Vinh Hoa is a famous brand name for mineral water in Binh Thuan Province in particular and Vietnam in general. Reporter Ngoc Huong of Vietnam Business Forum talked with Mr Nguyen Huu Dung, General Director of Vinh Hao Mineral Water Joint Stock Company, about his company’s development strategy.
Could you mention the strengths of Vinh Hao mineral water?
Vinh Hao was founded 1928 by the French and began commercial production in 1930. With premium quality, Vinh Hao mineral water was named Vichy Indochina. Vinh Hao mineral water has a high content of minerals (HCO3- ).
At present, Vietnam has many companies operating in the mineral water industry. Would you mind sharing the experiences that helped Vinh Hao survive, develop and become a leading brand in Vietnam?
Vietnam had many types of mineral and purified waters, but consumers could hardly differentiate mineral waters from purified waters. This led to numerous difficulties in selling Vinh Hao products on the market. Consumers confused mineral waters with purified waters. Meanwhile, the price of purified water was equal to that of mineral water, but the quality was different. At the same time, the mass media ran many stories complaining about the quality of purified waters. To cope with the situation the company launched a development strategy in 2002, to regain customer’s trust and lost market share with the marketing message “why do you have to drink purified water at the price of mineral water.” That marked a milestone for the recovery of Vinh Hao trademark. Production output jumped from 15.6 million litres in 2001 to 30.2 million litres in 2003. Vinh Hao is gaining more and more market share and is proud of being the first Vietnamese mineral water exported to choosy markets like the United States, Canada, Australia and Taiwan. This is an important development for the company. This is also the pride of Vietnamese consumers.
How has Vinh Hao applied its measures and policies to develop its trademark?
In 2006, the company invested in a modern production line to manufacture new products with better designs and higher quality for well-to-do customers. I think if this strategy is successful, it will be a milestone for Vinh Hao in the future.
Can you talk about how Vinh Hao mineral water established its distribution network to bring the product to the consumer?
I think it is not easy to bring a new product to the customer, and the establishment of a distribution network to bring the product to the customer is even more difficult. The formation of a network needs much effort and a good relationship between the producer and the customer. At present, Vinh Hao has set up a distribution channel, primarily basing on the quality of the renowned Vinh Hao mineral water. To date, our network has reaches all provinces and cities in Vietnam. We are planning to supply our mineral water to railway passengers.
Ngoc Huong
Vietnamese
