Sure, I can help you with that! Here’s a revised version of the text: “The Master of Finance Turned Entrepreneur: How the ‘Leftover’ 10 Tons of Pomelos Propelled the Founder of Klever Fruit to Success with 55 Retail Stores of Imported Fruits”

0 interviews, all related information associated with Mr. Hai are observations about the fruit and vegetable market – an area that the 7X man has been pursuing for almost two decades.

Throughout nearly 15 years of starting a business, Mr. Hai was “reluctant” to appear in the press and media, because of the thought of “good actions, more than a thousand words”. In later years, he was more open about providing market information, but still reluctant to share about himself.

In a rare interview with Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hai, the 7X founder said that in recent years he has thought more about the need to share. Because he himself was inspired to start a business thanks to the encouragement, he had stumbled long enough to see the bright and dark sides of business and “maybe out there, young people are also solving the same problems as me.”

PV: Hello Mr. Hai. 15 years ago, the social context was completely different from today: GDP was only 1/3 of what it is now, the concept of imported fruit was something luxurious… Why did you decide to choose to start a business with imported trees?

– Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hai: Since 2005, Vietnamese people have had a terrible obsession with food hygiene and safety. Many people were very afraid of the story of a row of vegetables for home consumption and a row of vegetables for sale. Or there are apples and pears that are bright red, and can still be fresh for a whole month. That obsession made many people dare not eat fruit.

Based on this reality, I came up with the idea of selling a product that ensures food hygiene and safety with a commitment to “what I eat, my son eats and only then will I sell”. In 2005, the idea of opening Klever Juice store selling fruit juices that are beneficial to health was born.

In March 2005, I opened the first health-benefiting fruit juice store at BigC Thang Long. Later, the model was replicated in 12 stores in shopping malls in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

At that time, I really liked making grapefruit juices, so I went to the Mekong Delta to negotiate and meet with the head of the cooperative to get Nam Roi grapefruit for distribution. They agreed but on the condition that a minimum of 10 tons must be imported.

However, in the first week of selling grapefruit juice, I consumed 100kg. A modest figure compared to the 10 tons of finished products already imported. At this time, I had to find a way to sell all 10 tons of grapefruit, because if it was damaged, it would be a great waste. With 12 juice stores available, but I couldn’t sell them there because of the initial commitment with the supermarket and the shopping malls that we were not allowed to sell finished fruits, only fruit juices.

Another coincidence at that time, I walked past No. 80 Son Tay Street – Hanoi, saw that the store was vacant. My wife and I asked about the rent and had to pay up to 20 million VND per month. We started to open a grapefruit store, drawing a large logo in the shape of a grapefruit with the current appearance of Klever Fruit.

After selling for two weeks, I knew I couldn’t distribute all the grapefruit. However, during this time, many motorcyclists stopped by to ask about cherries, apples, and imported grapes… I discovered that there was a potential market for new and strange types of fruit.

At home, I searched for stores selling temperate fruits such as grapes and cherries… and found that there were not too many models. At that time, imported fruits were mainly imported in small quantities and there were few varieties and quantities.

With English proficiency, I went to Yahoo! to find and negotiate to import fruits from a US fruit company. After many emails back and forth, they agreed to export but had to import a minimum of 600kg of grapes, and the full amount must be paid in advance. I remember it was about 100 million VND, a large amount at that time 15 years ago.

When there were 600kg of grapes in the store, many nights I tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep, wondering how to sell all the imported grapes. I made a program, let customers taste, called to introduce new products to them. When customers buy, I continue to call to ask about their experience.

Later, many people told me that it was the first time they had such an experience. Buy fruit but also be asked if you are satisfied, are you happy. After about two weeks, thanks to these programs, I sold all 600kg of grapes, at the same time, laying the first bricks for Klever Fruit. I was really lucky.

Studying Applied Finance and Securities – fields that are not closely related to retail, do you think you are reckless when venturing into a new field?

– I once asked my cousin, who is the owner of a large and very successful business, ‘Can you succeed if you do something you know nothing about?’

My cousin said, ‘At first, I didn’t know anything either. No one knows what will happen in the future. But when you like and continuously learn about it, one day, you will become an expert in the field, even a high-level expert.’

Before, I used to work for the state, then I was lucky enough to receive a government scholarship to study in Australia in Applied Finance and then a Master’s degree in Finance. After that, I went to VCCI, working in macroeconomics, accompanying diplomatic delegations on business trips abroad. Thanks to that, I was able to meet many businesses and was greatly inspired to start a business.

After nearly 10 years of working for the State, until 2005 I quit my job and started a business. When I first started, I lacked information completely. I had to continuously search for what I didn’t know in both English and Vietnamese.

When I had the opportunity to visit gardens, I asked a lot. The first time I went abroad to learn about the process of planting and exporting fruit in 2011, I was really excited. I went to apple and grape gardens, talked to people whose family had been farmers for four generations. Coming to New Zealand, I asked how to know if the fruit they grow is clean and safe. They led me to the irrigation water tap, turned on the water and drank it. Saying that to see, all the water sources and their processes meet the standards, can be used directly into the body.

Up to now, I still keep learning and gaining knowledge about fruit and business in general. I can talk to you for hours about this topic without getting bored or tired. I know that when starting from zero, if I explore and spend time on it, I can become number 2, number 3, or even number 10.

When you have faith, many customers are willing to spend a small fortune to enjoy fruit at Klever Fruit’s medium-to-high prices. But before that, how did you build trust with them?

– At first, I was very confused. Obviously, I’m doing it for real, but I can’t shout it out to the whole world. Initially, we hung the original documents certifying the imported products according to the law at the store, but customers didn’t believe it, because according to them, the documents could be photoshopped.

At that time, while doing business, I had to find a way to prove my honesty. In July 2012, I organized the Washington Cherry Festival at the second store on Nguyen Chi Thanh (Hanoi). At that time, there were a lot of customers coming to experience the product. The press also came to spread the news.

A week later, I received a call from the US Embassy. They said that the Agricultural Attache – Ms. Jeans Bailey would come to the store to visit and experience the product. I still remember clearly how surprised Ms. Bailey was when she arrived right when the store was importing cherries from a refrigerated truck.

From that moment, we saw her convinced when she “saw and heard” about a store that preserved and preserved cherries so respectfully, so that the quality from the time of harvest to the hands of Vietnamese consumers was still guaranteed as in her homeland, half a world away.

We also shared the difficulties in building trust and asked whether she could confirm that we were importing genuine products from the US. Ms. Jeans Bailey said that the Embassy does not have the function of signing such documents. But according to her, the fact that she, on behalf of the Embassy, appeared at Klever Fruit was a clear indication of the authenticity of the products. We can communicate at the store, or on social media about this.

Thanks to that, later we boldly cooperated with many Embassies, Associations, and growers in many countries around the world to promote their products in Vietnam. This brings trust to Klever Fruit customers, while effectively supporting exporting countries when exporting goods to the Vietnamese market.

I realized that just do it honestly and the affinity will come, it may take a little longer but to position yourself and gain trust from users cannot burn the stages.

Doing a math problem, currently, the price listed on Klever Fruit’s website for Shine Muscat grapes ranges from 1.2 million to 4 million VND, about 50 USD-150 USD. This number is equivalent to 1/3 of the average income per person/month of Vietnamese in 2023. When the challenge of trust has been solved, how do you continue to face the problem of selling price?

– Shine Muscat grapes are one of the most premium products at the store. In addition, there are still affordable and more affordable products.

However, going back to the story of the price, when doing business in any industry, we also need to consider the story of market positioning. Klever Fruit’s products are positioned in the relatively high-end segment. Currently, Klever Fruit’s price is still high, but I absolutely do not sacrifice quality for a good price.

Along with the high-end customer group, we are researching to have a better approach to the popular customer group. Although it is a popular product, the issue of nutrition and hygiene is no less than that of high-end products, only the model is a little lower.

Because after many years, I found that a garden with a yield of 1 ton will only have about 100kg of fruit of excellent weight, color, sweetness, crispness, 200-400kg of average quality, and the rest will be small fruit, dull color, less sweet. For the latter group, in terms of basic nutrition, it is the same, but the appearance is not attractive, so the price is only 50% or 60%.

On the current “golden” streets, there are Klever Fruit stores, and sometimes customers only need to go 2-3 km to find a Klever Fruit imported fruit shop. How do you choose a sales location?

– I still keep my original wish, what is most beneficial to customers I will do. I want to choose a location where Klever Fruit is always within the customer’s eyesight, just pull over and they can buy our products.

When you see a prime location, others will see it too. The rent for these locations is often high. Therefore, we are also expanding the online distribution channel, nearly 50% of Klever Fruit’s revenue comes from this channel. When going online, it’s a different story.

In the past, our advantage was that the store was large and beautiful, in a prime location. But now, it can be a disadvantage because the rent will be high. Now many people live in an apartment, but their revenue is the same as a store, while they don’t have to pay taxes, infrastructure costs, or cold chain maintenance costs… If we don’t change in time, yesterday’s advantage can become today’s disadvantage. Sometimes you have to deny yourself. Don’t think that you already have strengths, so you don’t dare to innovate, don’t get out of your comfort zone.

Facing this difficulty, what should we do? I decided to do more programs, more promotions. When a customer comes to the store, I have to create something different for them. I emphasize the element of entertainment. The experience in the store must be different from the online experience, so that today they buy online, tomorrow they like to come to the store.

Now we do business in the style of O to O, online to offline. In the future, Klever Fruit will redesign the store. With the new model, customers can come to experience and have more fun.

How do you make sure that the fruit reaches all 55 stores with the same quality?

– This question reminds me of our whole journey. It wasn’t after one night that we had 55 stores. The first store I opened in September 2009. At that time, we told each other that we would only open the second store after clearly identifying the business model of the first store.

In the first year, whenever I had free time, I went to the store, weighed the goods, sold them to customers, and talked to them a lot. I saw that customers had many wishes and the business also had many problems. I started to build my own procedures for each process, from transportation, sales, handling complaints… All are summarized.

Throughout the entire supply chain, from purchasing to selling, I have to control everything so that no link is broken. These processes are continuously checked and updated according to market changes.

Thanks to the uniform procedures, the fruits are exported and imported entirely by the cold process, ensuring freshness. When there are procedures, I open the number of stores very quickly, even 2-3 stores in a month.

Vietnam is a tropical country with an abundance of fruits, which are cheap. How do you convince customers to try and buy Klever Fruit’s imported fruit products?

– I have never thought that imported fruit products compete with domestic ones. They complement each other. Because there are temperate fruits such as apples, grapes, and cherries, which cannot be grown in our country. Or if there are, the yield is small, and the flavor is different. Each country will have its own season, climate, and soil, so the fruit flavor is also very unique.

In addition, I started a fruit business based on market demand, so I don’t need to prove that my products are good. It’s hard for me to prove that apples or pears are better than mangoes or rambutans, or that cherries are different in terms of taste. Many customers are tired of eating tropical fruits, so they