Founder of Vinh Thanh Dat: From selling eggs at traditional markets to selling liquid eggs globally

Truong Chi Thien, general director of Vinh Thanh Dat JSC, has been in the egg business since his university days. The company has become one of Vietnam’s leading egg enterprises, pioneering the introduction of packaged and liquid eggs to international markets.

From student trader to egg wholesaler

In the early 1990s, while studying finance, Thien noticed the abundance of eggs in his hometown while the prices in Ho Chi Minh City were higher. Seizing the opportunity, he began transporting eggs to city markets, pedaling from stall to stall to find buyers.

After graduation, Thien briefly worked an office job but continued selling eggs on the side. Within six months, he realized the industry’s potential and quit to pursue it full time. By 1995, after years of saving, he opened an egg warehouse in Cho Lon - the city’s largest wholesale market - cutting out middlemen and boosting margins.

Crisis and reinvention during the bird flu outbreak

Everything changed in 2003, when the bird flu epidemic devastated Vietnam’s poultry sector. Sales collapsed, customers defaulted, and Thien lost nearly 90% of his assets. Facing bankruptcy, he decided instead to reinvent his business.

With support from relatives and local authorities, he founded Vinh Thanh Dat JSC. For the first time, eggs in Vietnam were cleaned, packaged in blister packs, and supplied directly to supermarkets - a retail channel that had never sold eggs before.

Learning from abroad, innovating at home

To professionalize operations, Thien traveled to Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea to study modern egg processing, preservation, and testing methods. He adopted international standards, introducing machines for washing, candling, and packaging, as well as traceability systems that allowed each egg to be tracked from farm to shelf.

Today, Vinh Thanh Dat operates two processing plants in the southern province of Soc Trang and Ho Chi Minh City, working with roughly 20 chicken farms and 50 duck farms, and employing around 400 staff.

Why foreign players haven’t taken over in Vietnam’s egg sector

Despite Vietnam’s open market, Thien believes foreign investors have struggled to dominate the egg industry for several reasons.

Local households still account for a large share of production, and while foreign firms typically focus on chicken eggs, Vietnam’s market also has strong demand for duck and quail eggs - products that are more complex to produce.

Always looking ahead, Vinh Thanh Dat has tapped into global trends for humane farming. In 2022, its subsidiary V.Food introduced Vietnam’s first eggs certified by the U.S.-based nonprofit Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC).

At its Long Khanh farm in the southern province of Dong Nai, 6,000 hens were freed from cages in the first year, with expansion ongoing. A second humane egg farm followed in 2023.

From a student’s bicycle deliveries to supermarket shelves and now to international markets, Thien’s journey shows how resilience and innovation can turn crisis into opportunity - and how Vietnamese eggs are finding a place in the global food chain.

Vinh Thanh Dat exported the first batch of liquid eggs to South Korea

Seeing limited growth potential in Vietnam’s saturated fresh egg market, Vinh Thanh Dat has expanded into processed egg products alongside its core fresh egg business.

The company’s processed portfolio includes ready-to-eat eggs sold in convenience stores, as well as liquid eggs - peeled and pasteurized - for use by ice cream manufacturers, seafood processors, airline catering services, and five-star hotels.

Until recently, most of these products were imported. With Vinh Thanh Dat’s entry into production, domestic buyers have begun sourcing locally.

In May 2023, the company achieved a milestone by exporting its first container of liquid eggs to South Korea, marking the beginning of Vietnamese egg products entering global supply chains.

Today, liquid eggs - sold both domestically and internationally - contribute about 10% of Vinh Thanh Dat’s total revenue.