In Season 7 of Vietnam’s Shark Tank, Episode 4, Director of the Toan Thuong Agricultural Cooperative, Ms. Vuong Thi Thuong, presented a unique delicacy, wind-dried pink guava, with aspirations to take it global. According to Ms. Thuong, this particular variety of guava with a yellow ring around its center is only found in Van Lang district, Lang Son province.
“I lived and breathed guava to develop a production process for the yellow-ring guava with the ambition to help my region’s product grow and reach new heights. With nearly 2,000 hectares and an annual yield of over 10,000 tons, the main source of income for the people of Van Lang depends on this fruit. However, during bumper crop years, the price of guava plummets, and there are no buyers,” shared Ms. Thuong, a story all too familiar with Vietnamese agricultural products.
“The ethnic minority women in my hometown couldn’t escape poverty and hardship. This fueled my motivation to find a solution to change the fate of the guava and the people of my hometown,” the cooperative director expressed.
Increasing the Product’s Value by 20 Times
After two years of research, in 2022, Ms. Thuong boldly took out a bank loan to build a factory and purchase machinery and equipment for wind-dried yellow-ring guava production. This product is easy to transport over long distances, has a long shelf life, and can be sold year-round, thereby increasing the value of this specialty fruit of Van Lang by 20 times. The Toan Thuong Cooperative currently guarantees the purchase of up to 80% of the guava yield from the farmers.
The cooperative’s two main product lines are heat-dried guava and handcrafted wind-dried guava. According to Ms. Thuong, the standout feature of wind-dried yellow-ring guava is that “after 10-12 days of hanging, the astringent taste is completely removed. As a result, the creamy guava is delicious and doesn’t feel hard or dry.”
Ms. Thuong aimed to raise 5 billion VND in exchange for a 15% stake in the company. The valuation was based on two factors: existing assets and market demand. The factory was valued at 10 billion VND, and Ms. Thuong currently owns four technologies that have been valued by the Institute of Science. The female director plans to develop the cooperative model into a company to ease the Sharks’ concerns about investing.
Regarding finances, Toan Thuong’s revenue in 2023 was 6 billion VND, with a profit of 2.1 billion VND. The revenue targets for 2024, 2025, and 2026 are 10 billion, 18 billion, and 40 billion VND, respectively. With the capital raised from the Sharks, Ms. Thuong intends to invest in modern production lines to increase output and continue researching new products while expanding production.
Sharing more about her entrepreneurial journey, Ms. Thuong revealed that in addition to the 2 billion VND loan, her family and in-laws mortgaged their houses to support her investment in the project.
Shark Le My Nga praised the Nung female director but decided not to invest as the current business model of Toan Thuong was not a suitable fit.
Shark Pham Thanh Hung also withdrew due to concerns about the processing and preservation technology. However, he proposed combining Ms. Thuong’s product with his tea brand for commercialization and export to developed countries.
The Cooperative Director Immediately Presents the Contract for the Sharks to Sign
Shark Nguyen Hoa Binh highly appreciated the product’s value and the efforts of the ethnic minority people. He also mentioned the context of cross-border e-commerce development, which has led to an influx of cheap Chinese consumer goods, creating challenges for Vietnamese consumer goods businesses.
“Your product is very suitable for our D2C (direct-to-consumer) strength. You will definitely have to livestream, and I may even join you,” said Shark Binh. Currently, the Toan Thuong Cooperative sells its products through both online (40%) and offline (60%) channels, mainly wholesale.
Based on this assessment, Shark Binh offered to invest 5 billion VND, with the first 1 billion VND for a 20% stake based on the assumption that the enterprise’s assets (after excluding land) are worth 4 billion VND. The remaining 4 billion VND would be a preferential loan after the initial disbursement of 1 billion VND.
For Shark Minh Beta, while confident in supporting media and exports to Europe, this field is relatively new to the Chairman of Beta Group. Therefore, Shark Minh proposed joining the deal with Shark Binh. Their joint investment offer was 2 billion VND for a 33% stake and a preferential loan of 3 billion VND.
Shark Nguyen Van Thai, impressed by the “alliance” between Shark Binh and Shark Minh Beta, decided not to make an investment offer. Instead, he committed to providing free support in science, technology, and preservation techniques to help the product meet export standards.
After consulting with her experts, Ms. Thuong agreed to the proposal from Shark Binh and Shark Minh: an investment of 2 billion VND for a 33% stake, with the condition of excluding land from enterprise assets, and a 3-year convertible loan of 3 billion VND, which can be converted into shares based on market valuation or a CAP (ceiling price) of 20 billion VND.
Immediately after closing the deal with the two Sharks, Ms. Thuong couldn’t hide her excitement and created a surprise in the studio.
“I brought a ready-made contract here for the Sharks to sign immediately. I want to tell my whole village that I have succeeded,” expressed Ms. Thuong. However, Shark Hung reminded her that due diligence was necessary before signing any contract.
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