Hung Nhon Group, a major Vietnamese livestock firm, toured Europe in late June 2026 and signed, one after another, strategic-partnership memoranda with global companies in the fields of feed, breeding stock and equipment. The counterparts were the Netherlands' De Heus, Belgium's Bel Ga, and Germany's Big Dutchman, among others. With Big Dutchman alone, about EUR 100 million (about 3.0 trillion VND) will be invested over 2026-2036 to build, to international standards, a production base in Tay Ninh province on the scale of 3 million layer hens and 25 million broilers a year. This move, in which both raw materials and equipment are assembled to European standards, could rewrite the candidate map a few years out for Japanese meat businesses and trading houses wanting to broaden their chicken and egg sourcing into Southeast Asia.
What was decided in the package of partnerships with European players
What Hung Nhon signed and discussed this time is not a one-off deal but a configuration that locks down the parts of the chicken-production chain with Europe's top names. In The Hague, the Netherlands, it concluded a 2026-2036 cooperation memorandum with De Heus on June 23, aligning on animal nutrition and the green transition (greenhouse-gas reduction and circular livestock farming). In Germany, on June 25, it signed a strategic-partnership memorandum with Big Dutchman, which handles poultry-house equipment and environmental-treatment technology. In Belgium it discussed the supply of high-quality breeding stock (parent birds) with Bel Ga.
The division of roles is clear: feed by De Heus, breeding stock by Bel Ga, equipment by Big Dutchman, biological solutions by France's Olmix, and animal health and disease prevention by Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim. Hung Nhon chairman Vu Manh Hung stated, 'With the participation of top European companies, a closed-loop livestock ecosystem in line with international standards has taken shape.' The idea of locking down everything from feed to disease prevention with renowned outside companies lies at the core of this partnership.
Why Hung Nhon moved to Europe now
Behind it is the track record of a joint venture that Hung Nhon, De Heus and Bel Ga have advanced in Tay Ninh province for several years. An upgraded poultry complex has already started operating locally, and this signing is positioned to thicken that line over a 10-year span. The partnership with Big Dutchman falls exactly on its 20th anniversary, upgrading a long-standing relationship with a supplier from a sourcing partner to a co-investor.
The receiving side in Vietnam has also come together. According to local reports, around the time of this visit to Tay Ninh province, investors from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany announced a total of about US$3.02 billion in investment in Tay Ninh province. Of this, the De Heus-Hung Nhon livestock-chain portion is put at 18.3 trillion VND (about US$695 million) over 10 years, and Big Dutchman's roughly EUR 100 million forms a part of it. The local government's aim of growing the province into a Southeast Asian livestock hub overlapped with the companies' intent to hasten vertical integration.
The verified investment and production scale
Cross-checking published figures against multiple local and English-language outlets, they can be organized as follows (exchange rates as a guide of about 30,000 VND per EUR 1 and about 170 VND per JPY 1, based on the values given alongside in the original).
| Item | Scale | Period / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Big Dutchman-related investment | About EUR 100 million (about 3.0 trillion VND) | 2026-2036 |
| De Heus x Hung Nhon overall | 18.3 trillion VND (about US$695 million) | The livestock chain for 2026-2036 |
| Layer hens (layers) | 3 million birds | Tay Ninh province, international standards |
| Growing hens (pullets) | 1 million birds | Same as above |
| Broilers | 25 million birds a year | Same as above |
| Target to be reached by 2036 | 200 million chicks, 25 million export broilers, 10,000 great-grandparent pigs | A plan for about US$2 billion in annual sales |
One caution here on how to read the amount. The Vietnamese original's '3.015 ty dong' refers to 3,015 ty, that is, 3,015 'billion' dong = 3.015 trillion VND. Mistaking the unit for 'hundred million' throws the figure off by three digits, so when estimating on the Japanese side it is safer to hold to the original currency (euro or dollar).
How it is received locally and in the industry
Carl Destrooper, who leads Bel Ga Vietnam, stressed the company's positioning, saying it 'has advanced multiple priority projects in Tay Ninh province as a key partner in the Hung Nhon-De Heus-Bel Ga partnership.' Gabor Fluit, the top executive of De Heus global, has also declared continued backing for the green transition of Hung Nhon and Tay Ninh province.
Among Vietnam's poultry-industry figures, voices welcoming this package of partnerships as 'a move that proves the domestic chain's capability by European standards' stand out. On the other hand, there is also a view pointing to the homework of 'how to raise the localization rate' in a structure that depends on foreign capital for feed, breeding stock and even equipment. From nearby livestock operators comes the practical concern that as such large-scale vertical integration advances, small and medium-sized independent farmers will be pressed to follow on both price and specifications.
Implications for Japanese meat businesses and trading houses
What makes this partnership weighty for Japan is that the likelihood rises of chicken being supplied from Vietnam that can show not so much where it is from as how it was raised. Feed design by De Heus, poultry-house environment by Big Dutchman, disease prevention by Boehringer Ingelheim, with traceable European companies entering each step. It is becoming a production system that can more easily produce documentary backing for the items Japanese buyers scrutinize more strictly year by year, such as traceability, animal welfare and antimicrobial-use management.
There are three practical implications. First, in the same Tay Ninh province now, a move in which chicken using German equipment approaches sourcing for Japan is separately advancing, and this partnership accelerates that flow a step further. Second, Hung Nhon is also advancing talks to transfer its own know-how to Africa, and the company is widening its role from the importing side to the side that exports standards. There is value in making contact early, before its bargaining power as a counterpart rises. Third, not limited to chicken, a large closed-type pig farm and other closed-loop and advanced-hygiene investments are a trend across Vietnamese livestock as a whole, and the time has come to review sourcing candidates across chicken and pork.
Ripple effects on Vietnamese livestock and the market
This move could become a symbol of Vietnamese livestock shifting from a cheap protein source to a protein source sold on specifications. If one international-standard closed loop stands up, the surrounding feed, disease prevention and logistics are pulled up to the same level, and the overall lifting of the producing region advances. If the plan for about US$2 billion in annual sales and 25 million export broilers by 2036 is realized even by half, Vietnam's position in the Southeast Asian chicken supply chain will surely move forward.
On the flip side, risks remain precisely because it is foreign-capital-led. If the international prices of feed raw materials or breeding stock move, cost pass-through is unavoidable even in a closed loop. The exchange rate (dong weakness against euro- and dollar-denominated investment) and changes in the destination's quarantine and tariffs also sway earnings. For the Japanese side, it enters a phase of making sourcing decisions by looking not only at unit price but all the way to which currency and which standards this production chain is tied to.
Practical information and related links
If you are considering sourcing Vietnamese meat or eggs, first checking who handles the feed, breeding stock and equipment lets you read quality variation in advance. In deals like this one where European companies enter each step, it is easier to request audit documents and explanations of hygiene standards. For the latest trends in producing regions and investment, the following related articles are also useful.
- The leading move in Tay Ninh province toward chicken for Japan: The day Vietnamese chicken, backed by German equipment, closes in on sourcing to Japan
- Hung Nhon's overseas expansion: Vietnamese poultry-farming know-how to Africa? The reverse flow suggested by Hung Nhon's talks
- Closed-loop investment on the pig-farming side: Vietnam-listed BAF breaks ground on a 55-ha closed-type pig farm
Summary: the next move
Hung Nhon's package of European partnerships is a signal that Vietnamese chicken is advancing to a stage where it can be spoken of on specifications. There are three next actions Japanese meat businesses and trading houses can take right away. (1) Inquire with Hung Nhon and De Heus-affiliated Vietnamese entities about sourcing availability and minimum lots for the European-standard poultry complex going up in Tay Ninh province. (2) Request origin documents on feed, breeding stock and disease prevention from existing Southeast Asian suppliers and compare them against this level. (3) The 2036 plan is still at its entrance, and now it is easy to discuss trade from small volumes or a trial import; before the counterpart's bargaining power rises, we recommend checking quality with your own eyes through the real product and documents.
