Cheap price, open until midnight, sell 1500 loaves a day

At 10 pm, most of the houses on Vo Thanh Trang street were about to close, ending a busy day, but Mrs. Diep's bakery was still bustling with customers coming and going, and business was bustling.

“Take 5 normal loaves, just a little vegetables, okay?”

“Take 2 loaves to take home, no chili.”

Customers kept calling out from the sidewalk. Inside the shop, 5 people were quickly stacking the bread according to the customers’ wishes, one person reminding the other to make sure the bread was exactly as requested. The people working at the shop were all descendants of Mrs. Diep’s family.

"Because of my old age and poor health, I no longer have the strength to stand and sell all day. I go to the shop 1-2 times a day to watch my children and grandchildren sell and remind them of a few things. Instead of looking for someone outside, I want to create jobs for my children and grandchildren, as well as preserve my mother's traditional profession," Ms. Diep confided.

Bustling sandwich shop at 10pm ( Video : Nhu Khanh)

The bakery has a compact space, without elaborate displays, only a signboard with the words “Banh mi Co Diep” printed on it and a small stainless steel table placed in front of the porch. On the table are neatly arranged fresh ingredients to stuff the sandwiches such as pâté, butter, sausage, cold cuts, pork belly, pork floss, meatballs, raw vegetables, and sauce. All are made by Mrs. Diep’s family to ensure quality.

"I pay attention to spices. For example, MSG and seasoning powder are all purchased from reputable places, because if you buy cheap, unlabeled products, it is not safe for consumers. All other ingredients are imported early in the morning, ensuring they are sold out within the day, never left for the next day," Ms. Diep shared.

The bakery is crowded at night (Photo: Nhu Khanh)

Mrs. Diep’s bakery is open from 6-7am to midnight every day. Nearly a dozen members of Mrs. Diep’s family take turns selling in the morning, noon, afternoon, and evening. Before peak hours, bread is stocked up in time to be sold.

The price of bread here is about 12,000 VND - 25,000 VND per loaf. There are customers who are in difficulty and only buy a loaf for 7,000 VND, but the shop owner is happy to sell it. According to Ms. Diep, on average, from 6am to 10am, they will sell 600 loaves. From 10am to 2pm, they will sell about 200 loaves. During the remaining time, the shop sells about 700 more loaves. On average, Ms. Diep's bakery sells 1,500-2,000 loaves per day.

“I sell to all kinds of customers, from young to old, from poor to well-off. Sometimes when they are in such a difficult situation that they only have a few thousand left, I sell or give them away. For example, this 7,000 VND loaf has pâté and butter, which is enough to warm their stomachs.

The ingredients at the shop are as traditional and simple as other places, but the important thing is the quality of the food and the attitude towards customers. I always tell my children to be happy, friendly, and respectful to any customer who buys bread," Ms. Diep confided.

Saigon Diep Bread.jpg — All the ingredients in the bread are homemade by Mrs. Diep's family (Photo: Nhu Khanh)

Like the butter at the store, she chooses the oil to make the butter so that the finished product is not too greasy but still fatty and fragrant. "The special thing is that the oil I use does not cause indigestion like regular cooking oils," Ms. Diep said.

At 10pm, the bakery owner was still delivering two large baskets of hot bread, each containing about 120 pieces, to the shop, which would be open until midnight. The bread, after being delivered, would be continuously heated in a charcoal oven located below the ingredients counter.

“Not every place heats the bread crust like this, our shop does it this way so the bread is always warm, crispy and fragrant. It will also be more delicious, especially at night like this,” said Ms. Thuy, the niece who has been helping Mrs. Diep sell bread for more than ten years.

Bui Thi Ai (born 2002, Binh Tan) stopped by the shop to buy some bread to fill her stomach at night after coming home late from school. “I like her bread, the bread crust is always warm, the stuffed meat is fresh, delicious and the price is reasonable. But sometimes the water is a little too little so it is a bit dry. Overall, the shop is friendly and cute,” this customer shared.

The shop starts receiving bread and fresh meats from 5am, then Mrs. Diep and her children and grandchildren start preparing the ingredients to sell. As with cold cuts, Mrs. Diep said she uses a mold to press the meat and a machine to thin it, making the meat smooth, beautiful and edible, not too thick or too thin. Instead of cutting the sausage and cold cuts into small pieces like many other places, she chooses to cut rectangular pieces along the length of the bread to spread the ingredients evenly.

At 73 years old, Mrs. Diep is still lucid and loves her family's traditional profession. She followed her mother to sell bread at the age of 10, and is also the only one in a family of 13 children to follow her mother's bread making career. Mrs. Diep is happy because her only daughter also follows that profession. Now, seeing her daughter and grandchildren taking turns helping to look after the shop and preserve the profession, Mrs. Diep feels secure.

"Honestly, selling bread is easy to get rich. Now, if you ask me to sell bread to raise 10 children, I will do it. Even though it is hard, I love it and am very passionate about it," Ms. Diep confidently affirmed.

"For the past few decades, I have been going to bed at 2am, because after watching my children and grandchildren sell, I have to think about the ingredients and supplies for the next day's sale. Only when everything is done can I go to sleep with peace of mind. So sometimes my blood pressure rises, but I have to try. I love this job so much, what can I do?", Ms. Diep confided.

Vo Nhu Khanh

For many years, the sidewalk bread stall of Mrs. Sau - a nearly 90-year-old woman in Binh Duong - has been called by many people "the cheapest bread in Vietnam" or "hunger relief bread".

Source