Listen to entrepreneurs tell stories about overcoming difficulties in 2023

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International visitors learn about GC Foods products at the fair. Photo: TL

Strengthen internal strength

Considered a non-essential product in difficult economic conditions, textile and garment is one of the industries that suffered heavy losses. At one point, the industry's export turnover recorded a decrease of up to 20%. Not out of that general picture, Mr. Tran Nhu Tung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thanh Cong Textile - Investment - Trading Joint Stock Company said that the number of orders in the first months of 2023 of the company decreased sharply by 30% compared to compared to the same period in 2022, focusing mainly on the US and EU markets, while the Korean and Japanese markets will decline but less.

In that context, Mr. Tung said, Thanh Cong Garment has improved efficiency and production speed through modern techniques and management methods.

Since 2015, Garment Thanh Cong has invested in building an R&BD center to research, test, and improve to apply recycled, environmentally friendly materials.

Currently, R&D products account for about 8% of the company's total textile and garment revenue, are well received and appreciated by customers and consumers, thereby gradually contributing to increasing revenue and profits as well as staying ahead of the curve and keep up with world fashion trends.

“May Thanh Cong is always aware that investing in R&DB activities in particular and ESG in general is a necessary factor and an inevitable trend of businesses towards the goal of sustainable development. The company also considers this a competitive advantage in meeting the diverse requirements of new generation FTAs, contributing to improving value in the textile and garment supply chain in Vietnam and the world" - Mr. Tran Nhu Tung shared.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Director of Duc Minh Rubber Co., Ltd., Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Rubber and Plastic Association, said that from the beginning of 2023, difficulties will begin to hit businesses in the rubber and plastic industry and will continue for a long time until the present time. Some businesses recorded a decrease of up to 40% in revenue, with the sharpest decline in the US and European markets. Particularly at Duc Minh Company, because the main export market is in Korea, it was not until June that the situation began to deteriorate.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, when orders are fewer and production activities are not too stressful, Duc Minh Company focuses on finding solutions to improve production efficiency, specifically, optimizing raw materials to get the best price and highest production efficiency. The production process has also been rearranged to improve productivity and reduce waste. “Production on the run is no longer suitable for the current period, but businesses must focus on quality and efficiency. Even though we work less, we can reduce the amount of waste and downtime, and the efficiency is still very good" - Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh shared.

Proactive business

Not experiencing a sharp decline in orders like other industries, but in 2023, GC Foods Joint Stock Company will face great difficulties due to climate change. The land of Ninh Thuan, which is dry all year round, suddenly had prolonged heavy rains, causing many of the company's aloe vera raw material areas to be flooded, therefore, the amount of input materials for production decreased seriously by up to 50% in the first months of the year. Faced with this situation, Mr. Nguyen Van Thu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GC Food, said that the company had to immediately deploy solutions to overcome flooding in raw material areas, and at the same time increase purchasing prices to encourage farmers to save money. Take great care of your plants and expand your area. Thanks to that, harvest productivity in growing areas is greatly improved, helping output recover quickly. Since June, the situation has stabilized again, with abundant raw material sources, enough to meet domestic and export orders.

On the customer side, facing the shortage of raw materials, GC Foods worked in detail with customers to firmly understand ordering and production plans, then divided delivery orders according to the customer's production schedule to keep customers staying with the company instead of looking for other suppliers.

In particular, thanks to large-scale production that helps optimize costs, GC Foods has better selling prices to share difficulties with customers during a period of economic stagnation. Therefore, from the beginning of the year until now, although output increased by more than 30%, the company's total revenue only increased by nearly 20%. “The profit margin narrowed a bit, but in return the company was still able to maintain production and maintain jobs for workers. In particular, the image of GC Foods also became better in the eyes of customers. Thanks to this new pricing policy, the company has been able to access 4 new markets, opening up positive prospects in the coming time" - Mr. Nguyen Van Thu said.

Meanwhile, at Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company, the Russia-Ukraine conflict caused the company's orders in this market to suddenly "absence", combined with a decline in consumer demand worldwide. . Faced with that situation, Mr. Phan Minh Thong, Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company said that he has come up with a "proactive business" strategy. Specifically, right from the beginning of the year, the enterprise's team was divided into several groups to travel around the world to survey the market, to approach the market, approach customers and learn about issues that customers care about around the world. ...

“In 2023, there will be up to 6 months when I leave the office to travel around the world to meet customers, attend conferences and fairs. From there, we better understand customer needs and innovate customer approach policies to bring efficiency" - Mr. Phan Minh Thong shared.

Thanks to Phuc Sinh Company's proactive business strategy, new customers in new markets have helped offset the decline in struggling markets. Accordingly, overall this year, Phuc Sinh's number of orders will not decrease compared to 2022.