Vietnamese businesses affirm their mettle from 'small shops' to large brand chains

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Culinary Association, the food and beverage industry is a field that attracts a lot of entrepreneurs, but it is also a field with a high failure rate. Therefore, the journey to success of typical entrepreneurs in the F&B industry is not only inspiring but also brings valuable practical lessons.

At the talk show “F&B Entrepreneur Aspirations - From a small shop to a valuable brand chain”, Ms. Lam Thuy Ai, Chairman of Mebi Farm, shared about her bold decision to switch to agriculture in 2017 and has been successful so far.

Photo caption — Ms. Lam Thuy Ai, President of Mebi Farm, shares successful startup experiences with young people.

Ms. Thuy Ai said that despite the doubts, she still firmly chose clean chicken eggs as her main product. With a much larger investment capital than expected, along with a long time to perfect the process and achieve safety certifications, Mebi Farm has succeeded in creating a high-tech agricultural brand, providing a basic but quality food source.

According to Ms. Thuy Ai, in the early stages of starting a business, when the business is still small, all decisions are made by the individual. If there is a failure, the damage is only within the individual's ability to bear. But when the business grows stronger, the apparatus expands, the investment capital and output of goods increase, the responsibility to shareholders, partners and customers also becomes heavier. At that time, internally, there needs to be trusted associates to share the work, because no one can do everything alone from ideas, plans to inspection and supervision.

"When the company reaches the expansion stage, having more partners to join in equitization or establish a joint stock company will bring great advantages. Each shareholder has their own ideas and relationships, thereby creating a combined strength for the business. For example, Mebipha is currently implementing a project with a scale of about 1,800 billion VND, while initially it was only expected to be 300 billion VND. Thanks to persuasion and calling for capital contributions from friends, this project has had more shareholders participating and up to now the project has been operating stably," Ms. Thuy Ai added.

Similarly, the story of Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Ha, Director of San Ha Group, is also a typical example of how success in the culinary industry is not simple. Accordingly, after nearly four decades working in the food industry, Ms. Ngoc Ha built her brand from bicycle trips carrying chickens and ducks to supermarkets, then gradually expanded into a large fresh food supply chain.

According to Ms. Ha, the secret lies not in the most modern technology, but in the word "heart": always maintaining kindness in business. It is this spirit that has helped San Ha maintain a stable supply chain, even in the face of bird flu or COVID-19, while preserving consumer confidence.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Son, interim Chairman of the F&B Business Association, representing Hoang Yen Group, also shared two important solutions to help the brand develop sustainably over the past years.

"The first solution is to consider customer experience as the foundation for development. Accordingly, in the context of consumers being increasingly busy and having less time to cook, restaurants not only need to serve delicious food but also bring a warm feeling like a family meal. This is the reason why Hoang Yen focuses on building a friendly space, dedicated service and maintaining traditional flavors. Customers come to Hoang Yen not only to eat but to find a familiar, close feeling like at home.

The second solution is to be consistent in choosing quality ingredients. Every delicious dish starts with good ingredients. Therefore, the unit does not hesitate to go to famous production areas to buy the best fish sauce, beans or spices. Only by investing in ingredients can we create real value for customers. That is the way to retain customers for a long time," said Mr. Son.

Thanks to these orientations, Hoang Yen has grown from a small restaurant into a chain of Vietnamese restaurants present throughout Ho Chi Minh City, creating a brand image associated with famous standard Vietnamese cuisine in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Culinary Association, the talk show “Aspirations of F&B Entrepreneurs” is one of the key activities to celebrate Vietnam Entrepreneurs Day on October 13. This is not only an occasion to honor F&B entrepreneurs but also an “open classroom”, where each success story is a practical lesson.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/doanh-nghiep-doanh-nhan/doanh-nghiep-viet-khang-dinh-ban-linh-tu-nhung-quan-nho-den-chuoi-thuong-hieu-lon-20251009140303053.htm