Continuous innovation to build Vietnamese spice brand

Nguyen Trung Dung, Director of Dh Foods Joint Stock Company: Continuously innovating to build Vietnamese spice brand

With Dh Foods, instead of investing too much in the factory, CEO Nguyen Trung Dung applies the sharing economy model and devotes many resources to developing new products, expanding the market, and building the brand.

Businessman Nguyen Trung Dung, Director of Dh Foods Joint Stock Company.

Efforts to export Vietnamese spices

In the context of facing many difficulties and challenges due to fluctuations in the world, trade promotion activities are considered a solution and a support to help businesses stand firm and develop. That is the opinion of Mr. Nguyen Trung Dung, Director of Dh Foods Joint Stock Company before the Sial 2024 International Food Fair in Shanghai (China).

This is the second time Dh Foods has participated in this exhibition. Since the 2022 trade promotion, some of the company's sauce products have been loved by many customers. This time, after surveying the demand in the billion-people market, the company focused on adjusting products such as black pepper sauce, Nha Trang lemon salt sauce, beef noodle soup spices, Hue beef noodles..., to reach the desired customer segment and increase export orders.

Previously, Dh Foods has participated in major food and food fairs and exhibitions in Los Angeles, Tokyo, Thailand, etc. and leading domestic exhibitions. In particular, at the upcoming Viet Nam International Sourcing Exhibition, the Ministry of Industry and Trade invites retail corporations around the world to connect with Vietnamese businesses. In particular, Dh Foods will have a program to sign with Aeon Malaysia, Aeon Hong Kong and Aeon Japan.

Only when there is an international exhibition, buyers have time to visit the booth, observe and try samples. If they just send samples to importers, the chance of the product being interested is quite low. Therefore, international exhibitions are always given top priority by businesses to promote the export of Vietnamese spices.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Dung, Director of Dh Foods Joint Stock Company

“Vietnamese cuisine such as pho, banh mi, bun cha… has been and is very famous in the international market. So why can’t Vietnamese spices do the same?”, CEO Nguyen Trung Dung raised the issue. According to Mr. Dung, the opportunity for Vietnamese spices is currently very large, just conquering a small “piece of cake” on the international map is enough for the business to develop strongly in the next few decades.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Dung assessed that Dh Foods' participation in trade promotion up to this point is quite effective, helping businesses expand their markets and reach many potential customers.

“Two years ago, participating in the Sial Paris International Food Fair, Dh Foods negotiated with a major partner specializing in supplying Asian goods in France. After 2 years of working, the company has just started to have its first export containers. Therefore, to conquer new customers, Dh Foods does not hesitate to wait 1-3 years to adjust and innovate products to suit,” said businessman Nguyen Trung Dung.

Invest in the right focus

In addition to meeting partners, Dh Foods' staff always spends time visiting supermarkets in many countries to survey the market and learn about consumer trends. Through that process, CEO Nguyen Trung Dung commented that the current demand of American, European, Japanese, Korean consumers... is for healthy and convenient products.

“We follow the general trend. In addition to convenience, Dh Foods products in general and the sauce line in particular do not use chemicals, synthetic colors, artificial preservatives... We mix natural ingredients that are Vietnamese agricultural products, so we are confident in conquering the international market,” Mr. Dung informed.

Last year, Dh Foods had the opportunity to connect with partners to supply products to more than 30,000 supermarkets in Germany. However, to supply products to German marketing chains such as Aldi, Lidl..., businesses are required to have the highest food safety and hygiene certificates such as BRC, IFS...

“Previously, Dh Foods’ factory was located outside the industrial park, and the company only had standards such as ISO, HACCP… Therefore, the company’s leaders met and determined that, even though there was no official contract, if Dh Foods wanted to conquer large customers in the world, it had to go into the industrial park, rent a new factory, and meet the highest standards…”, Mr. Dung confided.

Therefore, Dh Foods decided to invest in a factory in Long An with an area of ​​over 1,000 m2 to produce specialized sauce products such as dipping sauces and chili sauces, complete seasoning sauces... to be ready to supply enough products to new distribution partners, bringing goods to supermarket systems such as Aldi, Lidl (Germany), Aeon, Beisia, Costco, OK Corporation, Sandi, Halows in Japan.

“Compared to the previous old factory (3,000 m2), the new factory is smaller in scale, but located in an industrial park and designed to be thoroughly optimized, so its capacity is doubled. This is the first step in the future of building a chain of factories with a separate production model for each product line. It is expected that in the next 5-10 years, Dh Foods will reach the revenue milestone of 1,000 billion VND,” CEO Dh Foods expects.

In addition to the directly produced sauce product line, the remaining product lines are contracted by Dh Foods to be processed with outside units.

According to CEO Nguyen Trung Dung, if Dh Foods focuses too much on building factories and investing in machinery and equipment, its growth rate will not be fast. The company is following two directions: developing factories and signing processing contracts with units that meet quality requirements to cooperate and develop together.

“We focus on our strengths, which are creating new products, building brands and developing markets. Thanks to that, Dh Foods has recorded 50% growth for 6 consecutive years. Although 2023 was difficult, the company still recorded growth of more than 10%. In 2024, the company expects good growth,” said the CEO of Dh Foods.

Currently, with Dh Foods, Mr. Nguyen Trung Dung follows the strategy of "if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together" and applies the sharing economy model. Therefore, the business is focusing on what is considered the best, the strongest, and at the same time sharing profits with other partners to reduce risks and develop together.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/nguyen-trung-dung-giam-doc-cong-ty-co-phan-dh-foods-lien-tuc-doi-moi-de-xay-dung-thuong-hieu-gia-vi-viet-d216266.html