Failed in the 'foggy land', returned home to become an agricultural products tycoon

"Go big"

The agricultural product tycoon I want to talk about here is Mr. Ho Viet Hoan, Director of Hoang Nam Phat Cooperative in Gia Xuyen Commune (Hai Duong City). I know him through the introduction of Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Luong Thi Kiem: "Hoan is a big trader in the agricultural product sector with a huge quantity of goods. Almost every day his facility exports dozens of container trucks."

The headquarters of Hoang Nam Phat Cooperative is also Mr. Hoan’s private house located near the center of Gia Xuyen commune. In front of the house, container trucks are lined up in a long line.

Carrots, cabbages, cauliflowers... are packed into large bales and loaded onto containers by forklifts. Occasionally, trucks of 2-15 tons transport goods from various places to gather here.

Contrary to my guess of an old tycoon, Mr. Hoan is only 40 this year. He warmly and enthusiastically welcomed me and took me to visit his family's facility. At the export processing zone, dozens of workers were working hard. They quickly screened, picked out the cabbage leaves and cauliflower outside that did not meet the requirements, stamped and packaged them.

In one corner of the warehouse, women stood in a line rhythmically passing watermelons from the ground to the back of a truck. Far away in the processing zone, a group of workers were diligently sorting potatoes on a conveyor belt...

An entire 3,000 m2 processing zone²There are a lot of vegetables, tubers, and fruits. "The facility operates all year round, but the peak season is from October of the previous year to April of the following year. During this season, I have to mobilize about 250 workers to handle the workload," Mr. Hoan informed.

I visited the cooperative's cold storage. In a space of about 2,000 m², carefully packed bales of carrots, potatoes... stacked to the roof. This warehouse plays an important role in coordinating goods, ensuring uninterrupted supply to partners.

I was startled when Mr. Hoan said that every day Hoang Nam Phat Cooperative supplies the market with an average of 350-400 tons of vegetables, tubers, and fruits. Perhaps in Hai Duong and neighboring provinces and cities, there are not many "huge" agricultural traders like him.

The above agricultural products are being distributed by the cooperative in 4 "key directions": about 60% of the quantity is exported to some countries such as China, Malaysia, Japan, Korea...; 30% is supplied to the system of supermarkets such as AEON, LotteMart, WinMart and wholesale markets throughout the 3 regions of North - Central - South; the remaining 10% is supplied to industrial park kitchens and schools.

I complimented Mr. Hoan on his talent and his ability to do business better than others at such a young age. He waved his hand and humbly replied: "There are many more talented people in the world. The cooperative has the foundation it has today, mostly thanks to my parents' efforts. I am just the developer. Before pursuing this career, I went to the West to work hard with the dream of getting rich but failed. When I returned to my homeland, I saw that there are many opportunities around me. I don't need to go far, but I have to be really bold and determined."

Mr. Hoan considers himself a "true farmer's son". In the past, his parents worked in agriculture to raise their children. Mr. Hoan is the eldest son, so he often helped his parents with the farming. Since 1994, his family began purchasing agricultural products from local people to supply to wholesale markets. As the economy gradually improved, his parents wanted him to go to school so that he would not have to work hard in the future.

In 2005, Mr. Hoan graduated from Hanoi Industrial College. He stayed in the capital as a bridge engineer. His income was about 10 million VND/month, but the cost of living and transportation was so expensive that he could not save anything. Some months, his parents had to send him money to cover his living expenses.

The desire to get rich prompted him to quit his job and go home to ask his parents to let him go to England to work as an export laborer in 2008. But the "foggy land" more than 10,000 km away from home was not like what the broker promised. In a foreign land, the work was erratic, and the income was barely enough for him to cover his living expenses. After nearly a year, Mr. Hoan sadly returned home.

"What did you think at that time?", I asked. Mr. Hoan replied: "I thought I still had to do something and not give up. I thought about many things, even planning to open a restaurant. One day I suddenly realized that my family's agricultural purchasing facility had been operating effectively for many years. So I expressed my wish to my parents to continue this profession."

Hoan's parents are getting older and will eventually have to "retire". So they agreed to help their son. In 2011, his family mainly purchased agricultural products from farmers in Gia Loc district to supply to wholesale markets with an output of about 4,000-5,000 tons/year.

Being a quick-witted person, Mr. Hoan quickly accumulated management experience. He worked hard to research the market, find partners and gradually expand the agricultural product purchasing area to other provinces. In 2013, the volume of goods purchased and distributed by his family reached 150 tons/day for the first time.

The work became more and more favorable when Mr. Hoan gradually formed close relationships with some big partners. "I started to wonder how to bring agricultural products from my hometown to many countries to increase their value and encourage production. I officially entered the big game from that time. In 2015, my family's first agricultural shipments arrived in the Taiwanese and Malaysian markets, opening a new chapter in our business strategy," Mr. Hoan shared.

In 2019, Hoang Nam Phat Cooperative was established with Mr. Hoan as director. His parents have now retired "behind the scenes" but always believe in their son's management ability. Since 2020, the Covid-19 epidemic has begun to cause negative impacts, but Mr. Hoan has still steered the cooperative to maintain stable operations, with an average of 300 tons of goods exported each day. Since life returned to normal, output has continuously increased.

Passion

Our conversation was occasionally interrupted by Mr. Hoan's phone ringing. He explained: "Some calls came from large-scale field owners in other provinces that I have never met. They want to link up with the cooperative to have a stable and sustainable output."

Mr. Hoan said that the cooperative has built a chain of links, signed contracts to grow and consume vegetables and fruit trees with a number of cooperative units and about 140 households in many provinces and cities such as Hai Duong, Thai Binh, Hung Yen, Nam Dinh, Bac Ninh, Son La, Dien Bien and Hai Phong. All of these units and households have fields ranging from 1-100 hectares/household.

The principle that Mr. Hoan sets for his partners is to commit to strictly implementing the land preparation, using seeds, planting and caring for vegetables and fruit trees according to the VietGAP and GlobalGAP processes that the cooperative has trained and instructed. In return, the cooperative will purchase at the correct price agreed with the households from the beginning of the season, ensuring that if there is a situation of "supply exceeding demand", farmers will still make a profit.

Expanding and seriously implementing the linkage in developing raw material areas helps Hoang Nam Phat Cooperative to master the "game" because it always ensures a continuous supply of goods to serve the market, not dependent on seasonal factors in a certain locality. This also creates jobs and stable income, helping farmers to be confident, making products with a heart for the community without worrying about the situation of "good harvest, low price".

Another important thing is that the agricultural products produced always meet the criteria of beautiful design, quality, safety for consumers' health, in line with the cooperative's export strategy, and more broadly, contribute to the implementation of the policy of building green, sustainable, multi-layered, multi-value agriculture.

Mr. Hoan believes that agricultural production and trading is also a harsh "game" with many potential risks. Many businesses in this field have gone bankrupt. Hoang Nam Phat Cooperative has had to overcome many difficulties to be able to do business as it is today. However, with its dedication, reputation, and commitment to responsibility to farmers and consumers, the unit has been able to operate effectively and sustainably.

"The cooperative's customer partners from many countries have directly visited the cooperative's raw material areas and processing zones many times. They are very satisfied, trust and want to continue to expand cooperation," said Mr. Hoan.

With the active support of the province, Hoang Nam Phat Cooperative has discovered 8 products with OCOP stars such as cabbage, carrots, watermelon, bananas... These products have been and are being sold to many countries, contributing to enhancing the value and image of Vietnamese agricultural products.

The cooperative is expected to soon build an additional export processing zone of about 20,000 m2.²and expand linkages to the provinces. This is also in line with reality when the current output of the new cooperative is meeting about 60% of the needs of foreign partners.

Hai Duong has implemented a plan and set a goal of turning cultivation into a modern technical economic sector by 2050. Focusing on developing safe production according to the value chain, market orientation based on close links between partners, with enterprises as the center. The operating model of Hoang Nam Phat Cooperative needs to be encouraged and facilitated for replication.