Increasing practicality for Vietnamese cuisine

Delicious and convenient

Participating in the Embassy Festival 2025 in The Hague (Netherlands), we were surprised to see a large number of diners patiently lining up to enjoy pho and fresh Vietnamese fruits. The booth organized by the Vietnam Trade Office in the Netherlands introduced a variety of flavors, such as Vietnamese pho (made by WE LOVE PHO branches in Belgium and the Netherlands), fried spring rolls, spring rolls and many other agricultural products.

The fruitrepublic company markets Vietnamese fruits in the Netherlands. Photo: LAM VAN

The fruit corner was manned by a group of Dutch people wearing traditional orange shirts. They introduced juicy green-skinned grapefruits, sweet fresh coconut juice, and trays of jackfruit and papaya with a tropical aroma. Two boys, a woman, and a middle-aged man quickly opened boxes, prepared straws, and selected the softest coconuts to serve customers.

They looked like a family. When asked, it turned out that they were the mother and two children, and the other was a friend who came to help because the father was in Vietnam to run The Fruitrepublic Company (TFR) - a Dutch company that invested in Vietnam since 2009, specializing in purchasing dragon fruit, grapefruit, seedless lemons... and is one of the leading exporters of fresh agricultural products in Vietnam. TFR's European distribution center is located near the port of Rotterdam, where fruit containers from Vietnam are received.

TFR not only sells Vietnamese fruits but also increases the practicality of fruit consumption. The pre-peeled fruit trays, priced from 10-15 EUR/tray, are expensive but are still enthusiastically bought by the Dutch. This cannot be separated from the efforts of the Vietnam Trade Office in the Netherlands. 3 years ago, many Dutch people knew about green-skinned grapefruit but did not know how to eat it or how nutritious it was. In reality, it is difficult to sell a grapefruit that is said to be delicious without peeling it to see what the segments look like. This year, at the request of the Trade Office, TFR imported pre-eaten fruit trays peeled by Vietnamese workers in Can Tho according to standard hygiene procedures.

Pho "one and a half minutes" and Halal standard

Vietnamese pho is an attractive dish but it also requires a lot of logistics when marketing at outdoor festivals. The problem for food business people is to find pho noodles that are soft and absorb spices quickly while still ensuring the right amount of elasticity to avoid getting soggy when boiled.

“We want the time from when a customer orders until the pho bowl is ready to be served to the table to only take one and a half minutes,” a Chinese restaurant owner in the Netherlands shared with Ngo Le Diem Le, who is in charge of sales at Miss Linh, a B2B e-commerce platform specializing in Vietnamese food products in the Netherlands.

To solve this one and a half minute formula, Diem Le worked with three pho noodle production facilities in Vietnam and selected the optimal product. These pho noodle packages are divided into 10 small bundles, equivalent to a bowl of pho, soaked in water to soften, taken out to drain, brought to the fair, just need to pour pho broth to soften and absorb within just one minute.

Introducing Vietnamese pho to diners in the Netherlands. Photo: LAM VAN

So what about Halal (food according to Muslim standards)? Many European diners often ask: "Is this dish Halal?" or "Is there vegetarian pho?" These are frequent questions and also a great need of the vegetarian and Muslim community when approaching Vietnamese cuisine. When you have to shake your head with a regretful smile, it means you have missed the needs of a large number of customers.

Halal is not simply asking “does this dish contain pork?”, but involves the entire set of Halal standards. Without certification, many Muslims will not consider a dish to be Halal, whether it is beef or chicken. To serve spring rolls to Muslim diners, Diem Le always prepares a Halal certificate to present when needed.

Currently, many European markets have imported vegetarian pho broth products from Vietnam. However, many local diners, when lining up to enjoy pho at fairs, still wonder: "Is there meat in the pho broth bag?" This seemingly simple question poses a new problem for Vietnamese food businesses. At the same time, this is also the driving force for Vietnamese dishes to improve their practicality, convenience and ability to integrate and enter the international market.

Huong Kieu

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/tang-tinh-thuc-dung-cho-am-thuc-viet-post816393.html