A growing number of suppliers and an expanding range of end products have complicated the business at Les Vergers Du Mékong, which produces juices, jams and coffee from locally grown produce. Built on a sustainable business model, the Vietnamese company sees the transition to industry 4.0 as a natural step forward to maintain and improve efficiency, quality, food safety and traceability.

Les Vergers Du Mékong has partnered with French technology company Exotic Systems to help make that happen. Their S3FOOD exploration project will focus on screening the company for digitalisation opportunities, establishing an intelligent dashboard and conducting a feasibility study.

Exotic Systems will deliver knowhow for designing and developing a digital solution that can also be transferred to food SMEs in Europe and around the world.

Les Vergers Du Mékong works with more than 2,000 smallholder farmers and manufactures over 200 products for consumers in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Final report summary

Due to COVID-19, it was impossible for Exotic Systems in France to carry out tests and audits in the factory in Vietnam. But , thanks to online conferences and videos, all the tasks have been conducted with success. This includes the audit and  identification of requirements for digitalising production. This will lead to the investment in the actual digitalisation. 

This exploration phase has demonstrated that:

• We must shift quickly from the manual management system to a digital system at our processing plant.
• The technology is easy for our production staff to use.
• We can improve food security by improving traceability and eliminating human error.
• From a marketing perspective, it will be an advantage that we can demonstrate our digital management system to customers during plant visits and audits.