Clip: The journey of Mr. Le Ngoc Anh and his wife, Doan Hai Van, a pharmaceutical representative, who quit their jobs with a salary of thousands of dollars to return to their hometown in Thanh Hoa to make traditional fish sauce.
"There are countless difficulties in the traditional fish sauce industry. But in my opinion, the most difficult thing about traditional fish sauce is how to gain the "trust and support" of customers in the context of the overwhelming power of industrial fish sauce and changing consumer tastes...", Mr. Le Ngoc Anh shared.
According to Le Ngoc Anh, not many customers can patiently wait for the sweetness of fish protein to come after the salty taste, but need the immediate sweetness of industrial fish sauce (without caring about the "real" sweetness from fish protein or the sweetness of flavor additives).
Traditional fish sauce products must find every way to satisfy consumers without losing their "traditional essence". But for Le Gia fish sauce, we still keep the natural flavor of traditional fish sauce, without intervention, but we will try (by being meticulous in methods, choosing raw materials, and taking care) to make memorable fish sauce.
The memorable factors of Le Gia fish sauce are: Fresh aftertaste - mild aroma and especially we care about the customers' feelings when using the product", that is what Mr. Le Ngoc Anh (born in 1985), director of Le Gia Food and Trading Service Company Limited in Hoang Phu commune, Hoang Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province told us.
Overcoming difficulties to bring "honey from the sea" to the world
With the intention of bringing the traditional fish sauce of his ancestors to friends around the world to introduce the quintessence and richness of Vietnamese culinary tradition to many places, Mr. Le Ngoc Anh has tried his best on that difficult and thorny path, and then success has come and partly fulfilled his wish.
Le Ngoc Anh has brought traditional Vietnamese fish sauce to countries around the world and built the first 5-star OCOP of Thanh Hoa province.
Currently, Mam Le Gia products are sold at supermarket systems: Winmart, Winmart+, Aeon, BigC/Top Market/Go, Co.op Mart, MM Mega market... and distribution systems nationwide.
In particular, Le Gia fish sauce has been exported to demanding markets in the world: America, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sec, Korea, South Africa, Panama, Australia, Singapore...
"To bring traditional fish sauce to the world, we need to do well in Vietnam first. In the context of many difficulties and limitations in financial resources as well as market experience, Le Gia Food and Trading Service Company Limited, at that time, invested in improving the quality of the product.
Because quality is the decisive factor for the sustainable success of the product, it is a solid foundation for future market development. And when the product is well received and positively responded by domestic consumers, we must find a way to bring it to the dining table of the Vietnamese overseas community and friends around the world," said Mr. Le Ngoc Anh.
Although this is a traditional profession of the family and hometown, preserving and promoting it is not simple for Le Ngoc Anh when he first started his business.
Although this is the traditional profession of the family and the homeland, to preserve and promote it is not simple. When starting a business, for Ngoc Anh, everything was almost zero, the only thing she had was the love for her ancestors' traditional fish sauce profession.
"Looking back at that time, I realized I was too reckless, just thinking about doing it because I liked it. It was because of being "daredevil" that I dared to start a business. If I analyzed the market and prepared the steps to start a business, with traditional fish sauce, probably no one would dare to do it.
Because the traditional fish sauce industry is extremely difficult, production is hard, investment is large, financial turnover is not optimal... and most of all, bringing products to consumers in a situation where industrial fish sauce accounts for the majority of the market share and the remaining small market share of traditional fish sauce has many long-standing names", Mr. Le Ngoc Anh shared the time of starting his business with PV Dan Viet.
Salt and anchovies are the two main ingredients that make up traditional Vietnamese fish sauce.
"Anyone who starts a business has to work hard. I chose a difficult field, which is production, agriculture, and traditional fish sauce making. Therefore, all my resources (mental, intellectual, financial), enthusiasm, and health are devoted to this "brainchild", said Mr. Le Ngoc Anh, Director of Le Gia Food and Trading Service Company Limited.
According to Mr. Le Ngoc Anh at that time, at the same time he had to solve many problems of a start-up business, both investing in production and distributing and selling in a market with very few opportunities for newcomers, so everything was very difficult for him.
To create fish sauce, it must be soaked and fermented for 2 years.
Mr. Ngoc Anh still remembers the days of being bedridden due to a herniated spine, due to work intensity and stress, and the days of running around to find money to pay off debt.
Those were the fiery summer days of 2017 at the Hai Tien beach resort, Hoang Hoa district. That was the time when he had to bring brand new fish sauce products to each tourist's dining table to invite them to try.
But all of them refused to use his fish sauce. But with determination, for 3 whole months, under the hot summer sun, along with the Lao winds, Mr. Ngoc Anh still persevered and sometimes "shamelessly" to find a way for his hometown's traditional profession.
To bring traditional Vietnamese fish sauce to friends around the world, Le Ngoc Anh has gone through a tireless journey.
There were times when sitting under the casuarina trees in the midday summer sun, hungry, he asked himself: Should I accept failure and stop?
Am I wasting social resources? And tell yourself, find a reason when starting and persevere to continue... then those difficult days gradually passed with enthusiasm, love for the homeland of those traditional fish sauce drops, he gradually won the trust of customers.
To gain the trust of consumers with Le Gia fish sauce and traditional products, qualified products when leaving the factory must have an amber color, a light aftertaste, a mild aroma... after 2 years of being distilled in wooden barrels, no flavoring, no coloring, no preservatives.
In addition, the product is designed in packaging, bottled with a bottle cap designed to help adjust the pouring amount, bringing convenience to users, under the Le Gia brand.
As of June 15, 2024, Le Gia is one of 24 entities (one of 42 products) with national 5-star OCOP products and the only 5-star OCOP entity of Thanh Hoa province.
"Mam Le Gia overcame the difficult period when starting up thanks above all to the support of consumers, for a new brand with products "Quintessence from Mother Sea", with the desire to preserve traditional, natural and original values", said Mr. Le Ngoc Anh, Director of Food and Trading Service Company Le Gia.
In addition to fish sauce and fish sauce for babies, Le Gia also produces fish sauce products: shrimp paste, shrimp paste, fish sauce, fermented fish sauce... with a mild aroma, sweet taste, completely natural.
All products under the Le Gia brand are the result of the quintessence of the mother sea, with the hundred-year passion of the original traditional natural fish sauce makers, the sophistication in traditional methods to bring 100% natural, traditional values, pure taste, mild aroma.
The first 5-star OCOP product of Thanh Hoa
Since its inception, despite difficulties, Mr. Le Ngoc Anh has always tried his best to produce traditional fish sauce products compressed in wooden barrels according to advanced quality management standards (ISO 22000, HACCP...) aiming to increase the value of traditional fish sauce through export.
To gain consumer trust in Le Gia fish sauce and traditional products, qualified products must have an amber color, a light aftertaste, and a mild aroma when leaving the factory...
Since starting his business, Mr. Le Ngoc Anh has determined that he must try to conquer the most difficult markets to be able to create a premise to bring his ancestors' products to the world such as Japan, the market that he set a target for from the very beginning.
It took more than 2 years from the time the Japanese partner received the sample, information and appraisal, before he got his first order.
According to Mr. Le Ngoc Anh, the market in many countries around the world has very strict requirements for packaging, from materials to caps. They care about safety and convenience during use (For example, a bottle cap designed to adjust the amount of pouring, or to easily remove the product will be a plus point. Le Gia invests in molds from abroad at a very high cost to make bottle caps designed for users' convenience).
As one of the pioneers in the OCOP movement in Thanh Hoa province, Mr. Le Ngoc Anh is always aware of his responsibility for the traditional fish sauce brand Le Gia in preserving and promoting it, but also creating positive impacts, spreading to the community.
As of June 15, 2024, Le Gia is one of 24 entities (one of 42 products) with national 5-star OCOP products and the only 5-star OCOP entity of Thanh Hoa province. In addition, the company also has 2 4-star products (shrimp paste and Le Gia fish sauce) and 1 3-star product (Le Gia shrimp floss). Of which, Le Gia fish sauce has been proposed to be upgraded to 5-star (Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee Decision No. 2580 dated June 20, 2024, scored 98/100 points).
As one of the pioneers in the OCOP movement in Thanh Hoa province, Mr. Le Ngoc Anh is always aware of his responsibility for the traditional fish sauce brand Le Gia in preserving and promoting it, but also creating positive impacts, spreading to the local community through actively participating in the OCOP movement from the early days of implementation.
It took more than 2 years from the time the Japanese partner received the sample, information and appraisal, before he got his first order.
"Being awarded the OCOP title is both an honor and a great responsibility for us. OCOP is not only about product quality, but it also represents the community factor and social impact of the product.
We will always try to stay close to our homeland, accompany and promote the local community and the value chain of our hometown's agricultural products," said Mr. Le Ngoc Anh, director of Le Gia Food and Trading Service Company Limited.
Linking product promotion with rural tourism
With the desire to beautify the homeland, preserve and enhance traditional values and local resources, with the support of authorities at all levels and the people of the homeland, since the beginning of June 2024, Le Gia Food and Trading Service Company Limited has made persistent efforts to put the factory into operation. With the land use area of the project being 10,333 m2 and the total investment of nearly 60 billion VND.
Mr. Le Ngoc Anh, Director of Le Gia Food and Trading Service Company Limited, said that, similar to exporting traditional fish sauce products, it is not only a purely economic and commercial activity but also an export of our ancestors' culinary culture.
In addition, the factory was also built and designed by Le Gia in a nature-friendly trend, utilizing renewable energy, environmentally friendly materials, lots of trees, an air treatment system using electrostatic filtration technology, and wastewater treatment that meets Vietnamese standards to combine production and tourism.
Mr. Le Ngoc Anh, Director of Le Gia Food and Trading Service Company Limited, said that, similar to the export of traditional fish sauce products, it is not only a purely economic and commercial activity but also an export of our ancestors' culinary culture. Developing tourism associated with rural craft villages is not only for economic benefits but also a responsibility and pride for the homeland. Commerce is only part of the process, education and cultural exchange are important tools to convey the beauty of the countryside.
A shipment was exported to Japan by Le Gia Food and Trading Service Co., Ltd. in August 2024.
Therefore, when tourists come to Le Gia, they will see with their own eyes the production process of quintessential products from the sea and they can also experience the soul of the countryside here with practical tourism activities at the factory with the goal of preserving and spreading the quintessence of indigenous culture, traditional crafts, and conveying pride in the homeland.
Through products and experiential tourism at the factory, Le Gia wishes to contribute its efforts, introducing to tourists nationwide, an image of Thanh land that is beautiful, prosperous, peaceful and civilized...
Source: https://danviet.vn/bo-viec-ngan-do-ve-que-thanh-hoa-lam-nuoc-mam-quoc-hon-quoc-tuy-ban-ra-ca-nuoc-ngoai-20241015054020028.htm
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