A spark within
When I studied abroad in Japan, I was always interested in the aisle of instant products, such as instant kimchi hotpot or instant curry packs. These products were all made using technology that is familiar by Japanese people over the past 50 years, Retort technology.
This was when the idea striked me. What if I could use this technology to pack the dishes made by Nghia's Mom like what the Japanese did with their curry. In other words, what If I can just pack a pho bowl or a noodle soup that are often sold on Vietnamese streets into instant packs. Then, I can just cook Vietnamese dishes everyday without the need of travelling to the restaurants. To make the idea come true, I then did some research into the Retort technology via different platforms.
When I came back to Vietnam and did a little research at the supermarket, I realised that while there were hundred types of different Japanese and Thai products made with Retort technology, there were limited types of Vietnamese instant products, the most popular one is instant poridge. This made me finalise my idea. I would like to diversify the instant Vietnamese food products made with Retort technology at a Japanese quality standard.
During 2020, as the peak of the pandemic further highlighted the need for instant products , the other three friends at Shizuoka university and I decided to bring the Retort technology to Vietnam and started applying to produce new Vietnamese instant food products. This was the breakthrough to our lives.