 | ||
Longevity Brand (Vietnamese: Sữa Ông Thọ, lit. translated as "Mr. Longevity's milk", final translated as "Longevity Brand Condensed milk) is a brand of canned condensed milk, produced by Friesland Foods (now owned by FrieslandCampina. It is a popular ingredient in Vietnamese iced coffee with milk (Cà phê sữa đá) drinks, and in various other Vietnamese desserts.
Contents
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 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 were thus expensive), dipped with French bread (Bánh mì) or in other dessert applications.
Name
The name Ông Thọ is the Vietnamese reference to the personified astrology deity of Longevity (Shou), representing long life, one of three astrology deities in the traditional Chinese Taoist concept of Phước Lộc Thọ (Fu Lu Shou). The other deities are Good Fortune (Fu), Prosperity (Lu).
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 and used domestically and elsewhere in Indochina.
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.