Startups gradually mature in international markets

	Forum seeks cooperation opportunities for Vietnamese, Japanese startups
	Forum seeks cooperation opportunities for Vietnamese, Japanese startups
	Wide door opened for export Startups to the US market

Mr. Pham Dinh Ngai, CEO of Tra Vinh Farm (right) introduced products from Sokfarm coconut nectar to international customers at the Biofach 2024 fair.

Promote Vietnamese specialties globally

Many products developed by startups have the special feature of being developed based on local and regional specialties, thereby opening a new path of development for these homeland dishes. A typical example is the story of Ms. Hoang Bao Tram, founder of 2G Co., Ltd. with spiced rice paper products such as fish sauce rice paper, shrimp sauce rice paper, spicy chicken rice paper, chili garlic rice paper... Journey Bao Tram's startup is an effort to guide households in Don Duong (Lam Dong) to standardize the cake production process - which is a traditional profession here, to achieve food hygiene and safety certifications. Thanks to her, from the land of Don Duong, this specialty dish not only serves in domestic meals but also on the shelves of international supermarkets.

Ms. Hoang Bao Tram said that in addition to being presented at more than 6,000 points of sale and large supermarkets across the country, the company's rice paper products are currently exported to many countries such as Japan, America, Singapore, England and Australia…

Similarly, Cau Ke Wax Coconut Processing Co., Ltd. has also setup a turning point for wax coconut trees of Cau Ke land (Tra Vinh) with products processed from wax coconut under the Vicosap brand such as wax coconut candy, dried wax coconut, wax coconut yogurt... Ms. Lam Ngoc Tu, Deputy Director of Vicosap, said that after being established in 2020, around October 2021, Vicosap had its first export order to Japan. To date, Vicosap's export market has been expanded to the US, UK, Taiwan, Hong Kong markets and in November 2023, the Canadian market will be added.

Talking to Customs Magazine, Mr. Pham Dinh Ngai, CEO of Tra Vinh Farm happily shared that, following successful exports to Japan, the US, the Netherlands and Germany, last week, a shipment of deeply processed products from Sokfarm brand water coconut honey was exported to Australia. In particular, Sokfarm's export orders are currently quite regular every month, even some customers are requesting to double the order compared to current amount.

The story of Thao Minh Private Enterprise's Mr Muop brand is also quite unique as it develops many products from a seemingly discarded material in Vietnam, loofah. Most impressive of all is that products such as bath sponges and pet toys made from Mr Muup's loofah have been exported to Japan for the past 10 years with a stable quantity of up to several tens of thousands of products per month. Mr. Do Dang Khoa, founder of Mr Muop, said that thanks to meeting green and environmentally friendly criteria, products made from loofah are very popular with foreign customers. Currently, the export channel accounts for 80% of Mr Muop's total sales.

Growing more mature with each order

According to startups, successfully exporting to foreign markets is not only a solution to the product output problem, but also enables businesses gradually to improve themselves and become increasingly mature. Mr. Do Dang Khoa said that in the past 10 years, Mr Muop has learned a lot from Japanese partners, from quality issues, product characteristics, designs, packaging to negotiations, price... "The Japanese partner went directly to Mr Muop's factory to review production conditions and calculate costs to optimize the benefits for both parties." – Mr. Do Dang Khoa said.

Thanks to the experience gained from working with Japanese partners, by the end of 2023, Mr Muop successfully developed the Korean market and is currently negotiating with 3 potential European partners. Currently, this startup is very confident in conquering new markets. According to the plan, this year, Mr Muop will continue to participate in many international fairs in Shanghai, Dubai, Europe... Especially, domestic consumers are becoming in favor of green, environmentally friendly ones, Mr Muop also plans to apply the experience gained from foreign markets to conquer more domestic customers. With demand constantly increasing, Mr. Do Dang Khoa said that Mr Muop is currently in the process of expanding production with a hope to raise capacity to three times the current level.

Similarly, Mr. Pham Dinh Ngai said, Sokfarm's journey to conquer foreign markets always goes hand in hand with the process of constantly learning and accumulating experience through each order. In particular, the company pursue the model of a business that creates social impact, brings sustainable livelihoods to farmers, and protects the environment. The process of working with international partners has supported Sokfarm a lot on this difficult journey.

Mr. Pham Dinh Ngai said that Sokfarm aims to target this year's export revenue of about 4 billion VND, much higher than the 1 billion VND achieved in 2023. Along with that, the proportion of revenue Exports will also increase from the current 7-8% to 15% this year. Sokfarm even expects that by 2030, the export channel will account for about 50% of the company's total revenue. Currently, Sokfarm is building a new factory located in the raw material area in Tra Vinh with the 2-3 times greater capacity than the existing factory. It is expected that this factory will produce about 10-12 tons of raw materials every day, providing output for about 50 hectares of local coconuts.

Meanwhile, Ms. Hoang Bao Tram sees the requirements and standards set by importers as the driving force for the improvement of the company's products. "Currently, the company is making efforts to fulfill some requirements by the importing country in order to gain a stronger foothold in the markets" - Ms. Hoang Bao Tram shared.

With Vicosap's story, Ms. Lam Ngoc Tu shared that successfully exporting to foreign markets requires great maintenance and undergo many stages, including completing documents, documents, certifications... However, each successful order is a guarantee of quality and professionalism in the way business work. At the end of 2023, Vicosap achieved Halal certification and this company is trying to conquer the market of Muslim countries. Besides, Vicosap is targeting China market. In 2023, this enterprise will also open a new factory to ensure production activities and meet quality certification standards as required by customers.