40-year-old sandwich shop owner reveals secret to selling 2,000 loaves/day

"Any price, everyone gets to eat"

"Please line up for me. Wait 2 minutes and we'll have bread," a shop employee said loudly, then laughed happily.

Mrs. Nguyen Ngoc Diep (73 years old, owner of a bakery) sat on a plastic chair, quickly reminding the waiter: "Don't do it carelessly. That guy sells lottery tickets, give him more meat, only 10,000 VND per loaf."

Customers lined up, waiting to eat Mrs. Diep's bread (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

In a flash, the basket that had just been filled with bread was empty. Mrs. Diep said that every day, the shop sells from 6am to midnight, 2,000 loaves. To achieve that sales figure, the owner, U80, said it was thanks to a family secret.

Not as crowded in the morning as other places, Mrs. Diep's sandwich shop is often bustling in the evening because most of the workers and laborers are regular customers.

She said that in the past, when Bay Hien weaving village was still bustling, the bakery sold more than 2,000 loaves of bread every day, because the weaving kilns regularly bought bread for workers to eat overtime. Later, although the weaving village only had a few households producing, she still kept the regular customers who had eaten there for decades.

The owner, who is in her 80s, said that many loaves of bread only cost 5,000 or 7,000 VND so that even the needy can have food (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

"I sell at any price, even 5,000 or 7,000 VND per loaf. Because my customers are usually manual workers with low incomes, I sell so that everyone can eat. I sell a full loaf of bread for 12,000 VND, and there is not much meat inside like other places, so customers still feel full and do not get bored," Ms. Diep shared.

Ms. Loi (50 years old), an employee at the shop, said she has had more than 30 years of experience eating bread here. "Ms. Diep's bread is delicious, high quality, and cheap. My whole family loves it. Every night I take my children to buy it," the customer shared.

Being a regular customer for so long that he can't remember how many years, Mr. Trung (living in Tan Binh district) still keeps the habit of buying 30-40 full loaves of bread for workers every night when they work overtime.

"We're used to eating here, but eating somewhere else feels different. The owner is kind and sells cakes at reasonable prices, so we've been regular customers for many years," said Mr. Trung.

"This job is great"

Ms. Diep admits that "this job is very enjoyable". The shop only needs to invest in buying cabinets to store the items, and the raw materials can be ordered. The payment is made once the goods are sold out," said the owner, who is in her 80s.

She also mentioned many family secrets to her success today. Although she was the only one working at the bakery and building the family business at the beginning, Ms. Diep said she never felt sorry for herself.

Ms. Diep is always grateful for the profession her parents left her, which is the source of food for her three-generation family (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

"Selling bread is a family tradition that my parents passed down. Later, I told my children and grandchildren to love and keep the job because every job is hard, don't give up when faced with difficulties. It is because I think this job is enjoyable that my family has the success we have today," said Ms. Diep.

The bread selling business has been with her family for decades, from the most difficult days, when the whole family of 13 children depended on the bread stall. As the fifth child in the family, at the age of 10, she followed her parents' bread cart around Ho Chi Minh City, earning a living to feed the family of 15.

The whole family worked hard, regardless of rain or shine, all over Saigon to gradually build a comfortable and prosperous life. Witnessing her parents' tears, she appreciated her family's traditional profession even more.

In 1986, she invested 1 tael of gold to buy a glass cabinet and followed her parents' footsteps in selling bread. From a small bread cabinet that no one paid attention to, it took Ms. Diep 1 year to have a stable number of customers.

At the bakery, most of the employees are descendants of Mrs. Diep's family (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

Thanks to her compassion and generous attitude towards customers, she has been loved and supported by local people for many years.

The bread cart was later transformed into a large bakery. Thanks to that, Mrs. Diep became rich, bought a house and continued the family business with her children and grandchildren.

"I chose to sell bread because it is familiar to Vietnamese people, easy to eat and affordable. This rustic dish has fed my family for three generations. Now, I have a full life but my children still have difficulties, so I pass on the profession to my daughter and grandchildren," Ms. Diep confided.

Despite her age and her inability to stand for long, Ms. Diep still regularly shows up at the sandwich shop from 9 p.m. until closing. She says she wants to make sure everything is perfect, and that each loaf of bread maintains its quality when it reaches the customer.

The owner of a bakery for nearly 40 years has never thought of giving up because she believes that every job is difficult and hard (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

"For me, business must have a heart to be successful. Customers come here, some have been eating here for 10, 20 or even 30 years. They trust and love us so much, so our responsibility is to bring the best, showing appreciation for the profession that has supported us," Ms. Diep confided.

Nguyen Vy - Binh Minh

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