Local dairy business enters mart industry with ‘Kirisu House’

AFTER a successful launch of fresh milk products in Phnom Penh supermarkets, local company Khmer Fresh Milk has begun expanding into home sales with a new venture called Kirisu House, as it announced plans to open “between 20-30” stores by the end of 2022.

Company co-founder Chy Sila told The Post that while the demand for fresh milk in the Kingdom is “constantly increasing”, the local supply is “still low”. As a result, “the company has launched a new marketing strategy by establishing a home sales centre called Kirisu House, which we have now expanded to nine locations in the suburbs of Phnom Penh”, he said.

Through Kirisu House, Khmer Fresh Milk says it hopes to make it easier for customers to find fresh milk products with quality of an international standard.

“Since the beginning of the year, Kirisu House has opened nine stores in Phnom Penh, and the company plans to expand to 20-30 locations on the outskirts of the capital and in some other provinces, potentially,” he said.

Khmer Fresh Milk has invested about $10 million in its flagship 300ha Kirisu Farm in Bati district, Takeo province. The company’s cattle raising and milk production has been “progressing smoothly”, Sila said, with dairy cows at Kirisu Farm numbering nearly 700 – all of the Holstein breed, which is easily recognised by its distinctive black-and-white colour markings.

He said 500 of the cows were imported from Australia, while the rest were born in Cambodia in 2020.

Sila said that the cows on Kirisu Farm currently produce about 12,000 litres of milk per day, of which nearly 10,000 litres are turned into several dairy products: three types of fresh milk, four flavours of yoghurt, and butter.

The company also has its own fresh milk processing plant which began operations in July 2020.

Along with Kirisu Farm, there are two large dairy farms in Cambodia: Techo Sen Russey Treb Milk in Chheb district’s Chheb II commune in Preah Vihear province and Moo Moo Farm in Kandal Province. Combined, they are capable of meeting around 20 per cent of domestic demand, while imported products account for the rest.