Young entrepreneur squeezes grapefruit for what it’s worth

A farmer sells grapefruit in Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai Province. Grapefruit grown in Tan Trieu Village have become famous across the country for their unique flavour.

Grapefruit orchards in Tan Trieu Village are branching out into supermarket aisles across the world, thanks to the efforts of local resident Nguyen Thanh Sang.

Born and bred in Tan Trieu, Dong Nai Province, Sang spent 10 years far away from his village searching for a lucrative vocation but it wasn’t until he returned that he hit on his niche market.

"People in Tan Trieu use to grow betel plants but in 1869, a priest brought two grapefruit trees from Brazil and residents in the area asked to take a cutting and grow it in their gardens. Since then, grapefruit trees have become part of the landscape," Sang says.

"Tan Trieu grapefruits are delicious but for a long time the fruit was only ever eaten by local people," he adds.

Seeing an opportunity ripe for development, Sang established the website www.buoibienhoa.vn and a trademark registration at the National Office of Intellectual Property.

He also established the Que Huong Tan Trieu (Tan Trieu Homeland) Company to sell the grapefruit to supermarkets, purchasing machines from the Academy of Science and Technology in Ha Noi to clean the fruit so he could boost saleability.

By 2004, Tan Trieu grapefruits were adorning shelves in big supermarkets in HCM City and Dong Nai Province, packaged in nets and labelled with expiry dates.

And a year later Sang was to reap more profits as an overseas Vietnamese in Germany signed a contract with him to import Tan Trieu Grapefruit to the country.

Branching out

The success of the business has led Sang to set up four branches of the company in HCM City and Dong Nai Province, as well as export the fruit to the Netherlands and Germany.

It’s an achievement that has been felt by many local people in Tan Trieu.

"Thanks to Sang, Tan Trieu grapefruit is now known over the country and we farmers have a better standard of living," said Tran Van Chau, resident of Vinh Hiep Village.

But it doesn’t look like the budding businessman will be resting on his laurels anytime soon with intentions to diversify his production by opening a candy factory using grapefruit as the main ingredient.

Sang’s future looks fruitful in more ways than one, according to Dr Nguyen Van Khai from the Academy of Science and Technology.

"Sang is an enthusiastic businessman and I believe he’ll be more successful in the future," Khai said.

(Source: VNS)