New Cambodian dairy farm enters production

Cambodians will be able to access more fresh milk, after a new dairy farm, Khmer Fresh Milk Co Ltd, announced it has started production in the Kingdom. Most of the milk in Cambodia is imported from well known and established dairy companies in the region or further abroad, mainly providing ultra-heat-treated milk or UHT. However, Khmer Fresh Milk is not the first fresh milk producer in Cambodia, as Moo Moo Farms has also been operating in Phnom Penh offering fresh milk and dairy products, and Techo Sen Russey Treb Milk operated in Preah Vihear province.

Khmer Fresh Milk Co Ltd

The Phnom Penh Post reports that the company officially registered in July 2017 with a capital investment of about $10 million. Khmer Fresh Milk, which operates the farm and the milk processing facility, is a long-term partnership between Singapore-based Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar Development Fund II (managed by Emerging Markets Investment Advisers), Nexasia (a Japanese fund based in Singapore) and a founders group consisting of Israeli and local Cambodian entrepreneurs. The technology partner is Afimilk Agricultural Cooperative Ltd, an Israeli company, and one of the largest suppliers of dairy farm technology and management in the world said the PP Post. They have set run similar projects in Vietnam, Bangladesh and China. Khmer Fresh Milk Co Ltd is operated from a dairy farm and milk production plant, in Takeo province, which is located about 30 kilometres south of Phnom Penh. Kirisu Farm covers 300-hectares farm near Phnom Tamao mountain. According to the Khmer Times, the Chief Executive Officer of Khmer Fresh Milk Co Ltd is Rithy Chhor, who said that the project has been in development for several years, and fresh milk would be available to Cambodian consumers later in 2020 (possibly as soon as August). Products will include 100% pure milk and yoghurt. Chhor added “we are very happy that we managed to get these world-class heifers into the country from Australia. It’s great to see how quickly they have settled in Cambodia and how healthy they are. Our farm is built using the most sophisticated technologies." The farms have 550 pregnant Australian Holstein heifers which arrived between February and April 2020. One of the founding partners of Khmer Fresh Milk, Chy Sila said, "Kirisu Farm’s long-term vision is to bring world-class dairy and agricultural techniques and food processing to Cambodia and not simply about short term gain. We have brought in sophisticated technologies and we have worked with some of the finest Israeli dairy farm experts and agronomists in the world to help us bring in skills." The new dairy farm will be able to produce fresh milk at a rate of between 2,000 and 3,000 litres per day. When it is fully operational, they are expecting to produce 10,000 litres daily.

Moo Moo Farms

Moo Moo Dairy Cambodia Moo Moo Farms is located in Lvea Em district’s Arey Ksat commune in Kandal province, near Phnom Penh, and produces between 1,300-1,500 litres of fresh milk daily from their 200 cows. The cows are "eight to nine generation speciality bred cows which are 90% Holstein with a 10% mix of local SEA cattle (primarily Brahman). Moo Moo Farms claims all of the feed is organic and supplied by local farmers.

Techo Sen Russey Treb Milk

Techo Sen Russey Treb Milk is based in the north of Cambodia, in Preah Vihear province. They currently have a daily production capacity of 600-700 litres of fresh milk. Techo Sen Russey Treb Milk Sok Touch, who is the president of the Royal Academy of Cambodia and the president of Techo Sen Russey Treb Park said that electricity costs are the biggest challenge in Cambodia. “We need two or three more companies to invest in dairy farming in Cambodia. Techo Sen Russey Treb Milk now can produce only 200 litres per day and this amount could not cover the cost while our electricity is too high [750 riel/Kwh] compared with other neighbouring countries of 150 riel" he said