Burst into tears over rustic dishes that touch the hearts of people far from home

After more than 10 years of perseverance, she not only built the Truong Foods brand in Thanh Son town ( Phu Tho ), but also made many people cry when she found the taste of memories through each slice of meat filled with the love of the countryside.

From the age of 18, Ms. Hoa has been making the first boxes of sour meat by hand.

Tears fall because of a distant call

"Many people ask me why I chose to start with a rustic dish like sour meat - a product that is not new, not strange, and has many prejudices. But I think simply: It is a dish of my hometown, something I know how to make and the only thing I can start with when I have nothing," Thu Hoa gently recounted.

That year she was only 18 years old, the age when people are still daydreaming in the lecture hall or having fun, but she was busy shopping, making the first boxes of sour meat by hand.

One day, she sat selling right in front of her house, just hoping that passersby would stop. Another day, she took it to the market and offered it to each person. At that time, sour meat was still unfamiliar to many people. But then little by little, people came back to ask to buy it, some brought it as gifts, and she felt a small joy in her heart. "I thought: Why not develop this dish? We have to do it properly, let more people know about it so that our ancestors' traditional dish will not be lost."

She said that every journey has its moments when she wants to stop, those were the days when she made sour meat by hand, there were more failed batches than successful batches. The products she made were sold but no one bought them. There were nights when she could only sit and cry alone. But one afternoon, she received a call from a customer in Ho Chi Minh City that she will never forget.

"He said: It's been a long time since I've had the same sour meat taste that my mother used to make. Before she passed away, she always made this dish for me every time she went back to her hometown. Thank you for making me feel like I'm seeing my mother again...".

After the call, she could not say another word. She held the phone in her hand but her heart felt like it was stuck in her throat. She sat in front of her stall, staring blankly at each can of sour meat as if it had just become a soul. It was no longer a product she sold to make a living, but an invisible bridge connecting a child far from home with her deceased mother.

Young girl shed tears when her first day of starting a business was unsold

"I thought of his mother, the woman who probably also quietly went into the kitchen, meticulously seasoning and marinating each piece of meat as a way to express her love. And today, I - a stranger, accidentally became the one to continue that love. I cried not because of pride, but because I felt small in front of what my hometown's dishes could do. A little sourness on the tip of the tongue, a little richness of memories, but it could make someone cry, could make a grown man tear up in the middle of the city", Ms. Hoa recounted. That was the moment that made her more confident than ever.

Journey from kitchen to page

At first, many people doubted and laughed at her, even her relatives advised her to "get a stable job". But she did not argue. She chose to respond with action.

Closed production process

Making it tastier, cleaner, and tidier. She edited each box, each stamp, each letter herself to make it more and more perfect. Negative feedback from customers, those who criticized raw meat, those who doubted hygiene, also became the motivation for her to improve the process. Traditional sour meat was processed to 70% cooked. The packaging was redesigned. Food hygiene and safety information was clearly disclosed. Step by step, customers gradually returned. The product was trusted. The Truong Foods brand was born and became more and more widely known.

Ms. Thu Hoa has never been to business school. She has no formal strategy, no companion. But she has something that no textbook can teach: Perseverance and belief: "There were times when I felt like giving up. But then I thought of my mother, who doesn't talk much, but always stands behind to support me. I thought of my daughter, I wanted to give her a better future. It was the love for my family that held me back, kept me going."

Ms. Hoa believes that the success of her startup idea comes from 3 factors: Product, sales method, and communication.

From a young girl with nothing in her hands, Ms. Thu Hoa is now the Director of Truong Foods and the author of a book about her own entrepreneurial journey. "The most valuable thing I realized is not revenue or scale, but how I have grown. I am grateful for every tear, every criticism, every day of not being able to sell, because all of it has made me stronger today."

Ms. Hoa's products are consumed in large quantities.

She writes books not only to talk about her current results, but also to honestly share her difficulties, mistakes, and lessons learned. She wants to convey a message: You can start from the smallest, most ordinary thing, as long as you do it sincerely and do not give up.

When asked what she would say to young people who are confused and give up their dream of starting a business because of fear of failure, she just smiled and answered with a simple sentence: "Just take action, if it's right, there will be results, if it's wrong, there will be lessons". Because starting a business has never been a bed of roses. But if you dare to start and are brave enough to go all the way, flowers will bloom, not under your feet, but in your own heart.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/bat-khoc-vi-mon-an-dan-da-cham-den-trai-tim-nguoi-xa-que-20250509093129365.htm