With a nationwide distribution network and business presence in many countries around the world, Tan Quang Minh Company, famous for the Bidrico brand, is gradually building up the confidence of domestic and foreign consumers. The outstanding success of the Bidrico brand today is the result of the sweat and tears of thousands of workers, as well as from the leadership of the founder - CEO Nguyen Dang Hien. Vietnam Business Forum had a talk with him about his success story. Anh Dao reports.
Could you please tell us about your hard but prideful days that led to the present success?
Determined to study well to earn my own living, in 1968, I left my homeland, Co Luy village in Quang Tri province, for the south. In Ho Chi Minh City, I lived with my cousin for one year and started doing all kinds of work to earn my living, like masonry, whitewashing and tutoring. With my studiousness, I was accepted into the 11th grade when I completed the 9th grade. I was also good at English.
I graduated from the University of Finance and Banking in 1978 and was recruited to be a teacher at the university, but I chose to leave teaching to do business my own: Making ice. In 1992, with a small initial capital of VND10.5 million, I boldly set up a beverage production facility with 26 employees to make Bidrico-branded drinks. Only a year later, Bidrico products were present in many localities across the country, including Hanoi.
When Bidrico-branded carbonated soft drinks were launched nationwide in 1995, famous foreign brands at the global market began to flood into Vietnam. To survive on this harsh playground, I determined that Bidrico had to expand production space and invest more in equipment and manpower. Therefore, the plant was relocated to a 3,500-square metre space on Phan Van Tri Street, Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City. This sensible choice brought in positive results. In the period from 1995 to 2002, over 30 Bidrico products were launched. In 2003, Bidrico moved to Vinh Loc Industrial Park in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City with a modern production facility on a 1.5-ha site. Annual revenue increased 25-30 percent.
With little initial capital and limited business knowledge, how did you still manage to build and develop the Bidrico brand?
Branding is the work of a lifetime of effort and a lot of money. Therefore, Bidrico always attaches much importance to branding and increasing the market share from the very beginning day. We always try to select the most appropriate branding strategy based on what we have. Right from the start, we knew that we could not compete with big names like Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Bidrico boldly looked for its own way to grasp the market share, particularly in rural areas. The company had products suitable for farmers’ incomes and tastes. Once we decided on the rural market, we chose to make the brand with the lowest but most effective costs.
Also, Bidrico always chooses to carry out direct marketing to bring products to consumers. This is a certain, effective and budget method because consumers can directly taste Bidrico products.
After more than 22 years of operation, with the determination to bring healthy beverages to Vietnamese consumers, Bidrico is now one of a very few Vietnam beverage companies to have many well-positioned and favoured drink brands on the market like Bidrico bird's nest, A*nuta green tea, and carbonated and non-carbonated Bidrico energy drinks, Restore salted lemon juice, A*nuta fruit juice, Yobi yoghurt, and Restore vitamin drink. In addition to holding the rural market, Bidrico has reached out to conquer the urban market through modern distribution channels. Currently, Bidrico products are present in more than 100 supermarkets across the country and exported to over 15 countries around the world, including the US, Germany, Japan, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and African countries.
But what concerns me most is how to keep Vietnamese brands for Vietnamese people. I feel so much pity to see more and more Vietnamese brands leaving the market or being taken over by foreigners. Bidrico is also not out of the sight of big foreign firms. Many have discussed franchise with us but I have not agreed with them. I have to know what they want and how they will make decisions.
When the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement is signed, beverage businesses will face a huge challenge. How will Bidrico survive?
After the TPP is signed, import duties on beers, wines and soft drinks will be lowered to zero. Foreign goods will enter Vietnam with lower prices. This is really a big concern for Bidrico in particular and the domestic beverage industry in general. To withstand and compete on par with foreigners in this context, the first thing we have to consider is to lower prices while improving product quality.
For the past two years, Bidrico has invested hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong for modern machinery and equipment in order to improve product quality, reduce labour costs and increase product value. That is one of our steps to be well-prepared for TPP.
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2014 ended with a prestigious award for Tan Quang Minh Co., Ltd, the International Quality Summit Award in the Diamond Category at the Quality Convention of Business Initiative Directions (BID) in New York. The award reconfirms that Bidrico is not only a company with excellent achievements in service quality, but also a company with constant effort for continuous development and innovation. The merit also affirms that Bidrico is now a leading beverage company in Vietnam.
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In addition to promoting investment for better quality and lower product costs, I myself still believe that Bidrico will stand on the market because we have unique advantages, that is, the understanding of Vietnamese consumer thinking. More importantly, after a series of incidents concerning low-quality products from China, knockoffs and fake goods, consumers are putting more faith in Vietnamese products.
As known, Bidrico responds enthusiastically to the campaign encouraging Vietnamese people to use Vietnamese goods. What do you think about this campaign?
I absolutely agree with this campaign launched by the Politburo. It creates a ripple effect and helps change the psychology and habits of Vietnamese consumers who used to be very keen on foreign goods. Perhaps, the “Buy Vietnamese” campaign is a "Great Marketing" as it not only changes the Vietnamese consumers’ keenness on foreign products, but also forces foreigners to focus more on their products, particularly design and quality. I hope that this policy will be always promoted and given further attention by authorities and industries to make Vietnamese goods win the trust of Vietnamese people and shine throughout the world.
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