VAF General Director Tran Thi Thu Hang: Female entrepreneur "carrying" pho and nem to the world

Journey with rice grains from our village

On a clear autumn morning in Hanoi , the steam rising carries the wonderful aroma of a steaming bowl of pho. The soft white noodles, the mild aroma of onions, the familiar slurping sound... It all starts from rice grains. Not just food, rice is the soul, the memory of a family meal, the cultural tradition associated with Vietnamese people for thousands of years. And it is from rice grains that Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hang has chosen for herself a journey to start a business.

In early 2009, at the age of 47, when many people of the same age were thinking about leisure, Ms. Hang chose to change paths. Leaving her senior position in a state-owned enterprise, she founded and became the General Director of Vietnam Agricultural and Food Import-Export Joint Stock Company (VAF, brand name VAFOOD). Starting with only 8 employees, the first year's revenue was only 8 billion VND, contributing about 450 million VND to the budget, but she planted a lasting philosophy: "Clean food from farm to table".

In 2015, during a business trip to South Africa, she received a small order: a few dozen kilos of rice paper and some dried pho to serve overseas Vietnamese. It seemed simple, but when she collected the goods at Dong Xuan market, she was stunned. Rice paper was drying all over the street, dust on each sheet. The dried pho was mixed with additives to make it tough, lacking hygiene standards. An entire product bearing the Vietnamese spirit, yet it was difficult to hold one's head high in a foreign land. She wondered: "Why does Thailand have tom yum that goes all over the world , while in Vietnam, pho and nem are still only around the rural markets?"

That question led her to a new direction, connecting with craft villages but having to change the way of doing things. She went to Lang Cheu ( Ha Nam ) famous for rice paper, then to a village in Hai Duong specializing in vermicelli and pho. She did not replace the farmers, but accompanied them. The people kept the traditional techniques, VAF brought technology, especially the Japanese standard freeze-drying process.

Since then, other products have been upgraded and differentiated. No more borax, no more bleach. The pho noodles are still the pale color of rice, naturally chewy, and can be preserved for a long time without losing their flavor. The rice paper no longer gets moldy after a few months, but still retains the sweet taste of the countryside rice.

Many years of efforts have crystallized into the 4-star OCOP certificate - a "passport" that opens the door to the international market. And Vietnamese rice, through the hands of craft villages and technology, can confidently stand side by side with the culinary icons of the world.

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The hardship of bringing pho and spring rolls to international fairs

At the 2023 Canton Fair (China), the Vietnamese booth stood quietly among hundreds of brightly lit booths. On the shelves were only a few product packages and introductory posters. Passersby were indifferent. No one stopped. No one was curious. Ms. Hang sat watching, suddenly realizing that just displaying the booth was not enough to attract international friends.

At the end of 2023, she went alone to attend the CIIE Fair in Shanghai, China. The booth was empty, no staff, no assistant. She decided to try something different. She bought sausages, cucumbers, herbs, rolled each spring roll and fried it for customers to eat for free. The aroma spread, a few people stopped, then dozens, then hundreds of people lined up. After the spring rolls, she invited customers to eat hot pho. The small booth suddenly became the center of attention at the fair.

She still remembers the image of an elderly Chinese man who, after finishing his meal, came back and begged to buy some dry pho: "It's so delicious, let me take some home." In the following years, the regular customer always showed up very early and invited more relatives and friends to experience and shop. The few rice paper packages she brought were not enough for customers to buy. They became treasured gifts. That moment was enough for her to believe: "Vietnamese pho, Vietnamese rice paper, if made properly, can touch anyone's heart."

From that turning point, the “tasting strategy” became VAFOOD’s secret. Whether in Kunming, Nanning (China), or from Laos, Japan, Korea, to fairs in faraway Africa and Europe, her booth was always crowded with customers. People came to eat, then brought their whole families, and bought whole boxes of goods as gifts. What she was proud of was not only the sales, but also when she heard international customers praise: “This Pho has the right flavor of Hanoi Pho”. Because promoting Vietnamese cuisine, after all, the most effective way is to let the world taste the flavor directly.

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"Keeping the fire" for the craft village

For Ms. Hang, building a business is not about doing things for others, but about accompanying them. “If I did everything for them, the craft village would be wiped out,” she said, and it was this perspective that shaped her attachment to each pho tray and rice paper of her hometown. Right from the beginning, when many people were still used to drying pho in the fields, adding borax to make it tough, using bleach to make it look more attractive, she patiently persuaded them to switch to cold drying combined with solar energy so that the product was both safe and retained the natural sweetness of the rice. At first, everyone was skeptical, but when they saw that the products could be kept for a long time and sold for a high price, they nodded: “This is the only way to do it sustainably.”

In Ha Nam, dozens of women have more stable jobs, increasing their income and maintaining their family life. People affectionately call her “Director Hang” - someone who does not direct from afar but sits with them and encourages them: “Keep doing it, I will always be with you”. For her, keeping her job is also keeping her hometown, keeping the memory of Vietnamese meals in every noodle and rice paper roll.

To have capital to bring the product to market, she had to sell her family's house. On many trips to international fairs, she managed alone: renting a cheap room, personally serving hot bowls of pho to invite customers to try. The booth was small, but contained great confidence. At the age of 62, she was still relearning English, and when she was not fluent, she used a translation app to chat with partners and said with a smile: "Right or wrong, I have to say it." Starting a business at the age of 47, she called it "retiring early to start over", a way of saying that was both joking and serious, reflecting the courage of someone who dared to step out of the comfort zone.

Luckily, she is not alone. Her children who used to work in foreign companies have volunteered to return and join their mother in taking on the responsibility. They chose to accompany the aspiration to bring Vietnamese pho, vermicelli, and spring rolls to the world, while still maintaining the kindness and soul of the countryside in each product. As Vice President of HAWASME, Ms. Hang has a further vision: female businesses account for 1/4 of the country, but most of them are small-scale and vulnerable. Therefore, she always speaks up about the bottlenecks in capital, human resources, distribution channels and promotes digital transformation as a way to survive. She believes that, if properly supported, each female entrepreneur will not only support her own business but also contribute to the sustainability of the economy and society.

After nearly two decades, CEO Tran Thi Thu Hang's journey has reaped remarkable achievements: VAFOOD pho, vermicelli, and rice paper products achieved 4-star OCOP, and are present in Japan, France, Singapore, China, and Laos. She was once awarded a certificate of merit and the title of Outstanding Woman of the Capital by the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, recognizing her perseverance with clean food. Every day, tens of thousands of students in the Capital enjoy safe meals from VAF, proving the value she persistently pursues.

For Ms. Hang, the business philosophy is simple yet profound: “The flame of life” - the flame that ignites joy, health, and togetherness in every meal. But today’s achievement is just the beginning. VAF is building the Co Loa raw material area (Dong Anh), aiming for 5-star OCOP products and a national brand for Vietnamese pho and spring rolls.

“Preserving the profession, preserving the homeland, preserving the soul of Vietnamese cuisine” is the wish and message of CEO Tran Thi Thu Hang. From a steaming bowl of pho and crispy spring rolls at family meals, she has persistently upgraded it to an international standard product, present in Japan, France, and China. For her, happiness does not lie in revenue, but in bringing joy and health to the community and affirming the value of Vietnamese agricultural products, contributing to building a “Vietnamese culinary map” on the integration journey.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/tong-giam-doc-vaf-tran-thi-thu-hang-nu-doanh-nhan-ganh-pho-nem-ra-the-gioi-d376821.html