Starting from experiences

Graduated from food chemical major of the HCMC University of Technology, Vu Thi Minh Loan constantly received plenty of job offer letters from large foreign food processing companies in Vietnam. Working at many various companies namely Sanmiguel, Asia, Foods, Quang Minh, Conell Bross and so on, Binh Dinh province-originated girl has self-learnt and accumulated experiences of producing cold foods from foreign enterprises. “Born in a craft village with “nem Cho Huyen” speciality – a kind of fermented pork roll wrapped in guava and banana leaves, I nurtured a dream of producing cold meat when I was a child. As such, I decided to learn about the distinctive food production technology”, Loan added.

During more than 10 years of working, Loan worked for numerous foreign food companies with many various positions namely processing technician, marketing, market development and research, factory director, etc. Therefore, she gradually grasped and possessed steps of cold food production, especially sausage and experiences in business management.

Grasping opportunities, in 2011 Vu Thi Minh Loan decided to quit an attractive job with the monthly income of over VND20mil at Sanmiguel Company to start up her business with a sausage production workshop. “In reality, sausage is deprived from Germany and becomes popular in the Western nations. And, Vietnamese youths approach and get familiar with it. Therefore, it’s time to launch Vietnamese sausage brand for Vietnamese people”, she revealed.

With a modest capital, Viet food processing workshop has been inaugurated silently with the start-up of offering steamed pork roll and ham for fast food shops. After that, this workshop has gradually involved in manufacturing sausage. Fortunately, Loan’s workshop has went into partnership with potential partners at Ha Noi where is considered the main market of Vietnamese sausage. Thanks to Vietnamese taste and competitive price, Vietnamese sausage has occupied a firm stand on the market.

Model of Vietnamese-styled food

At a partial summing up conference on Binh Duong urban agriculture and hi-tech agriculture production models held in March 2014, we were surprised to hear about a speech presented by Vu Thi Minh Loan at the invitation of the provincial department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Accordingly, Vu Thi Minh Loan’s food processing workshop has developed rapidly. Until now, Loan’s workshop has developed strongly with the capacity of 200 tons per year and growth pace of 130% from 2011. Viet food processing workshop has thus far produced a wide range of sausage such as German, Mexican, Thai sausages and so on. Especially, the workshop’s products have contained garlic, chili and other spices in conformity with Vietnamese tastes. More importantly, their price is very cheap, ranging from VND60,000-130,000 per kg of sausage.

In 2012, the workshop purchased an automatic production line from Germany worth VND8bil and invested in 6 large-scaled cold warehouses to improve its capacity and quality. In addition, Vu Thi Minh Loan targets to set out long-term strategies for her products. “The initial goal is to develop products processed from meat for 3-star restaurants and hotels. In 2014, we will continue to develop products processed from crocodile meat and aquatic product for supermarkets nationwide, meeting clients’ rising demand”, Loan added.

Reported by K.Vinh – Translated by A.C