Overcoming Vacetco and Sokfarm, Vinasamex has just become the winner of the Community Entrepreneur Award – Blue Venture Award season 4
VINASAMEX., JSC, which has more than 10 years of operation in the field of cinnamon and anise production, aims to raise the value of Vietnamese cinnamon trees in the international market, raising incomes for highland people.
Nguyen Thi Huyen, CEO of Vinasamex, said that the company’s main business products are cinnamon and anise.
Huyen’s charm with this product stemmed from the first time he went to work and had to take guests above the anise forest, covering the surrounding space and anise and cinnamon trees.
Farmers there share that more than 50 hectares of star anise forest are being cultivated by ethnic minorities, 90% of which are Tay and Nung people, 95% of which are women.
They do not know what the use of the product is and where the product can be sold, only that the finished product is brought to China for sale and often in a state of price pressure. When they cannot sell, they will have no money to cover living expenses as well as no conditions for their children to go to school.
(Source: Vinasamex)
Understanding this problem of farmers, seeing farmers forever poor because they do not have other thinking and ways of doing things, Huyen sees her mission and wants to do something for Vietnamese farmers, helping people consume the products they make.
Vinasamex was born.
Realizing that it cannot depend on the Chinese or Indian markets and must create competition with different values, Vina Samex has many plans to affirm the brand of Vietnamese cinnamon and anise on the world spice map.
In 2016, Vinasamex applied for international certification in the 4 most advanced markets: the US, Europe, Japan, and Korea.
If before the enterprise only exported raw products, now the enterprise has invested in researching many other types of products such as flour, essential oils,… branded Vinasamex.
Vinasamex is also a supplier of raw materials for many domestic and foreign companies producing food – beverages – pharmaceuticals.
The way that Vinasamex has implemented is to participate in many international fairs, meet directly with customers to introduce its products, invest in market research, and build brand development strategies,…
Currently, B2B customers from Europe, the US, Japan, and Korea account for 90% of Vinasamex’s revenue, while with B2C channels, this business is distributing on e-commerce channels, organic food stores, and some supermarkets,…
During her 10 years with Vina Samex, Huyen is proud to have fulfilled two of her big dreams.
The first is to help ethnic minority people change their lives when supporting 15,000 farming households in Lao Cai, Yen Bai, and Lang Son provinces to change their perceptions and change their lives.
Secondly, there are impact projects on gender equality, when influencing 1,225 women to understand gender equality, enhance the role of women, and be more independent and confident in life,…
Vinasamex’s factory has also created 300 job opportunities for local people. In addition, Vinasamex also regularly has sessions to share with farmers the standards of agricultural products of the world.
This enterprise also advocates discussing with farmers not to use chemicals on raw material areas, in order to ensure environmental issues and fight climate change, and use organic products in factories and waste classification to improve environmental responsibility, and social responsibility.
Despite being affected by the pandemic in the past two years, Vinasamex’s revenue still grew strongly with VND 151 billion in 2020 and VND 275 billion last year.
Huyen aims to IPO Vinasamex in 2026.
In the short term, the company will expand factories in Lao Cai and Lang Son to produce cinnamon and anise-intensive products, supporting job opportunities for local workers and contributing to helping other provinces and cities convert crops to increase income.
Vacetco and Sokfarm tied for the second prize of Blue Venture Award season 4 and the total prize value (including the first prize) are up to 400 million VND. In addition, the winner of the contest, Vinasamex, will receive consulting and coaching support from the program’s advisory board to have the opportunity to receive crowdfunding through the international fundraising platform INDIEGOGO and the support of sponsor Pernod Ricard Vietnam.
