Mr. Nguyen Le Quoc Tuan, General Director (CEO) of Song Huong Foods Company, has worked for more than 10 years at Mobile World Investment Corporation (stock code: MWG), since the company only had 3 stores. Having held many different positions, having "eaten and slept together" with Mr. Nguyen Duc Tai, Chairman of Mobile World, in early 2018, Mr. Tuan quit his job and took over the family company.
From a company that makes fish sauce, fermented products and only consumes domestically, after 5 years, the products of this enterprise are present in many large supermarket chains in the country, officially exported to the US, Japan, Korea... The biggest wish of CEO Nguyen Le Quoc Tuan is that eggplant can become a typical dish of Vietnam, like kimchi of Korea. And Vietnamese specialty cakes can go all over the world .
Before becoming the manager of Song Huong Foods, he worked as the Director of Accessories at Mobile World Investment Company, the owner of the largest retail chain of mobile phones and electronics in Vietnam. What made him change his mind?
- When I was 23, I bought a house. From the age of 24, I only drove a car, until I was "retaliated". There is a saying: Being rich early leads to a short life. Most people who are rich early tend to go bad, and being bad without good fortune leads to a short life. I am blessed to have parents who are teachers and a loving older brother.
I was born into a family with a lucky background, the only thing I was unlucky about was… getting rich early. So later on, I taught Buddhism, gave a lecture "Don't think getting rich early is happy". That is the misfortune of humans. Only 20% of people who get rich early can overcome it after the age of 30, the remaining 80% can't get past that threshold.
Money is terrible. It makes people forget what they have, even lose their humanity. I am very afraid of someone who gets rich early but lacks understanding of cause and effect, lacks blessings.
In the past, I did not know what cause and effect was, what blessings were, what karma was. I only knew one sentence: "What cannot be solved by money can be solved by a lot of money. What cannot be solved by a lot of money can be solved by a lot, a lot, a lot of money." So my life was just about making money!
At The Gioi Di Dong, people work 8 hours, but I have never worked that much. At The Gioi Di Dong, I was very famous, traveling to all 63 provinces and cities, teaching classes, bringing accessories back to sell so that everyone in the company could have more money. That is, when I was a student, I set a goal to play with the best and be better than them.
I don't care who that friend is, as long as I know that friend is good, I will find every way to approach that friend, and become really close. Whatever that friend knows, I will learn to know, and with what I know, I will definitely be better than that friend. So I don't have the ability to be stubborn, callous, or shy. I only know one thing, which is the goal.
That has two sides, it makes you better but your arrogance is terrible, you don't listen much. When you believe you are better than others, you don't know how to listen anymore. So rich people "die" not because they are bad but because they can't listen.
What did he do to have a lot of money and become rich at such a young age?
- I have 2 sources of income, income from Mobile World and real estate trading. At Mobile World, I received many bonuses. I was the first person in the company at that time to receive a bonus of 1 billion VND, paying 35% tax (2011-2012).
As for investment, I used the money to trade real estate. Generation 8X all traded land. Back then, just need to bring 100-200 million VND to buy land in the suburbs to make a lot of money.
But I got rich early from being smart in business, not because of the salary at Mobile World. In Vietnam, whether you work for someone or own a business, you will eventually get rich because of real estate.
I have seen many people doing business to generate sales, then use the excuse of borrowing money to buy real estate. They may win, but from last year to this year and maybe next year, it is the year of paying back karma for those involved in real estate, including me, but I am lighter. Because I have realized, I stopped.
I used to go on some religious trips with Le Cat Trong Ly, at that time Ly sang Don't buy more house than you need . I really liked Ly, Ly inspired me not to buy a house. From then on, I sold all of them, only keeping a few as assets.
What do you think is unreasonable that the image of real estate business people has become so ugly and "karma-loving"?
- Many people buy houses and then push up the price. A piece of land that should be worth 500 million VND is now worth 5 billion to 10 billion VND. Why is it that? It's because people are raising the price. With 1 billion VND, they borrow 3-5 billion VND from the bank and then buy a few houses, pushing up the price, squeezing the price.
The government is doing it right. Trust me, the next few months will be the peak, so that new graduates, workers, and young people can have homes.
The Gioi Di Dong may have given you many opportunities and experiences, so what made you quit at such a peak?
- Everyone in the company was terribly surprised at that time. Before leaving The Gioi Di Dong, I decided to become a vegetarian and recite Buddha's name. At that time, I no longer received guests, no longer went to "double or triple" meetings, no longer made much effort to earn a lot of money.
I felt it very clearly when I went to a meeting with my colleagues at The Gioi Di Dong in Thailand. I sat in a corner eating vegetarian food while my teammates had a sumptuous feast next to me. I suddenly felt that this world no longer belonged to me. At that time, I loved The Gioi Di Dong terribly, and it was very painful to leave, more painful than having a family member die.
But I had to stop because I felt lost and didn’t want to lose my image in the group. At that time, I only thought about how to master my game, how to help many people. Like at Song Huong Foods now, no one can ask me to leave the house after 6pm.
A rich young man, standing in the limelight, but he chose to be a vegetarian and recite Buddha's name. Surely there must have been a terrible event to change him like that?
- It is true that there were events that happened and made me scared, wanting to become a monk. I almost became a monk in a temple but the temple did not accept me because I was still entangled in worldly affairs, still making money, still had many worries and many people were searching for me.
Suddenly I realized I didn't want to bother the temple anymore, so I went back and made a vow. I vow that in this life, while I breathe in and out, I will only eat vegetarian food. I vow that in this life, while I breathe in and out, I will practice according to the Buddha's teachings and keep the 5 precepts: Do not lie, do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, and do not use stimulants.
I have kept the precepts since 2016 and realized that I have today because of keeping the precepts, because of practicing. I escaped from the ugly, sick person I was when I was 30 years old. My friends still continue to earn money, live a troubled life, have a lot of gray hair, and even have illnesses.
I was lucky to escape those things through practice. Money to me now is just a means. If I have it, I spend it. If I don't, I don't.
My daily needs are very low, I eat vegetables grown by the company, and the company takes care of my vehicles. I don't know how much money I have, I just feel like my life is peaceful and safe.
Besides helping you improve yourself, does practicing have any other effects on business?
- I am 39 years old this year, starting my business this year for the 6th year, and have never been stuck in life, even though there have been ups and downs. The way I deal with stuckness is very easy, which is to face it honestly, without avoiding, without evading, without making excuses.
I often say: There are people who speak well who speak better, there are people who speak cleverly who speak more cleverly. But there is no one who speaks the truth more truthfully than that person. I deeply believe in one thing: If you live a life that God loves, then every path is good. If you speak the truth, God, Buddha, and God will bless you to become better.
That is also the value I have pursued since becoming a vegetarian, reciting Buddha's name, and attaining enlightenment until now. The image I have today, the life I have today, and even the family I have today are due to applying the formula: Speak truthfully, then God and Buddha will bless you better.
The core values of Song Huong Foods are the same. Tell a recent story, when the company exported a batch of fermented eggplant to the US, working hard for 6 months. In the lab, the cold temperature met the standards, the eggplant was of good quality. After exporting, I kept a jar in the office, but the temperature was not guaranteed, the eggplant lost its color.
I informed my American partner to recall it. But God was so kind that at that time, it was the coldest time in America, they had sold out, and it was okay. My partner exclaimed: "Oh my god, you are so careful that you still keep the exported product?" But for me, that is the responsibility of the seller, even when the product is exported, it must be kept there to check if there is any problem, and report back to the partner.
He practices Buddhism, but Song Huong Foods has fish sauce products made from shrimp and fish. Is this contradictory?
- My biggest difficulty was accepting my aunt and uncle's offer to take over the family business that had been in business for three generations, which was a shrimp paste and fish sauce company. It took me three years of mental struggle because at that time I had decided to take a vow and practice. After that, I cleared my mind.
I realized that the company was established in 1996 and has been operating for nearly 30 years. I became a vegetarian on March 16, 2016. I cannot trade nearly 30 years of the company's brand just because I have been a vegetarian for 6 years.
Millions of customers have used the dishes of Song Huong Foods, and I cannot abandon that dish just because I am a vegetarian and continue the company. From then on, I vow that whatever dish the company has made will not be expanded, if it is killing; if it is renewed, it will definitely be vegetarian.
Therefore, the company developed more types of banh nam and banh loc with shrimp filling instead of meat filling, because before that the company made products from shrimp. After 5 years (from 2018-2019), the company is also shifting from a fish sauce company to a company selling traditional specialty products that are safe, delicious, and convenient.
In 2022, for the first time, the company's sales will depend on cakes, accounting for 70%, up from 3-5% before. From now on, fish sauces will only account for a maximum of 5% of sales, or even lower. All products the company is targeting will be cakes and vegetarian products such as vegetarian Thai fish sauce, vegetarian eggplant, spicy kimchi...
What is the most important thing when bringing Vietnamese products abroad?
- These items must be frozen at minus 18 degrees Celsius, users only need to microwave for 5-10-20 minutes to be able to use immediately. The biggest fear of businesses is unsafe products. Because it is a traditional product, the first priority is safety.
Food safety is what has kept the company going for generations, producing industrial products with a handcrafted feel, packaged to preserve flavor. Safety is also a competitive advantage.
You talk a lot about cakes, so where does eggplant stand?
- Eggplant is currently the second highest selling product, a year ago it was number one. During the 2 years of the pandemic, eggplant consumption increased dramatically, 30 times. I also hired many artists to promote the product and realized that the consumption output is only at that level, it is difficult to surpass the threshold.
Consumers cannot overcome the prejudice that a cup of coffee is equal to three cups of medicine. I realized that and decided to go back and look at the products to see what else could be developed. I found banh nam, banh loc, banh gai...
The decision to develop cakes was also quite accidental for me. A foreign partner ordered fish sauce, I gave them cakes. They praised it as delicious. So I made the paperwork for the cakes to be exported, the first batch was 30 boxes, the second batch was 300 boxes and the third batch was a container of 3,000 boxes. From then on, I determined that cakes were the main product of Song Huong Foods.
So his attempt to prove that eggplant is harmless and to dispel prejudice failed?
- This year, eggplants still grow but are smaller than cakes. My efforts are not unsuccessful, but the journey is just longer. I will try to prove it until I leave this world. I will try my best until eggplants become a typical product of Vietnam, like kimchi of Koreans.
I still eat 3-4 eggplants every day and record videos . I want to prove to everyone and have faith in eggplants.
However, in terms of business, it cannot support the company. The 240 people in this company are waiting for me to make the company bigger and stronger, to be able to support 240 families. I cannot let the company not know what to do, cannot let the company not develop.
What is the overall direction of the company's products in the future?
- In the first 4 months of the year, the company's export sales increased by 24-25%, while domestic sales decreased by 10-30%. In addition to boosting exports, I will bring more products to retail chains such as GS 25, Circle K, Seven Eleven... I do this not because I want to earn more sales but because I want to serve domestic people with quality meals.
In 2022, the company's export turnover will reach more than 60,000 USD. This year, the first export trip reached 240,000 USD, the whole year is expected to reach 1.5-2 million USD.
I always keep in mind: Far from home, missing my mother, having money doesn’t guarantee I can eat hometown food. After banh loc was exported to the US, a customer asked why it looked so much like the ones in Hue. I exclaimed: Success.
From that motivation, in the next 3 years, the company will develop the eggplant garden in Tay Ninh, becoming a tourist attraction at the foot of Ba Den Mountain. Second, develop cakes, collectively called dumpling cakes (banh nam, banh loc Hue, banh gai, banh gio...). In the near future, the company will also have banana ice cream, fried bananas, fried sticky rice...
The things that Vietnamese people often eat on the street will be sold in the US, Japan, Australia and many other countries around the world. The company's customers will be people related to Vietnam, such as Vietnamese overseas husbands, Vietnamese overseas wives or Chinese and Japanese people.
Thank you for the conversation.
Content: Khong Chiem Photo: Hai Long Design : Do Diep
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