His love for local products motivated Mr. Ngo Khanh Huy to quit his desk job and find a way to increase the added value of lotus products from Thap Muoi region, Dong Thap province.
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| Businessman Ngo Khanh Huy, CEO of Khanh Thu Import Export Joint Stock Company. |
From startup to professional
Entering this April, CEO Ngo Khanh Huy and the staff of Khanh Thu Import Export Joint Stock Company (Khanh Thu Company) are busier with new projects. The company is implementing a cooperation plan with investors in Canada to build new factories, expand growing areas... meeting green, clean standards and aiming for sustainable development. Mr. Huy is determined to bring the products of the lotus capital to the open sea. After more than 7 years of starting a business, he wants Khanh Thu to become professional.
“We will cooperate in the form of equitization. The investor will build two new factory systems, with an investment of about 50 billion VND for a land area of nearly 10,000 m2,” Mr. Huy revealed.
The reason for the cooperation, according to Mr. Huy, is to prevent the business from being eliminated from the global “game”. Import markets set increasingly high requirements and standards, so businesses must change their thinking and working methods, and pay more attention to standards and “greenness” in international trade.
Why did you choose to start a business with lotus?
I want to bring what I have learned back to serve the farmers in my hometown, so that they can change their perspective, limit selling raw products and move towards processing to increase value. Although I have not contributed much, I really hope that there will be many young people starting a business like me, each person will contribute a piece to create a vivid picture, contributing to raising the level of Vietnamese agricultural products.
So what experience do you want to share with startups in the agricultural industry?
In my opinion, we should focus on investing in post-harvest agricultural product preservation, because we are very weak in this stage. In Thailand, Taiwan (China)..., the agricultural sector has developed thanks to good agricultural product preservation processes. Therefore, Khanh Thu invested in a cold storage of about 20 tons to store post-harvest agricultural products as well as post-production products, avoiding dependence on seasons and market prices.
Khanh Thu's plan in 2024?
Besides cooperating with Canadian investors, this year, Khanh Thu will upgrade to meet market standards.
and move towards exporting to the US, Canada, Japan, Taiwan,
Korea… with the sole wish of bringing Vietnamese lotus to many
more market, help farmers more.
Meeting the standards to export products to Europe, the US and other major markets is what many businesses want to aim for, but not all businesses can do it. As a start-up, a local business, Khanh Thu Company faces many challenges in meeting the new standards.
Mr. Huy shared that in the early stages of its establishment, Khanh Thu only met food hygiene and safety standards, then achieved HACCP, ISO 9001 certifications... In recent times, the Company has strived to achieve ISO 22000, Halal (serving the Muslim market), ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria...
“We really want to meet the increasingly high standards of the market, but resources are limited and there is no specific guidance. Canadian investors meet the wishes of businesses by being able to invest in technology, support businesses to meet growing area standards, build new factories and have a sales system at supermarkets and stores in Europe and the US,” said CEO Ngo Khanh Huy.
Increase value, enhance agricultural products
Ngo Khanh Huy used to have a job that many young people dream of at a famous pharmaceutical company, before deciding to switch to making lotus leaf tea, with the desire to build his own lotus brand in his hometown of Thap Muoi.
“In 2015, a friend gave me a bag of lotus leaf tea from Japan and I was quite shocked when I saw the price listed on the product packaging. That price was many times higher than lotus products in my hometown,” Huy said. After that, having the opportunity to participate in some fairs, he was even more certain that lotus products from his hometown had a lot of potential to increase in value.
In 2016, Ngo Khanh Huy decided to establish Khanh Thu Company, starting his entrepreneurial journey. After a period of research and perfecting the product in terms of both quality and packaging design, in 2017, the Company officially introduced the lotus leaf tea product named Ha Diep Lien to the market. With the function of reducing blood fat, supporting weight loss..., Ha Diep Lien lotus leaf tea product is distributed in many pharmacy systems and is well received by consumers.
Starting his business as an amateur, Huy spent a lot of time researching and acquiring more knowledge. There was a time when he traveled from Dong Thap to the North, then to Thai Nguyen to learn how to dry tea. After several failures, having to throw away 2-3 tons of lotus leaves, he gradually learned his lessons and perfected the production process.
Up to now, lotus products of Khanh Thu Company have been officially exported to many markets such as China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan... The company's growing area has increased from 5,000 m2 to 45 hectares.
“In terms of local resources, Thap Muoi region has been identified as a lotus growing area for 10-15 years. Dong Thap province is widely known as the capital of pink lotus land with vast lotus fields. Deeply processed lotus products are starting to be developed more and increasing in value. I see opportunities and potential ahead,” CEO of Khanh Thu Company confidently said.
Expanding product portfolio
During the development process, Khanh Thu Company has continuously expanded its product portfolio. Up to now, the enterprise owns 20 lotus brands, such as lotus wine, fresh lotus seeds, dried lotus seeds, lotus flower tea, lotus leaf tea, tea bags, lotus functional foods...
“In 2018, I shared with my family and team about the plan to develop another convenient product, lotus leaf tea in cans. At that time, the domestic beverage market had developed, but there was no herbal tea product in cans. This was an opportunity for Khanh Thu Company,” Mr. Huy recalled.
At that time, the company had only been in operation for nearly 2 years, so for Khanh Thu, the budget of more than 7 billion VND to invest in a production line for canned products was a big problem. Investors were hesitant about the CEO's plan, but Mr. Huy convinced them with a detailed, methodical plan, including packaging design, brand identity, market development plan, etc.
In December 2018, the canned lotus leaf tea product was launched and immediately increased the company's revenue by 6 times. After 2 months, this product was available in 45 provinces and cities across the country. Next, Khanh Thu Company promoted the development of a number of value-added products from canned lotus leaf tea, such as low-sugar lotus leaf tea, sugar-free lotus leaf tea and lotus leaf tea for diabetics... By February 2021, the company recorded an 8-fold increase in revenue compared to before expanding the product.
Everything was going well until Covid-19 hit. Faced with difficulties, CEO Ngo Khanh Huy remained optimistic. He confidently invested in factories, opened distribution channels, invested in a number of chain systems... However, by June 2021, the company's revenue began to decrease gradually. During nearly 3 years of the pandemic, Khanh Thu lost nearly 8 billion VND. After that, Mr. Huy had to make efforts to restructure, reduce the model and focus on selling products chosen by consumers.
“The Covid-19 pandemic was a test. At that time, I was very confident, but I also had a hard time steering the business and learned great lessons. Currently, the business is aiming for steady development, multi-channel sales, not depending on a certain market,” Huy shared.
According to the plan, this year, Khanh Thu will launch a series of trend-setting products, focusing on design and appearance to increase the value of the products in both domestic and foreign markets. As for Ngo Khanh Huy, he always reminds himself not to "rest on his laurels", but will continue to strive to bring local agricultural products to more consumers.
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