CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION ABOUT DONG A MANUFACTURING & TRADING

LIMITED COMPANY (DONG A COMPANY)

Summary of this chapter:

 Brand story of “Bentre coconut candy” – The woman named Hai To
 About DONG A company: technology, product quality, organise structure
 Overview of Dong A’s supply chain

1. “Ben tre coconut candy” - Brand Story

Mrs. Pham Thi To, who is also known as Hai To, pioneered creating and protecting
the brand "Ben Tre coconut candy". It has helped her make a great turning point in her
life. The image of "Ben Tre coconut candy" has been attached to the old woman wearing
glasses, on the label as well as in the mind of consumers.
Mrs. Hai To who is a typical western woman is honest, affectionate, hard-working.
At that time, she alone struggled with many jobs to earn a living for her and eight
children. No sooner had she realized that these jobs were not enough for her family to
survive than she changed to another job.
Ben Tre has a vitality from coconut and coconut is attached to the people of this
land. In the past, it contributed not only to the convenience of daily living and significant
economic improvement. For that reason, she turned to coconut candy industry.
Ben Tre coconut candy was born. In initial stage, Hai To faced many difficulties
from raw materials, processing, manpower with rudimentary tools. She thinks that good
quality of candy is the main factor that satisfies customers. So that she is responsible
for many sections from selection of each frech coconut to overseeing candy cooking
process.
Dong A Company has about 400-500 workers for production. . Factory scale is
nearly 3000m, daily workshops about 7-8 tons of coconut meat enter then squeezed
juice and processed into coconut candy. Coconut candy is not only for domestic
customers but also exported to China via Lang Son border gate to exclusive agents.
The precious achievements obtained by Dong A company with the brand "Ben Tre
coconut candy" represents the striving and the development of a unit from leaderships
to workers:

 05 Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Trade - “For 5 consecutive

exporting years 2000-2005”
 02 Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Finance – “For good fulfilling of
tax payment obligation”
 01 Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Industry – “Achievementfortask
performancein 2001”
  Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development awarded "Golden Rice Flower"
for the brand “Ben Tre coconut candy” in Can Tho International Fair 2001
 03 Golden medals - “For good product at Ha Noi Eximpo Fair in 2002”
 01 Certificate of “High quality Vietnamese product” at Ha Noi Eximpo Fair in
2002
 01 Golden Lotus Trophy for “Corporate with good business”
 01 Golden Trophy “for the product in 2005”
 01 Super trophy for “Strong brand in 2005”
 01 Thanh Giong Trophy for “National Typical Businessman ” in 2006
 01 Golden Rose Trophy for “Good business and social activities ” in 2006
 01 Medal for “Top100 reputablebrand for efficient export” by the Ministry of
Trade and Industry in 2008
 Certificate from the Ministry of Trade and Industry for: “Prestigious Exporter in
2007”
 Commemorative medal for “The development of Vietnam Industrial and
Commercial Section” in 2010.
Dong A company has 9 lines of coconut candy products such as: Mixed Coconut Cany,
Soft Coconut Candy with peanut, Original Coconut Candy, Soft Coconut Candy with
Durian, Coconut Candy with pandan leaf, Soft coconut candy with taro, Hard coconut
candy wih peanut, Hard coconut candy with pandan leaf, Hard coconut candy with
durian.
Alternatively, this company produces not only coconut candy but also banana candy,
milk soufflé.
2. Technology, Quality and Organise Structure
Dong A Company has been in the market for more than 20 years with quality
products. Now most of the products meet the ISO 9001- 2015 quality standards.
Although some of the early stages are automated, but packaging is made by hand.
Nevertheless, food safety and quality are always guaranteed. Ben Tre coconut candy
has been honored to receive the evaluation and reward of the Levels, Departments,
Organizations in and outside the country for many years. This is the motivation to help
the company make effort to preserve and sustainably develop.
At present, the structure of Dong A Company still has been structure of family
organization so the division between departments have not been clear as the
multinational company. The company has only three main departments. The operation
department is responsible for operating the company. The production management
department is responsible for input materials management, the factory and the
production process. Finally, the sales department directly manages the launch of the
product to the consumer market and customer relationship management.
Although the company has been small, it still has a clear goal. The company always
put emphasis on product quality, food safety on top. The long term development
orientation is to strengthen the domestic market as well as enlarge the export market to
all over the world. The slogan "Pure delicious from coconut - Protect the environment"
has long survived so far. Every coconut candy piece is not only well known by the
quality – natural taste from natural coconut but also includes generosity, strong spirit,
passion and gracious human dignity of the founder “Auntie Hai To”.
3. Overview of the Supply chain in Dong A company
According to what we’ve learned, a supply chain consists of all parties involved,
directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. The supply chain includes not
only the manufacturers and suppliers, but also transporters, warehouses, retailers and
even customers themselves. Within each organization, such as a manufacturer, the
supply chain includes all functions involved in receiving and filling a customer
request.These functions include, but are not limited to, new product development,
marketing, operations, distribution, financial and customer service. Generally, a typical
supply chain may involve a variety of stages, including the following: Customer,
Retailers, Wholesalers/Distributors, Manufacturers and Component/raw material
suppliers.
The supply chain of Dong A company also involves to five above stages. The first
step in the supply chain is to buy raw materials, including coconut, malt and some fruits
such as cocoa, durian, pineapple leaves,... This is the selection stage that must have
experience and thoroughness because it determines the overall taste of the product. Most
of raw material suppliers are many local people in Ben Tre City.
The next step is to produce coconut candy. The factory will use the raw materials
together with the technology and production chain to make up finished products. The
finished product is packed by many local labour. The packaging of candy is provided
by the outsourced company.
Coconut candy after being produced in the factory will be brought to warehouse
for preservation and distribution. However, the expiry date of coconut candy is from
two to three months, so level of inventory is medium or low. At this stage of
distribution, coconut candy will be delivered to the distributor (level 1, level 2, ...).
Then the distributors will distribute the products to the retailers and finally to the
consumers. The company has own transportation to delivery to th distributors.
The production of Dong A company depends on the customer request and season.
The spring when Tet holiday occurs is time of the most busy production. If the foreign
customers make a great order, they will separate order quantity into many production
that ensures the quality of candy. Whenever raw material price rises, production may
be reduced or the company accepts lower profit.
This is a large supply chain that includes many stages from production,
distribution,… to the consumer, so quite complex. So to ensure that stages are smooth,
supply chain management needs to be clear and effective. And to have an effective
supply chain, the most important thing is supply chain management to be effective.
In the following chapter:
Chapter 2. Analyse the supply chain strategy including strategic fit
Chapter 3. Analyse the supply chain logistics operations
Chapter 4. …