The girl brings 'Hue specialties' to the world

With his love for his hometown and passion for cuisine, Pham Le Nguyen Hao, 37 years old, a former IT student at Quoc Hoc Hue High School, built the Hue Thuong brand, producing cold-packaged Hue culinary specialties that are quite new to the market today. In 2024, Hue Thuong exported 50,000 products to the US, of which Hue snakehead fish noodle soup is the main product.

From programmer to culinary enthusiast

Pham Le Nguyen Hao, currently living in Ho Chi Minh City, along with his younger brother, runs the Hue Thuong brand, which has just entered the final round of the Thua Thien Hue Province Innovation and Startup Competition in 2024 with the project Hue Thuong - Packaged Hue-flavored rice noodles. The project was highly appreciated by the judges for its innovation, product utility as well as its potential and large market. Especially the export market to the US, Australia, Japan, Korea, and Canada.

On the journey of starting a business, Pham Le Nguyen Hao and his colleagues have gone through many challenges and difficulties. To have the most complete product packages on the market, the first containers officially exported to the US is a journey of effort and dedication of the young people of Hue. "I have been away from Hue for 20 years, but I still miss the Hue dishes with the rich flavors of my mother's cooking. I think those who are far from home share the same feelings, so Hue Thuong's packaged Hue specialties always contain the feelings of Hue people. I want customers to enjoy the packaged packages of snakehead fish noodle soup and Nam Pho noodle soup, and their homesickness will be somewhat relieved", Hao shared.

Pham Le Nguyen Hao introduces packaged Hue snakehead fish noodle soup to Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong - Chairman of Thua Thien Hue People's Committee at a trade program of the Thua Thien Hue Association in Ho Chi Minh City in 2024.

Graduated with a bachelor's degree in information technology but destined for the seafood processing industry, Pham Le Nguyen Hao, a former IT student at Quoc Hoc High School in Hue, is starting a business with Hue's hometown specialties. This September, the Hue Thuong brand has just reached the milestone of exporting 50,000 packages of packaged Hue snakehead fish noodles and other Hue specialties to the US market through official channels.

According to Pham Le Nguyen Hao, founder of the Hue Thuong brand, Hue snakehead fish noodle soup is a rare packaged Hue specialty that is officially exported to the US market. In addition to snakehead fish noodle soup, Hue Thuong also has other fresh packaged Hue specialty products that will enter the US market in 2024, such as Hue-flavored eel vermicelli, Nam Pho noodle soup, Hue-flavored braised mackerel, crab noodle soup, etc. Among the packaged Hue specialty products, snakehead fish noodle soup is still the main product and is loved and welcomed by customers and the Vietnamese community in the US.

Talking about the opportunity to start a business producing frozen Hue specialties, Hao recalled: “As a child born and raised in Hue, I find Hue cuisine very delicious and diverse, but for those who are far from home, it is very difficult to eat the true flavor of Hue. I struggled and thought about how to make Hue broth dishes such as snakehead fish noodle soup, Nam Pho noodle soup, Hue beef noodle soup... packaged fresh, applying freezing technology to keep the standard flavor when used. From there, with the help and companionship of relatives and friends from the same hometown, we produced packaged snakehead fish noodle soup with the standard flavor of Hue.”

Staff are cold-packing Hue's specialty snakehead fish noodle soup.

Once she had the idea, the IT major from Quoc Hoc Hue High School started to implement it. To create the current snakehead fish noodle soup package, Hao and her colleagues had to experiment, change, and listen to customers' feedback a lot.

The product that Hao is most passionate about and spends the most time on is Nam Pho noodle soup. This is a specialty noodle soup that can only be found in Hue. To make this special noodle soup, Hao had to fly back to Hue many times, visit the houses of the ladies in Nam Pho village, Mai market (Phu Thuong ward, Hue city) to learn how to make noodles.

Hue Thuong Project - Packaged Hue-flavored rice noodles entered the final round of the 2024 Thua Thien Hue Province Innovation and Startup Competition

Targeting EU, Australia and East Asia markets

Talking about the milestone of 50,000 products exported to the US, CEO Hue Thuong said that to be able to officially export to a "difficult" market like the US is a happiness. To do that is thanks to his many years of experience in the seafood export industry.

Hao said, “I am fortunate to have worked in the seafood export industry to the US market for many years, so I have experience with the standards set by the US market. Packaged Hue specialties are a new export product group, so I have to learn more about the ingredients that are allowed and not allowed when exporting. In addition, in order for Hue products to quickly reach the Vietnamese community in the US, the company must find suitable partners to develop the market.”

Ms. Nguyen Hao and Mr. Ngo Phuoc Tuan, Brand Manager of Hue Thuong, shared with the judges

In the development orientation of the frozen Hue specialty fast food industry, Hue Thuong will focus on the export market 90%, domestic market 10%. “Because fast food stores in Vietnam are very large, the demand and habit of using frozen fast food products is not much. In the first phase, Hue Thuong will focus on the Hue community in Ho Chi Minh City and other big cities. The domestic market can also develop in mini supermarkets in apartment buildings, office cafes, travel companies and even on trains and ships”, Mr. Ngo Phuoc Tuan, Brand Manager of Hue Thuong, shared.

Regarding the international market, after the US market, Hue Thuong is planning to export snakehead fish noodle soup and other Hue specialty products packaged in official channels to the EU, Australia, Canada. Especially, in the future, Japan and Korea to serve the international student community and workers working there.

Lam Tran

Source: https://tienphong.vn/co-gai-mang-dac-san-hue-ra-the-gioi-post1676664.tpo