BAC TOM – Predestined with a farming career and a chain of clean food stores
With a sincere heart and experience in agriculture, Mr. Tran Manh Chien, director of Hon Dat Agriculture Co.Ltd, the founder of Bac Tom brand, has not only succeeded with Bac Tom’s clean food chain but also spread the value of these food products to customers and farmers.
The story of Bac Tom’s clean food chain
After nearly 20 years in the consulting role, with a passion for natural agriculture, and clearly realizing the inadequacies in the clean food industry, Mr. Tran Manh Chien decided to step out to build the first store at No. 6, Nguyen Cong Tru street in 2010, laid the first brick for Bac Tom’s Clean Food Store. Since then, Bac Tom’s brand has been constantly expanded, both in terms of scale and product diversity.
At Bac Tom’s store, customers can choose from a full range of safe and nutritious products for family meals. Bac Tom commits:
(1) Ensuring traceability of each product from the garden;
(2) Field experts in the area to supervise the vegetable production process;
(3) A specialized agricultural engineer to oversee the Southern fruit region;
(4) A quality controller to irregularly and periodically inspect the products;
(5) Commitment to take back and change the products if the customer is not satisfied.
As the leader and founder of the famous Bac Tom store chain, Mr. Tran Manh Chien, however, does not look like a CEO. If not introduced, perhaps no one would think that the plain, sincere, and “farmer-like” man is operating one of the largest, leading clean food chain in Hanoi.
Born in 1974 in Nam Dan district, Nghe An province, Mr. Chien decided to return to his home country to work as an agricultural expert and a project consultant for NGOs after graduating with a master’s degree in agricultural management from the Larenstein University (Netherlands). It seems that this contact has filled Chien’s love for farming, as well as brought him business opportunities.
The leader of Bac Tom said that the emergence of this clean food chain also originated from the market’s demand, and the awareness about the great influence of food on health.
Recalling the first days, Mr. Chien thoughtfully shared: “In the first 6 months, the store suffered constant losses. We took a lot of efforts to talk directly with customers, to educate them about the work we are doing to survive, to supply clean food for them. Moreover, Bac Tom also invested in organizing tours and invited customers to the farm on weekends”. The good thing is that after 6 months of hard-working and struggling, Bac Tom gradually gained the trust of customers and started to make profits.
Sharing about the early days of the business, Mr. Chien said that his family was not supportive: “In the beginning, when there was no profit, I spent my own money, but when I expanded the business, I couldn’t do that anymore, I had to call for cooperation. When there were signs of success, colleagues are happy to contribute, participate as shareholders, share risks and profits because I myself could not handle it”.
Up to now, Bac Tom has built a chain of 18 standard stores, spread throughout Hanoi’s inner districts.
The connection with farmers is a factor that helps Bac Tom get clean and fresh foods, but that connection is not natural. Love and trust were built up thanks to Mr. Chien’s efforts and sincere heart.
The long journey ahead
Sharing about Bac Tom’s road ahead, Mr. Chien’s eyes shone with pride and hope. He said that Bac Tom in the near future will increase the application of technology in production and help people to more closely monitor the production process. In addition, the store chain will diversify products, aiming for products that are not only more special but also have better nutrition quality. The special thing is that in the coming time, Bac Tom will bring more convenient and closer to the dining table products to customers. Currently, Hon Dat Agriculture Co.,Ltd, – Bac Tom is accompanying the Eco Fair project to register for the Fairtrade certificate of the WFTO organization. Furthermore, Bac Tom also clearly understands that raising consumers’ awareness of supporting clean products and eco-fair products is also very important, thus Bac Tom has enhance communication to customers, added more posters and leaflets about sustainable consumption, therefore they can understand better, and the support will surely increase. Commenting on the clean food market in the near future, Mr. Chien “believes in strong development”.
