Finding Markets for Startup Products

Dong Nai is a province with strong potential to promote entrepreneurship and the establishment of new businesses. An increasing number of enterprises are entering the local market, providing products and services to consumers.

Production at Toan Thang Agarwood Facility. Photo: Vuong The

Startup enterprises are making significant efforts to find market outlets for their products. However, for new brands, this remains a challenge. In addition to the efforts of the enterprises themselves, support from the State and relevant departments and agencies is essential to enhance brand recognition.

Efforts to Find Consumer Markets

Toan Thang Agarwood Facility (Long Khanh City, Dong Nai Province) specializes in producing jewelry bracelets, hairpins, essential oils, perfumes, and agarwood incense. The facility also cultivates and supplies seedlings of Aquilaria crassna as raw materials for production. Currently, three products from the facility, agarwood stick incense, agarwood cones, and agarwood bracelets, have been certified as 3-star OCOP (One Commune, One Product Program) items by the locality. However, business operations still face many challenges.

According to Pham Xuan Toan, owner of the facility, the main limitation of the products lies in their small-scale, manual, and self-initiated production model. Like many other startup products, Toan Thang Agarwood Facility is making efforts to obtain additional certifications from relevant departments and agencies to secure a stronger “passport” to enter the market.

Similarly, the High-Tech Agriculture Project for Developing a Cordyceps Militaris Mushroom Cultivation Chain, initiated by Ms. Tran Thi Tham, won third prize at the 2023 National Startup Awards organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

According to Tham, her company, Rong Viet Technology Investment Co., Ltd. (Trang Bom Commune, Dong Nai Province), has launched various products processed from cultivated cordyceps. While these products have gained considerable consumer interest, the business remains small in scale, relying mainly on e-commerce platforms and regular customers, with limited connections to major commercial distributors.

“We operate under a closed-loop production and distribution process, which allows us to maintain consistent product quality and competitive pricing across all cordyceps-based and other product lines,” Tham explained. “Our primary goal is to expand consumer markets, strengthen supply chain connections, and collaborate with farming households to scale up production.”

Surveys of startup enterprises and newly established small and medium-sized businesses show that their common aspiration is to elevate their operations and position their brands in the market. To achieve this, access to modern distribution channels is essential. However, placing products in supermarket systems remains highly challenging due to strict procedural and documentation requirements. Although the market is broad, brand and product recognition among startups and production facilities remains limited, underscoring the need for solutions that encourage and promote enterprise development.

By the end of September, Dong Nai is expected to host a conference on technology demand-supply connection, commercialization of scientific and technological products, innovation, and raising investment capital for startup projects. This event will be part of the Dong Nai 2025 Festival of Science, Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transformation.

Connecting and Supporting Startup Products

In recent years, Dong Nai has issued policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises, including programs aimed at fostering innovation. The province and related units have also organized startup competitions to identify promising solutions and projects to support and promote development. However, compared to the province’s potential, these steps remain limited, and the projects and products emerging from these competitions have yet to make significant breakthroughs in growth.

Throughout the startup process, many stakeholders have suggested that local authorities should implement preferential financial mechanisms, adopt more flexible policies, and strengthen communication and promotional efforts for startup product brands. These measures would enhance the credibility and competitiveness of such products in the marketplace.

The products of a startup enterprise participating in a program organized by the Dong Nai Young Entrepreneurs Association in 2025. Photo: Vuong The

Tran Thi Tham shared that Rong Viet Technology Investment Co., Ltd. is developing and expanding its cordyceps cultivation facility model to other localities within the province. By linking with farming households through technical and technological support, while also guaranteeing product consumption, the company aims to build an effective urban agricultural model that not only generates income for urban residents but also leverages broader social resources.

Sharing the same perspective, Le Thanh Cong, owner of Cong Rustic Coffee (Long Khanh Ward, Dong Nai Province), noted that the establishment has processed a variety of coffee products for the market, including several specialty product lines. At the same time, it has actively participated in trade promotion programs organized by local authorities and industry associations. Despite these efforts, sales remain limited.

“We hope to receive more support from supermarkets, distribution channels, and local authorities. Participating in trade promotion and product branding programs helps improve brand visibility, but this is a long-term process that requires continued support from the State and stronger connections among startup enterprises,” Cong shared.

By: Vuong The

Translated by: Thuc Oanh - Minho