Kirisu Farm targets 12K litres of milk a day
Kirisu Farm targets 12K litres of milk a day
Local dairy firm Khmer Fresh Milk Co Ltd aims to gain market share in the local fresh milk scene as it moves to ramp up production to 12,000 litres of Kirisu Farm-branded fresh milk per day in early 2022, according to co-founder Chy Sila.
Khmer Fresh Milk is a long-term partnership between Singapore-based Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar Development Fund II managed by Emerging Markets Investment Advisers (EMIA), Nexasia, a Japanese fund based in Singapore, and the founders group consisting of highly successful Israeli and local Cambodian entrepreneurs.
Working closely with Khmer Fresh Milk is Israeli technology partner Afimilk Agricultural Cooperative Ltd, one of the largest suppliers of dairy farm technology and management in the world.
Khmer Fresh Milk officially registered on July 26, 2017 and has invested about $10 million in Kirisu Farm.
With about 500 Holstein heifers imported from Australia, the 300ha farm lies in a secluded valley in the Phnom Tamao mountain range, in Kandoeng commune’s Ukasaing village in Takeo province’s Bati district, nearly 40km south of Phnom Penh.
The company also has its own fresh milk processing plant, which it opened in July.
Sila told The Post on May 25 that cow raising on the farm is coming along smoothly, with more than 200 more Cambodian-born cows slated to start lactation by the beginning of next year.
With over 700 head of milk cows, Kirisu Farm’s daily production of fresh milk will ratchet up to 12,000-18,000 litres by next year from the current 9,000-10,000 litres, boosting domestic supply, he said, adding that an estimated 80 per cent of the fresh milk sold in the Kingdom is imported from neighbouring countries.
“Calves born locally will be able to provide milk more than their mothers, which the company imported from Australia in 2020,” Sila said citing “experts”.
He went on to say that “calves born on the farm are more resistant to the weather and feed, so the milk supply from local calves will exceed that of adult cows imported from Australia by an average of five litres per day”, providing 30 litres per diem.
“With growing support from locals, I expect that domestic supply is poised to increase by 40-50 per cent in the future,” he said.
The Kirisu Milk brand is now recognised for high quality, meeting international standards and reasonable prices, he claimed.
In addition to fresh milk, the company also produces fresh yoghurt and butter, which stock the shelves in many supermarkets across the capital, such as Makro, Lucky, Bayon, Cambodian Superstore and Chip Mong, he said.
There are currently two other large-scale dairy farms in Cambodia – Techo Sen Russey Trip Dairy Farm in Chheb district’s Chheb II commune of Preah Vihear province and Moo Moo Farm in Lvea Em district’s Arey Ksat commune of Kandal province.
