DateLine Vietnam: The Almighty Motorcycle

In Vietnam, the first thing you will notice is the hordes of motorcycles that swarm and buzz like thousands and thousands of bees.

Motorcycles are not only used as transport people but also to transport everything.


(used to transport BRICKS)


(bamboo, wood etc)


(foam for mattresses. Vietnamese houses are small and so there are few beds, just mattresses laid on the floor)




(to pull a food cart)

DateLine Vietnam: What Do You Think This Building Is? (Look At Pic Below)

Is This a Mansion of an Ultra-Rich Vietnamese?

Is it a Vietnamese Museum (and there are many in Ho Chi Minh City)?

Is it a stately Government Office of a Vietnamese High Official?



It is just the Mano Mano Beauty Salon in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City.

DateLine Vietnam: Today I Start a Series on Business Life in Ho chi Minh City (or Saigon)

Last August 22, my friend and I took a short trip to Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon for those as Old as Me). We took PAL using their Fiesta Promo fare which worked out to less than P7,000 only.

The flight is only 2 hours and you land at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. The Main Entrance view of the airport looks very much like Centennial 2 of PAL but it is very clean and orderly (that's what being communist does, I guess).

Unlike NAIA and Centennial 2 wherein you are forced to use the horrendously expensive highway-robbery Airport Taxi, ordinary taxis are allowed to pickup fares (in fact, the taxi we boarded has a dispatcher with a radio right at the Arrival driveway.

We road a Innova Taxi (most of the taxis are Innovas and some Vios, hurrah to Toyota) driven by a lady driver. Flag down is VN Dong 10,000 (or P23 only; cheaper than P30 in Manila))



And, so we are now in Ho Chi Minh City, a thriving city that is now the envy of a lot of Southeast Asian countries. Would you believe San Miguel Beer and C2 is produced here!!!

With So Many Similar Products like Scramble, Packaging Look May Be The BIG FACTOR!!!

Take for example the Scramble phenomenon. There are so many scramble brands being offered now. I do not know if buyers can tell the difference between them. Look at the two pics below:


(courtesy of matakaw-ako.com & Icebreaker scramble)


(courtesy of scramble king)

They look almost the same. What do you do?

At the AFEX 2010, some booths displayed packaging of everyday products:


(courtesy of robin ent)





EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT IS PRODUCT ACCEPTABILITY IS PACKAGING ATTRACTIVENESS.

Asia Food Expo: Roasted Chicken is a Hit!!! (Check-out Chooks-to-Go at the Supermarket for P169 only)

Chooks-to-Go is a product of Bounty Fresh and thru their partner-Supermarket, they are selling so much!!! The chicken is marinated and for the price, it is even cheaper than Andok's or Baliuag. AND IT TASTE SO GOOD!!!

At the Asia Food Expo 2010 or AFEX 2010, I saw displayed at the HKR booth a Henny Penny Rotisserrie, which is like the Mercedes-Benz of Rotisseries made in USA. It runs on electrics (as required by some malls) and costs a heart-stopping P365,000, more or less. There are LPG-powered units that cost a lot less but check first with the mall if they allow LPG-fired rotisseries.

This could be another Fad or it could stay for a long time if you can keep the cost down. Shopwise has been selling their hickory-flavored, garlic-flavored etc roasted chickens and they used to always get sold out.

Beats having to cook at home when both couple are working.

ASIA FOOD EXPO 2010: How About Swiss-made Brewed Coffee in a Capsule for Just P30 per cup? Think of the Profits You Could Make Selling a Cup at P70!!

During the Asia Food Expo 2010 or "AFEX 2010, I came across Nespresso. I thought it is Nestle but it is not. Nespresso is also from Switzerland (as the Nestle Corporate Office is also there) and they have a NEW WAY OF SELLING BREWED COFFEE:

1. They have their own proprietary Nespresso Espresso Machine

2. The coffee beans have already been ground and I think vacuum-sealed into capsules (see the green round thing beside the Expresso Machine in the pic below)



3. You place a cup under the spout, insert the capsule into the slot & press the button for 1 cup. Needles inside the machine pierces the capsule and as with an Espresso machine, high-pressure steam meets the ground coffee.

4. Taste is supposed to be better as the steam hits the coffee capsule at a much higher pressure than ordinary espresso machines.

5. I was surprised that the coffee showed a prominent CREMA (coffee froth) on top of the coffee.

6. Capsules come in different coffee strengths to suit taste.

7. Lastly, each capsule cost P30 ONLY meaning you could make a GOOD MARKUP.

8. Machines start at P60,000 plus or minus and up depending on the features (automatic, semi-auto or manual)

ASIA FOOD EXPO 2010: Make Your Own Baked Goods and Supply Coffee Shops

Do you know that most of the Branded Coffee Shops in the country sell coffee and various baked goods like pastries, croissants and even pan de sal but most of them do not have their own bakery. How do they do it?

There are small business entrepreneurs and big-time caterers who supply the baked goods to these coffee shops and are probably earning a lot considering that most of these baked goods including donuts are selling for a fortune.

At the AFEX 2010, there were a couple of outfits selling food and baking ingredients, to wit:





(To make the ABOVE baked goods, you need. . . )



Would you believe that everything on the Tree Display below can be eaten??? It CAN!!!

ASIA FOOD EXPO 2010: I Like This!! Coffee Vendo Machine for P34,000. Sell Coffee for P10 and Earn 40%!!

Towards the rear end of the World Trade Center Hall, I chanced upon this Korean booth selling a Coffee Vending Machine for only P34,000. Here are the features:

1. It can be Coin-operated (no need of bantay or salesperson) or it can be Manually-operated;

2. When you insert the coin (say, 2 pcs of P5 coin) and press the One-cup button, a disposable cup (6 or 8oz maybe) drops down the front and starts filling with 3-in-One coffee;

3. The rear of the machine looks like a water dispenser because there is a place to invert the water refilling container (just like your dispenser at home, see pic)



4. The Korean will supply both the dispenser and the coffee in pouches ala starbucks.

5. I tasted the coffee. It is not brewed but it tastes strong enough.



6. You have a choice of coffee, mocha or chocolate-flavor.

ASIA FOOD EXPO 2010: For The Do-It-Yourselfers, Where to Buy Affordable Kitchen Equipment??

During the AFEX 2010, visitors saw a plethora of foreign-branded kitchen and restaurant equipment for sale and selling at huge prices. What if the would-be small business entrepreneur cannot afford these brands and is looking around for affordable local suppliers?

Don't fret. At the Asia Food Expo 2010, I saw 2 outfits, Gomeco and Binondo Metalcraft selling affordable kitchen and restaurant equipment.
(pic courtesy of gomeco)

Other choices but did not exhibit is Almedah (they are a long-time fabricator of grillers, ovens, stoves etc to local burger franchises and you can also try going to the Quinta Market in Quiapo where there are many stores selling kitchen and restaurant equipment.


(courtesy of binondo metalcraft)

AFEX 2010: ASIA FOOD EXPO: Want to Start Your Own Mr. Softy or Snowpy Soft Serve Ice Cream? Then, You Need This.

At the huge Technolux booth is the Taylor Soft-serve Ice Cream made in the US of A. High-Quality. Maybe the Rolls Royce of Soft serve ice cream. This is the same machine used by Jollibee for all their Rocky Road sundaes. The machine is not cheap, about P265,000 (vs maybe P50,000 for the Taiwan brand) but Technolux claim a higher 40% more yield per kilo of soft serve ice cream mix!!! Do the math.

For those who cannot afford a Rolls Royce, there were also soft serve ice cream machines made in Taiwan, Korea (cost as much as Taylor, don't know why) and China, I think.



Don't decide on cost alone. You have to think about yield (or how many cones can you do with a kilo of mix, after sales service when it breaks down and it will, availability of parts etc).

AFEX 2010: ASIA FOOD EXPO: Food Ingredients from Cosmic Chemical

I came across Cosmic Chemical as they had on display freshly-baked Pork Floss Bread a la Bread Talk.

Though the size displayed was about 3/4 the size of Bread Talk, I was surprised when the exhibitor said food cost with the pork floss is only P5/pc (P3.50/pc without pork floss).

And if you must have pork floss, the cosmic guy said he knows of a baker in Davao who uses pork floss lookalike but it is much cheaper because it is made of soya!!! Imagine pork floss taste without the fat!!!!

Also, displayed where donuts in a different shape made from their food ingredient and donut maker.