CEO Nguyen Duc Minh reveals the journey to lead the trend of “personalized” nutrition

With nearly 15 years of steadfastness in the path of specialized Medical Nutrition, Nutricare has affirmed its pioneering position in a “niche” market full of potential but also many challenges.

In the latest episode of the talk show series “Walk and Talk” season 2, Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh – General Director of Nutricare brought close analysis of the potential but also challenging Medical Nutrition market picture. 

With the flexible MC of host Nguyen Tien Huy, General Director of Pencil Group, Head of CSMO Southern Content Department, the dialogue reveals valuable experiences for Vietnamese businesses, enhancing competitiveness by taking advantage of the “home field” advantage.

Previously, with specialized training in the field of nutritional science, Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh was a consultant for a project funded by the European Community, with the goal of developing a nutritional formula to support the recovery of severely malnourished children in Vietnam.

During the research process, Dr. Minh realized that there are almost no specialized nutritional products for malnourished children in the domestic market and no local companies produced them. By his efforts, he has tried to connect with different companies to find a way to produce nutritional products based on the formula that he had painstakingly researched.

However, the difference between the specialized techniques and business orientations of the enterprises made cooperation difficult. And then, his research formula was only limited to the project framework.

The unfinished research project and the desire to bring Vietnamese people specialized nutritional formulas still smoldered in the scientist’s heart. With encouragement and support from the Ministry of Health, Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh decided to develop this nutritional product line himself.

In 2010, Nutricare was born, carrying the enthusiasm of Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh and his colleagues who worked with him at the National Institute of Nutrition.

The first product was developed based on the formula that Dr. Minh had cherished from the previous project. This scientist achieved a favorable business start when the product was always in a state of “out of stock”.

The CEO recalls the exciting early days of starting his business: “When the project’s products were completed, we gave them to our officials who had young children and received very positive feedback. At first, the products were given away for free, then they started asking to purchase for resale. At that time, production was not enough to meet demand.”

However, starting a business in a niche market is not easy, whether at that time or now. CEO Nguyen Duc Minh analyzed: “With extensive experience and financial potential, multinational companies have many advantages entering the Vietnam market. They are dominating the market. while domestic enterprises face several limitations in terms of capital, technology and training”.

Besides challenges, the Vietnamese nutrition market also opens up great opportunities for domestic brands. First of all, the shift in nutritional trends must be mentioned.

“We are shifting strongly from malnutrition to excess nutrition. This is clearly shown through the change in disease patterns. In the past, common diseases in Vietnam were lack of energy and lack of micronutrients. Now, overweight, obesity, metabolic disorders, high blood fat, gout, cardiovascular diseases, and bone and joint diseases are quickly increasing” said Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh.

According to Mr. Minh, this change is also happening in developing countries such as China and India. With the rapid development of socio-economy, people have numerous food choices. However, the limited awareness of nutrition causes a number of people to consume whatever they like. He emphasized: “We have put into our bodies the foods we like to eat, not our genes need.”

Meanwhile, any community, not just Vietnamese people, longing to become healthier and more beautiful. Nutrition is the key foundation to realizing those desires instead of just existence as before.

Moreover, each person also has specific nutritional needs, depending on factors such as physical condition, gender, age, lifestyle and exercise habits, developmental stage, etc., requiring a specialized nutritional approach. For example, a good nutritional regimen for a 50-year-old may not be suitable for a 17-year-old. Bodybuilders have a different diet from marathon runners.

Based on that need, “personalized” Medical Nutrition has become a trend in the world and in Vietnam. That is also the focus of Nutricare’s product development strategy: Providing specialized Medical Nutrition solutions for each subject, based on the foundation of understanding the physical condition of Vietnamese people.

With more than a decade of persistently pursuing the path of health care with Medical Nutrition, CEO Nguyen Duc Minh believes that the “home field” advantage is the key allowing Vietnamese businesses to succeed in this field. Explaining his opinion, he said: “Nutrition is very indigenous. Only Vietnamese people understand best the nutritional needs and culinary habits of Vietnamese people”.

Starting with the name Nutricare – Care for Nutrition, meaning care with nutrition, the brand always strives to bring suitable nutritional solutions to all subjects.

Persistently pursuing a unique direction, Nutricare curently owns the most diverse product portfolio in the market with nutritional care products for pregnant women, children, adults, the elderly and especially the Medical Nutrition product line to support the treatment of specialized diseases.

Mr. Minh shared his business philosophy: “We do not simply produce and sell products, instead, we create value for the community through knowledge and quality Medical Nutrition solutions”.

2023 marks a new development step for Nutricare on the journey of health care with Medical Nutrition. With the expectation of bringing international nutritional standards suitable for the physical conditions  and economic status of Vietnamese people, Nutricare has signed a cooperation agreement with the Nutricare Medical Nutrition Institute – USA (NMNI-USA) – a unit specializing in research and application of international standard nutritional science achievements.

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