Ms. Van's "river fish" fall

From a special gift

Born and raised in the old Hai Duong province, businesswoman Cao Hong Van (born in 1976) started a career in Quang Ninh as a garment worker.

But it seems that thanks to her job as a sea worm fish making, many people later became aware of her garment company Newstar (Ha Long ward, Quang Ninh province), even though her garment products are already available in many places across the country.

Before making seaweed, she always has a headache in choosing gifts to thank partners and customers who buy and sell raw materials and garment products of the company.

Then one day, she thought about making sea worm fish sauce, because sea worms are delicious, rare and endemic, only found in Quang Ninh, most of which are concentrated in Van Don. Speaking of sea worms, almost everyone who loves seafood knows and immediately thinks of Quang Ninh. In the market, the price of a dry scale of sea worms is sometimes equivalent to a tael of gold.

"Samsam water is a product that almost every family uses, but there is almost no mangrove fish sauce before. The special thing is, just add a very small amount of sea worm along with other ingredients, such as fresh anchovies, mackerel, shrimp... then the fish sauce will have a sweet taste. It's a natural sweetness. I am very allergic to pasta and preservatives, so at first, making seaweed fish sauce was mainly used as gifts for customers, family and relatives" - Ms. Van shared.

The beginning of the fish sauce business of the company owner was not simple, because she had no experience or knowledge in producing fish sauce. Before starting production, she rushed to read, researched documents and then spent more than a year traveling all over the country to learn from the experiences of traditional fish sauce companies and production facilities. She went to the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City to learn about food technology and prevent risks in food production.

Ms. Van recounted that, except for eating and sleeping, she is always present in the lab to research and test the formula. The smell of fish sauce is so over her clothes and hair that people say she has... the smell of fish sauce.

The first liters of seaweed fish sauce were also shipped. After using the gift product, friends and partners gave positive reactions and suggested that she produce a large quantity to buy for the agency as Tet gifts for staff and workers. It is these suggestions and encouragement that have motivated Ms. Van to continue expanding her production scale.

Coming to a 4-star brand

In 2018, Ms. Van decided to build a Van Don seaweed processing factory for commercial production with a total investment of over 50 billion VND in Khe Ngai village, Doan Ket commune, Van Don district, in the old Van Don district, to take advantage of the abundant and fresh seafood from the locality as raw materials for fish sauce production. Also from here, the brand "Van Don Vanbest Seaweed Fish Sauce" is resonate further and further.

The formula and production technology sound very simple but are the result of a multi-year self-study, research and experimentation process of the owner of Cao Hong Van garment company. They are fresh anchovies, mackerel, shrimp and sea worms... mixed with sea salt, naturally fermented for 12 months or more and occasionally reed, sunburned. In particular, the fish sauce does not use chemicals, does not contain impurities, but has the characteristic aroma of traditional fish sauce, has a salty taste but is not harsh, the sweet aftertaste of fish sauce and sea worm.

In the early years, the factory produced about 40,000 liters per year, but now it has produced over 200,000 liters/year.
Not a Van Don person - a place with a long-standing traditional fish sauce making profession and also a professional, businesswoman Cao Hong Van is a pioneer in the production of sea worm fish sauce, creating another high-class OCOP product of Quang Ninh.

In 2020, the product was honored to be in the top 10 leading brands and in 2021 it reached the top 10 famous in Asia - Pacific awarded by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations.

In addition to seaweed fish sauce, in 2021, Ms. Van continued to launch the market with dried shrimp salt and Phu Trang seaweed salt products, specializing in cooking and seasoning dishes. This is the only salt product on the market produced from crystallized salt during the process of separating water from Van Don seaweed fish sauce to increase the water level of natural fish sauce.

From here, an unsaturated salt content in the fish sauce excess contains a certain amount of protein from the sea fish and has the flavor of fish sauce. This salt source is processed with shrimp and sea worm powder, so it has a fragrant, naturally sweet taste suitable for boiling dishes and cooking broth without the need for additional spices to create sweetness. The product has also been recognized as a 4-star OCOP.

Businesswoman who is both a garment maker and a fish sauce maker Cao Hong Van has been awarded many titles and awards, such as: Golden List of Dai Viet Entrepreneurs in 2010, 2011; Golden Golden Heart Award - Outstanding Vietnamese Businesswoman in 2013; Golden List for the cause of building and developing Quang Ninh province; Cultural Entrepreneur - Women's Artist in peacetime and Red Star Entrepreneur in 2014; many years received Certificates of Merit from the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Union, Certificates of Merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for their outstanding achievements in the Quang Ninh Young Entrepreneurs movement.