have a longer body and longer legs than regular broilers. They have different colored feathers. Japfa also processes these traditional chickens, so the processing line had to be configured for both species. “Usually, we start the day with broilers, and then we change to native birds, which we process traditionally hofo [headon feet-on]. We have to re-adjust some machines due to the different size and weight of both species. We reset the scalder temperature and the pluckers, as well as the eviscerator. Marel’s Nuova eviscerates both species very well. When changing flocks, we only need to make some minor adjustments. The other machines can keep their settings, but we halve the speed to 3,000 bph [50 bpm].”

Scalding

Japfa uses two Marel scalders with different temperatures. In the first scalder, the temperature is lower and in the second scalder it’s higher. The purpose is not to overscald the skin and change the color of the meat. Vietnamese customers don’t like meat that appears to be cooked already. After scalding, the products pass through Marel pluckers and a quill puller for complete defeathering.

Evisceration

The evisceration room features Marel’s VOC combined vent cutter and opening machine, and a Nuova eviscerator. For Vietnam it’s quite unique to have such a strict separation between main product and viscera. It shows Japfa’s commitment to a clean, hygienic process, preventing any contamination of the meat by the intestines. Rico Rizki Aji says, “Marel really excels in hygiene and food safety in the evisceration department. Each step in the process reduces the chance of cross-contamination.” Nuova’s separate viscera pack line leads to the giblet harvesting area, where all operations are done manually. An automated Marel NIC neck skin inspection machine does the final inspection and cleaning.

Automated cut-up

After chilling, Japfa grades whole chicken automatically by weight. Six drop zones batch six different chicken ranges. Products out of range are sent to the ACM-NT Compact system for automatic cutting into necks/heads, wings, front halves, legs or thighs/drumsticks. Front halves coming from the ACM-NT Compact are put onto a Marel cone line for manually deboning into breast fillets.

Growing plans

“This plant is now running at 6,000 bph [100 bpm]. With the same set-up, we can grow to 9,000 [150 bpm]. We still have a lot of empty land available on our premises and we have plenty of plans for expansion,” concludes Rico Rizki Aji.