Exporting millions of dollars thanks to the overseas Vietnamese community

Making millions of dollars by selling “nậm” cake, “bột lọc” cake to the US

Tran Thi Chang, an overseas Vietnamese in Malaysia, said that despite being away from home for more than 30 years, her family still prioritizes Vietnamese food daily because, in Malaysia, there are many grocery stores sold by Vietnamese people. In which all are officially imported Vietnamese products.

“All kinds of agricultural products such as mango, pomelo, avocado, shrimp, fish, sticky rice... of Vietnam is enough. Never before have Vietnamese goods and brands appeared in foreign supermarkets as much as now. Vietnamese people use Vietnamese goods because the quality is not inferior to foreign goods, but the price is reasonable. Products such as textiles, coffee, soft drinks, and instant noodles are favored by Vietnamese consumers and foreigners. People far from home like us are proud to use Vietnamese agricultural products and goods. The gifts we give each other are also Vietnamese goods,” said Chang.

At the conference "Role of the overseas Vietnamese community with the campaign "Vietnamese people give priority to using Vietnamese goods" recently held in Ho Chi Minh City, overseas Vietnamese businessmen live in different cities. All countries recognize that Vietnamese exports are increasingly invested in quality and eye-catching product packaging designs.

Do Ngoc Hung, Counselor of the Vietnam Trade Office in the US, said that with over 330 million people, the US is the target and potential market of Vietnamese goods. Therefore, in the coming time, Vietnamese businesses need to take advantage of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries, take advantage of the market potential of areas where many Vietnamese people live, and put goods into the distribution system of Vietnamese people, especially in states with solid Vietnamese people in the US.

As one of the enterprises that have achieved many export orders thanks to the overseas Vietnamese channel, Nguyen Le Quoc Tuan, General Director of Song Huong Technology Food Processing Company (Song Huong Foods), said to introduce traditional products such as "nậm" cake, "bột lọc" cake, Hue - Central Vietnam's "ruốc" sauce, Ba Khiet fish sauce, spirit fish sauce, Northern shrimp paste, pickled shrimps sauce, etc. to consumers "in the West", the company conducts broadcast live, made clips introducing Vietnamese cuisine, and watched by a large number of overseas Vietnamese.

To ensure output, Song Huong Foods has built a factory in An Giang, with the factory's capacity in Phase 1 being 2,000 tons/year and can be increased to 4,000 tons/year in Phase 2. Outside the raw material area materials in Tay Ninh, while investing in building material areas in Dak Nong.

"All exported products of Song Huong comply with food safety and hygiene conditions, have the certificate of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)… Expected this year, export sales will increase. The company's specialties to the US market reach US$ 1.5-2 million, of which "nậm" cake and "bột lọc" cake alone account for more than US$ 1.2 million", he said and added it is expected that in another month, export the first container to the Korean market.

Over the years, Global Trade Links Co., Ltd (Meet More) has brought dozens of fruit coffees made from agricultural products such as taro, coconut, green beans, and mango,... to the US, Australia, and, more recently, fruits.

Nguyen Ngoc Luan, CEO of Meet More, said that exporting was not easy initially because there were insufficient financial resources to accompany foreign businesses to promote products. "Initially, we chose large distribution partners who are natives in other countries, but in the end, the lesson is that to bring Vietnamese agricultural products to the international market, the distribution partner is important. And one of the distribution partners that has helped Meet More penetrate the markets are overseas businesses in the host countries. Because they all share the same goal of "putting Vietnamese agricultural products and goods on the world's table", Luan said proudly.

According to Luan, to access international markets, products need to meet the standards of each market and ensure stable quality in those markets. 80% of its partners are overseas Vietnamese communities, so the company's fruit coffee products are on supermarket shelves abroad.

Vietnamese entrepreneurs and business associations abroad said that taking advantage of technology development and joining transnational e-commerce platforms is also a necessary solution to bring Vietnamese goods to the market—consumers worldwide.

5 million overseas Vietnamese are ambassadors of Vietnamese goods abroad

Representatives of overseas Vietnamese business associations and overseas people in business have also affirmed that the overseas Vietnamese community is always interested and wishes to use Vietnamese goods. In particular, they are willing to introduce, promote and contribute to building a network of consumption of Vietnamese goods in the host country. Overseas Vietnamese businessmen and business communities also propose ideas to promote the consumption of Vietnamese goods.

Telling the story of the famous chicken chili sauce in the US that was out of stock in August 2022, and had to find an alternative source, said Nguyen Dinh Phu, President of the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Network in the United States of America (VENUSA), VENUSA quickly helped distribution businesses in the US find alternative sources of goods from Vietnam.

"After only 1 hour of contacting the Investment and Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), successfully connected with manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam and conducted purchase negotiations", Phu said. In addition, since its establishment, VENUSA has cooperated well with the Ho Chi Minh City government to support businesses in fresh fruit and vegetables, processed agricultural products, and domestic consumer goods to penetrate the US market. VENUSA also introduced and connected American buyers with Vietnamese manufacturers, acting as a US representative for several domestic factories and enterprises. "This model is quite effective so that it will be replicated in the upcoming time," Phu informed.

Having many years of promotion to bring Vietnamese goods to Korea, Tran Hai Linh, Chairman of the Vietnam - Korea Business and Investment Association (VKBIA), concluded businesses want to sell goods into fastidious markets such as Korea, Japan, Europe, America… must first meet their standards. VKBIA is the extension arm of Vietnamese businesses in linking with foreign corporations, bringing Vietnamese products abroad, bringing real value to Vietnamese companies, and developing Vietnamese products in the host country.

"VKBIA wishes to establish a Vietnam export promotion center in Korea to strengthen coordination with major Korean distribution groups and Vietnamese businesses here to introduce more products. , Vietnam's strong agricultural products to the Korean market," said Linh.

Nguyen Ngoc My, Vice Chairman of Vietnam's Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE), said taking advantage of the remarkable solidarity of over 5 million overseas Vietnamese living abroad is necessary to introduce, consume products and develop distribution channels of Vietnamese goods abroad. In particular, determining which types of goods and product quality are suitable for the use of resources introduced by overseas Vietnamese and taking advantage of the existing distribution channels of overseas Vietnamese.

Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Ho Hai asked the Committee on Overseas Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City and business associations about overseas Vietnamese to strengthen support for businesses to promptly capture information, learn about consumption trends, make more use of cross-border e-commerce platforms to bring Vietnamese agricultural products and goods to the world.