Five years ago, Nguyen Van Dinh, 33, drove his motorcycle around the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang to sell Ly Son garlic, a product from his hometown. Now, 80 tonnes of the garlic has been shipped to Thailand, Dubai, and Singapore.
He initially bought hundreds of kilograms of Ly Son garlic and brought the volume to Da Nang, around which he drove his motorcycle to sell the vegetable of the onion family, and he then started approaching Big C, a French-owned supermarket chain.
Ly Son garlic has been known in Vietnam for its distinctive delicious taste that other kinds of garlic cannot compare with, not to mention its benefits for health.
As most supermarkets have their own suppliers, Dinh managed to convince Big C to buy only 10 kilograms of Ly Son garlic.
The product was sold out after one week, and the supermarket chain continued to order 300 more kilograms, and then three tonnes – an impressive amount. “The volume now tops dozens of tonnes per month,” Dinh said.
Dinh buys fresh Ly Son garlic from farmers at VND55,000 ($2.6) per kilogram, processes the vegetable and ensures its quality to provide for his business partners.
He has registered the brand called “Ly Son’s King of Garlic” at the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology's Intellectual Property Department to pre-empt fake products.
Ly Son garlic is currently on sale at many supermarkets throughout Vietnam, including 29 Big C stores, as well as at several airports in the central region with its supplier aiming to promote the product to foreigners.
The 33-year-old businessman has exported 80 tonnes of Ly Son garlic to Thailand, the UAE and Singapore after spending a great amount of time exploring opportunities to penetrate international markets.
Dinh’s chain of stores provide stable jobs for 16 young employees and processing experts with salaries varying from VND2.4 million ($110) to VND14 million ($642) per month, and temporary jobs for 50 students during Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays and busy seasons.
His plan is to study other markets including Malaysia, Laos, and South Korea to look for more business partners.
