Longevity Brand (Vietnamese: Sữa Ông Thọ, lit. translated as "Mr. Longevity's milk") is a brand of canned condensed milk, registered by FrieslandCampina and distributed by Sun Hing Foods, Inc. in the United States and Canada. It is a popular ingredient in Vietnamese iced coffee with milk (cà phê sữa đá) drinks, and in various other Vietnamese desserts. The brand is now owned by Vinamilk.
History
Sữa Ông Thọ was mass-produced in the Saigon–Biên Hòa area and widely consumed in the Republic of Vietnam, produced by Friesland Foods (now FrieslandCampina) prior 1975. It was used in coffee, mixed with hot water to produce hot milk for babies and young children to drink (since fresh milk had to be imported and was thus expensive), and used for dipping French bread (bánh mì) and in other dessert applications.[1]
Name
The name Ông Thọ is the Vietnamese reference to the personified astrology deity of Longevity (Thọ), representing long life, one of three astrology deities in the traditional Taoist concept of Phước Lộc Thọ. The other deities are Good Fortune (Phước), Prosperity (Lộc).
Nationalisation
After the 1975 Fall of Saigon, the factories manufacturing Sữa Ông Thọ, along with all other commercial and private properties, were collectivized by the communists, and the facilities came under the state company Vinamilk, who continued to produce Sữa Ông Thọ condensed milk under the same name used domestically and elsewhere in Indochina.[2][3]
Friesland Foods continued production of Sữa Ông Thọ - Longevity Brand after 1975 in the U.S. and Canada for the North American market, especially catering to Overseas Vietnamese consumers, and increasingly to Western consumers as the popularity of Vietnamese coffee and cuisine in general, increases. In North America, Longevity Brand - Sữa Ông Thọ is widely available in Asian supermarkets, and increasingly in conventional supermarkets. Friesland sued Vinamilk for use of the brand in the US in 2002.[4][5] Sun Hing Foods, Inc., in Northern California, is the sole distributor for Longevity Brand in Canada and the United States.
Gallery
See also
- Vietnamese iced coffee
- Vietnamese cuisine
- Coffee
- Baked milk
- Evaporated milk
- Canned food
- Powdered milk
- Scalded milk
- Nutella
References
- Vietnam Courier 1975 Page 21 "What do those Honda-drivers rush about for ? A great many of them to inquire about the prices of goods or look for customers — to do business. In fact it is a race." He points to a car with painted posters advertising Ong Tho (Longevity) milk, ..."^
- Đình Giao Ngô Công nghiệp ché̂ bié̂n thực phả̂m ở Việt Nam 1998 "... nhà máy sữa Thống Nhất sản xuất như sữa Ông Thọ, Ngôi Sao, Phương Nam trắng, Phương Nam vàng, sữa đặc ca cao, sữa đặc cà phê; các loại sữa bột như sữa bột Dielac, Sữa bột Maltro dartrin, sữa Ridielac ngọt nhãn Xanh, Ridielac ..."^
- L'expansion management review -2001 Numéros 100 à 103 "Ong Tho a été la première à fabriquer du yaourt et des glaces. Au moment de l'ouverture économique, en 1992, le groupe a décidé de faire porter à l'ensemble de ses produits la signature « Vina-milk ». Sur le plan sémantique, Vinamilk ..."^