Challenging road ahead for agriculture startups

Nguyen Ngoc Huong, managing director of Quang Thanh Food Co., Ltd. have launched a startup producing Orama instant centella powder as they were cherishing the idea of creating centella powder to replace freshly pressed centella drinks, which function as a nutritional drink.

Huong recalled that her team faced myriad difficulties in the first days as no suitable processing technology for making such items was in place in the market.

“In making Centella powder, the drying and grinding processes are the most time-consuming, and it is also challenging to preserve the freshness,” Huong said.

Nguyen Thi Cac Thuy, founder of family-owned Tay Cat Co., Ltd., which creates fruit scrolls under Tu Bong brand, recalled that since launching a startup in 2013, she thought of retreats many times due to numerous hardships.

“The biggest difficulties at that time relate to sale and quality control, which require both knowledge and experience,” said Thuy.

Besides the difficulties in the initial period, agricultural sector startups also find extreme hardships with upscaling.

Nguyen Phi Van, chairwoman of the Vietnam Anger Investor Network (iAngel) noted that domestic agricultural startups might be good with their products but to reach the global markets, they need to be supported by experienced people.

“Upscaling needs diverse factors, and it is extremely hard to do it alone. Finding a companion is important. Upscaling requires competency and mutual trust,” Van opined.

According to Nguyen Lam Vien, chairman and CEO of Vinamit JSC, a major dried fruit producer, people are now showing greater care to natural products for health protection. "Meanwhile, Vietnam still offers ample space for development in the agriculture and food sectors," Vien said.

Vien proposed startups in the agricultural sector to invest in science and technology, learn about biotechnology, and even molecular technology to become well-prepared for future development. "They also need to acquire patents for their products, avoiding imitations in later periods," he added.

If the forecast of the Vietnam Open Innovation Ecosystem Report 2022 comes true, Vietnam could be among the rising startup stars in Southeast Asia.

The report was released under the auspices of the National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation Development and the National Startup Support Centre of Vietnam, implemented by BambuUP, a Hanoi-based one-stop digital platform set to facilitate meaningful connections among startups, corporates, and investors.

The report is expected to be officially released at the end of November at the Vietnam National Innovative Entrepreneurship Day 2022 (Techfest Vietnam 2022).

The logistics sector has been the bottleneck for Vietnam’s economic development, but offers plentiful opportunities for local startup companies with the application of technologies.

After months of challenges and faults in the global ingredient supply chain, peaks and valleys are the landscape for Vietnamese drug giants in their first-half performance, and several factors remain that could damage their operational prospects in the months to come.