Featured – RETRIV

🌏 RETRIV OCEANIA – THE FIRST STEP IN BRINGING RETRIV TO THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET

VNF — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:12:01 +0000

During the recent working trip to Australia, VNF (Vietnam Food) signed an MOU to establish RetriV Oceania – marking the first time RetriV’s nutrient recovery technology is commercialized outside Vietnam.

This collaboration was initiated through discussions in Europe in late 2025, when the VNF/RetriV team met Mr. Joe Meintjes, which then led to a connection with Desilting Solutions (Mr. Brett Marais).

Initial engagement took place online, centered around a key reality: under increasing pressure from environmental regulations, most businesses in Australia are still operating with a compliance-driven approach.

RetriV takes a different perspective – recovering nutrients and creating value from waste streams.

From validation to partnership
During two working days in Australia, the teams conducted on-site jartests on wastewater at rendering and pet food plants, demonstrating the potential for real-world application and value creation under actual operating conditions.

Based on these results, the parties agreed to sign the MOU before the VNF delegation returned to Vietnam.
The signing was conducted online while the team continued working with other partners, marking the establishment of RetriV Oceania to bring nutrient recovery technology into operation across Australia and New Zealand.

This is not the end of a trip, but the beginning of bringing RetriV into real implementation in this market.

VNF/RetriV sincerely thanks Mr. Joe Meintjes and Desilting Solutions (Mr. Brett Marais) for making this collaboration possible.

RetriV on Stage_001: RETRIV AT AGILE: WHEN WASTEWATER BECOMES A RESOURCE

VNF — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 10:09:42 +0000

Vietnam ranks among the world’s five most climate-vulnerable countries, putting many SMEs – the majority of businesses – under pressure to adapt with limited resources while seeking climate solutions that create economic value.

On February 6, 2026, in Hanoi, the AGILE project was launched to help Vietnamese enterprises access resources and develop sustainable climate models. The initiative is led by Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance, the Agency for Private Enterprise Development and Collective Economy (APED), and the Government of Canada, and implemented by WUSC and Sarona Asset Management, with a focus on gender equality and women-led climate enterprises.

At the event, RetriV – represented by Ms. Nguyen Van An, Deputy CEO – was selected to present a solution based on nutrient recovery from food-processing wastewater. This approach helped RetriV win first prize at the Net Zero Challenge 2025 by Temasek Foundation and Touchstone Partners, among 700+ companies from 60 countries.

In many food factories, wastewater contains valuable nutrients (proteins, lipids, etc), yet end-of-pipe chemical treatment often destroys them and increases emissions. RetriV’s Waste-to-Waste Solution uses chitosan from shrimp by-products to recover over 80% of nutrients, reintegrating them into production or converting them for other uses.

This shows how circular solutions can deliver both economic and environmental benefits. Every factory that reduces nutrient loss is a step toward more sustainable production.

Positive feedback from the workshop and market highlights strong demand for the dual-impact solutions AGILE promotes. RetriV appreciates the AGILE team and partners for enabling collaboration and sustainability-driven initiatives

🌍 Poland – the kickoff of RetriV’s European journey

VNF — Sat, 27 Dec 2025 08:26:12 +0000

As part of RetriV’s development roadmap, VNF is proactively executing its international market-expansion strategy, focusing on agricultural and animal-protein processing hubs facing increasing environmental pressure.

Poland plays an important role in Europe’s agricultural- and animal-protein-processing value chain, with a strong ecosystem spanning livestock farming, slaughtering, rendering (animal by-product processing), and animal-feed and pet-food production. Increasingly stringent EU environmental standards are making wastewater management, operational efficiency, and circular-economy models top priorities for many businesses.

In the Polish market, VNF positions RetriV as a differentiated approach-not merely wastewater treatment, but a way to unlock value from waste-streams and enhance long-term operational efficiency.

Feedback from Polish partners has been direct and pragmatic. RetriV is seen as well-aligned with operational needs, feasible to implement, and capable of delivering clear value. Notably, several partners have proactively proposed next steps, including data-sharing and the acceleration of pilot trials.

These discussions indicate that RetriV is addressing the core challenges of the rendering industry-where the market is not short of ideas, but continues to lack solutions that are practical, effective, and sustainable over the long term.

VNF sincerely thanks its partners in Poland for their open and constructive exchanges, which have opened up promising opportunities for collaboration. We look forward to continuing our joint efforts to bring circular solutions into practice and create sustainable value across Europe.

🏆🌍 Net Zero Challenge 2025: A beyond-imagination victory and a new milestone in VNF’s resilient journey

VNF — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 09:39:51 +0000

VNF wins the Net Zero Challenge 2025 – Circular Economy & Waste Management category

RetriV – the nutrient recovery technology developed by VNF – outperformed more than 700 companies from 60 countries to secure the top position.
The achievement marks years of sustained effort, gradually turning what once seemed unachievable into reality.

RetriV – A Circular Innovation “Made in Vietnam, For the World”

RetriV, a spin-off startup from VNF, produces a specialized chitosan derived from shrimp by-products to recover proteins from food-processing wastewater.
The technology transforms what was traditionally considered waste into new economic and environmental value.
RetriV helps factories reduce pollution, lower treatment costs, and reclaim nutrient losses — contributing meaningfully to global Net Zero goals.

Three Investors, One Choice

RetriV was the only startup in the Finale to simultaneously receive investments from:
• 38M Ventures
• AiViet Venture
• Touchstone Partners

Popular Vote Winner

VNF also led the public vote with more than 60% support among the nine finalist teams — a meaningful vote of confidence from the audience.

Our sincere appreciation

VNF extends its gratitude to Touchstone Partners, Temasek Foundation, AiViet Venture, 38M Ventures, our investors, partners, and valued supporters.
Your trust strengthens VNF’s commitment to expanding RetriV’s impact in Vietnam and beyond.

The Net Zero journey has only just begun

In the next update, VNF will share further insights into RetriV’s journey and impact.

Media Coverage

VnEconomy: https://lnkd.in/g9dWhrbU
The Business Times: https://lnkd.in/gNVj7z8J

🚀 Where Waste Ends, Value Begins – RetriV™ by VNF

VNF — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 14:32:17 +0000

Most industries still treat wastewater as a cost.

But what if you could recover valuable nutrients -sustainably, efficiently, and cost-effectively?

Meet RetriV by VNF – a next-gen nutrient recovery solution designed to turn your waste stream into a value stream.

Here’s how RetriV works:

RetriV Solution – a 100% biodegradable, metal-free, and acrylamide-free biopolymer designed to act as a natural coagulant, flocculant, and dewatering agent.

Plug-and-play Equipment – Modular, customizable units that integrate seamlessly into your current system.

Application Consulting – Strategic support to reintegrate recovered nutrients into feed, food, or circular-value chains.

The results?

• Lower treatment costs

• Higher nutrient recovery

• A leaner, cleaner, more circular operation

See it in action: Watch our 90-second video to discover how RetriV helps you shift from treating waste to reclaiming value.

Whether you’re in food processing, biotech, or sustainability innovation, RetriV helps you rethink wastewater strategy: Recover More. Waste Less. Thrive Circularly.

Retrieve the flow. Renew the glow!

Discover how RetriV turns our belief “Today’s wastage is tomorrow’s resources” into action.

♻ NUTRIENT RECOVERY – A NEW SUSTAINABLE JOURNEY AT VNF 🌱

VNF — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 14:14:32 +0000

A “LOVE STORY” WITH WASTE — WHERE DO I BEGIN? (with a nod to Francis Lai)

Step into our office, and one message stands out: “Today’s Wastage is Tomorrow’s Resources.”

At VNF, this is more than a motto — it’s a mindset that shapes how we think, innovate, and act.

Our journey began with a clear mission: to valorize nutrient-rich waste.

We started by transforming shrimp co-products — heads and shells from factories, molting shells from farms — into high-value ingredients for food, pet nutrition, and agriculture.

Today, what was once discarded is actively fueling smarter, more sustainable industries.

CHITOSAN: AN AGE-OLD MATERIAL, A NEW PURPOSE

Chitosan — derived from shrimp shells — has long been known in agriculture and medicine. But its potential for nutrient recovery is just beginning to unfold.

Over the past two years, our team has developed a platform to apply chitosan in wastewater treatment — capturing proteins and lipids before they are lost, and turning waste into valuable, circular resources.

As we continue to unlock chitosan’s potential, one thing is clear: It’s a transformative force across industries.

DESIGN LOCAL, DELIVER GLOBAL

What makes us proud: this isn’t theory. It’s real-world innovation — developed by our team, tested with our partners.

Following successful lab and pilot trials, we’re now scaling up a global solution that includes:

Custom chitosan-based products

Tailored equipment for diverse industries

⁠ Technology that returns recovered nutrients to production

The system is designed to be plug-and-play: easy to adopt, powerful in impact.

SOLVING WHAT HURTS, CREATING WHAT MATTERS

Industries like seafood processing face costly wastewater loaded with proteins, oils, and organics — where value is lost, not just water.

We help our partners:

•⁠ ⁠Reduce treatment costs

•⁠ ⁠Meet sustainability goals

•⁠ ⁠Generate new value from previously wasted resources

Few things are more rewarding than turning waste into measurable economic and environmental value.

But it takes courage to rethink waste, creativity to redesign systems, and commitment to bring ideas to life.

If you believe waste can be reimagined as a value, let’s connect, collaborate, and co-create a cleaner, circular future.