After 12 years of striving, Mr. Huy and Mrs. Trung have built a business that many people admire.

Tu Huong milk shop, owned by Mr. Truong Minh Huy and Mrs. Le Thi Trung, has been open in Hoi An town for 12 years. This is neither a long nor a short journey for a business household. 

Like many ordinary families across Vietnam, where husband and wife opened shops together, Mr. Huy and Mrs. Trung also faced many difficulties at the beginning of their business. Switching from footwear and stationery to the dairy business was not an easy path for them. The first steps were always difficult and arduous, and the couple from Quang Nam also had to try and strive a lot. Due to a lack of capital, they could not spend much on importing products and dealing with clearing inventory issues. Furthermore, selling dairy products requires a lot of nutritional knowledge, so they have to research and learn from other sources in order to give the best advice to their customers.

A strong belief in themselves

Telling the story of the journey from zero to nowadays success, Mr. Huy shared: “When I decided to change dairy business, I was very nervous and everything seemed to be strange initially. But my wife and I have put everything into this store, the whole family agreed and devoted all our heart to the dairy and nutritional products store.”.

6 years ago, he selected Nutricare as a new product on his store shelf. Over the years, Nutricare’s milk has sold well, gradually becoming the brand that occupies the majority of its display shelves.

Mrs. Le Thi Trung (Mr. Huy’s wife) at her stall in Hoi An

Recalling the first day when choosing Nutricare products for business, the first company employees to come to him to ask for cooperation, and they did not set him a contract commitment or required monthly sales amount. They believed that, with the quality of Nutricare – specially researched to suit the Vietnamese conditions – Mr. Huy and his wife will conquer even the most demanding customers, then the store revenue will improve. Through that sincere and trusting encouragement, he felt he needed to challenge himself and the company.

“I suggest 3 months of trial sale without any commitments and after 3 months, I will sit down and discuss with the company’s people about the cooperation. But the first 3 months have had remarkable initial achievements,” Mr. Huy said. “Customers were very satisfied. When buying a product for the first time, they are still hesitant. But after using and figuring out all the nutritional advantages and benefits of the product that have a good impact on their loved ones and children, they come back to buy again.”

In the first years, sales of Nutricare milk were relatively stable given the size of their store. But Mr. Huy is constantly thinking and always looking for more development. Up to now, the sales of Tu Huong stores have always been stable at a high level despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 epidemic which is still having a significant impact on the overall economy of Hoi An city.

Having this achievement is not easy at all. Contrary to normal “perception”, Mr. An is the main consultant for customers in the early days of selling products. Thanks to his advice, there are many customers who have been with the store for up to 5 years and always trust Nutricare products.

Mr. Huy & Mrs. Trung (middle) took a photo with store staff and Nutricare staff.

At the same time, he also created a two-way feedback channel, in which he acted as an intermediary, transferring customer feedback to Nutricare, thereby improving product quality and after-sales services. “Products that want to be sold should match the requirements from both sides. When the quality is good, customers tend to buy the product after using it and want to come back to buy it again, that is the success of the company. Thanks to that, the store actively sold many products to get today’s results,” Mr. Huy shared.

Learning from more than a decade of selling nutritional products, Mr. Huy said, the most important thing is to know how to put your trust in your partner, in the people around you, and in yourself. He said: “I take all my ability, my knowledge to win the trust of customers“.

Mr. Huy’s shop is always trusted by customers thanks to their dedicated and cheerful advice.

Accompanying for development

Another special thing at Tu Huong store is that they treated each other as family members. Ms. Hoa has been with the store for 12 years since the first day they entered the nutrition industry. Newcomers, after a little getting acquainted, can also feel close as a family.

According to Ms. Trung, besides work, they do not hesitate to listen and share the personal and life stories of the people who work in the store. The comfort and closeness of shop owners made the employees of the Tu Huong store all call them “brothers” and “sisters” in a friendly and affectionate manner. Also at this store, Ms. Hoa found her predestined relationship, attached, and built a family with a salesperson from one of the shop’s partners. It is thanks to that intimacy that has also contributed to the success of Tu Huong store as it is today. They always think that they will accompany like-minded people and help them make the store grow stronger.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 epidemic appears, when most people, especially business households in Hoi An ancient town in particular and the whole city of Da Nang in general, where the main source of income is from tourists, fell into difficulties due to the pandemic, but Tu Huong store still maintains the positive result. They even recruited more people to help take care of the store and advise their customers. Although sales have decreased a bit, as Mr. Huy said, like from 10 to 8, but that’s not too bad.