2 girls from Nghe An confidently bring organic products to conquer the 'sharks'

Shark Tank Vietnam season 5 - Episode 4 features Pham Thi Kim Dung - President and founder of D2 Nut Milk and Tran Giang Lam - Business Director and shareholder of this company. The product that these two young businesswomen bring is D2 nut milk with the hope of calling for 3 billion VND in exchange for 10% of shares from the "sharks".

With this product, Kim Dung said, not only stopping at the desire to lose weight and detoxify of women, but D2 also wants to bring the core value of building a green lifestyle and wants Vietnamese people to use Organic products at reasonable prices.

2 young female entrepreneurs at the program. Photo: Contributor

D2 nut milk is originally juice from vegetables, tubers, and fruits. After nearly 2 years of experience with 5,000 customers, the startup has worked with nutrition experts to research a nut milk line that is different from conventional nut milk lines when the main ingredients of this product are organic vegetables, tubers, and fruits. Currently, the raw material area of ​​D2 nut milk is located in Nam Anh commune, Nam Dan district (Nghe An).

The company has 5 main types of nut milk: weight loss detox nut milk; lactation boosting nut milk; vitamin nut milk from tubers and fruits; fiber supplement nut milk; nut milk for diabetics. Each package has a convenient calorie count that can be carried anywhere, can replace daily meals, within 2 weeks if following the drinking regimen, you can lose 3 - 4 kg.

The startup also said that the company currently has more than 30 agents and 5 distributors, including 2 exclusive distributors. The rate of returning customers is 70%. Current revenue is 600-700 million VND/month. The startup aims to complete the operating system, production process and factory system in 2022 to expand production scale and complete the raw material area with foreign organic certification. In addition, this business also sets a goal of achieving a growth rate of 3 times the current revenue in the next 5 years, from 20 billion VND to 60 billion VND.

Kim Dung said that D2 nut milk has been certified for food safety and hygiene, HACCP, ISO and recently the US FDA. Photo: Contributor

Having a lot of experience in the food business, Shark Phu asked 4 important questions to better understand the startup's business model: protection and registration of the quality of the formula, maximum capacity of the raw material area, product cost structure on the selling price and production process, and the commercialization ability of the business.

Answering these questions, Kim Dung said that D2 nut milk has been certified for food safety and hygiene, HACCP, ISO and recently the US FDA. The product has also been licensed for circulation. Regarding the raw material area, the startup has been allocated 5 hectares by an investment fund of a foreign corporation, the company has 2 hectares being planted with Organic certification and people have also planted 10 hectares.

Shark Phu then asked how much revenue 1 hectare of raw materials would generate for nut milk. Kim Dung said 1 hectare would generate revenue of 150-200 million VND/month.

Products that two young girls from Nghe An brought to the program. Photo: Contributor

In addition, this young businesswoman also said that the weight loss nut milk is the company's most expensive product at 350,000 VND/box of 15 packs, the cost price accounts for 40% including packaging and marketing costs. Shark Hung immediately commented that the cost price percentage is high, if the cost price is like that, the selling price must be even higher. Agreeing with Shark Hung, Shark Phu said that with a cost price of 40%, when operating at a large scale, the startup is likely to suffer a loss.

Answering Shark Hung Anh's question about the product's market and the company's profits, Kim Dung said that she has an online channel in Nghe An that is selling quite well. The startup also has an exclusive distributor in Ho Chi Minh City and completes 100-200 million VND in sales each month.

After listening to Kim Dung's answers to the questions, Shark Phu said that if the startup's sales reach 1,000 billion VND in 3 years, he will invest. Shark Phu also wanted the startup to answer more about what it needs to invest in if it wants to generate 1,000 billion VND in sales, how many hectares of raw material area, and how much money is needed for machinery and equipment. Kim Dung said that the startup will not be able to increase sales to 1,000 billion VND in the next 3 years, but she is confident that she will be able to do it after 10 years. Shark Phu then decided not to invest.

Shark Hung Anh commented that this project has a lot of potential but the startup needs more time, investment in processes and machinery, and then possibly calling for the next round of capital investment. This project is not suitable for him personally, so Shark Hung Anh also decided not to invest.

D2 nut milk did not meet Shark Lien's criteria, so Shark also refused to invest in this startup. However, she still supported the startup by bringing D2 nut milk products to the women's community.

Shark Binh assessed that the startup's products were well-made, the founder had a passion for his job and his products, and was admirable for his spirit of helping farmers and promoting the use of organic, safe products. However, his expertise was not in the manufacturing field, especially in relation to agriculture, so Shark Binh did not invest.

“Usually startups love their products, but as investors, we focus on the ability to replicate. In fact, a useful product is one that we have to sell to many users for it to have value. We may not be successful in Shark Tank, but hopefully after you guys have completed it and made better progress, maybe we can meet again in the next season,” Shark Phu concluded.

Founder Kim Dung said that in the next 5 years, Vitamin D2 will continue to strive, invest in machinery systems with the most modern technological lines, expand raw material areas, research more products to cover the whole country and reach international standards. Photo: Contributor

Sharing with Nghe An Newspaper reporters after this program, Kim Dung said that although D2 was not suitable for the development orientations of the Sharks, for her, passing the qualifying round, entering the recording round, meeting the Sharks was a joy for her and D2. "The most successful thing I received was that 2 girls from Nghe An had the courage to overcome difficulties, stand on television to spread inspiration about the GREEN - CLEAN - HEALTHY lifestyle to everyone", Founder Kim Dung said and said that in the next 5 years, Vitamin D2 will continue to strive, invest in machinery systems with the most modern technology lines, expand raw material areas, research more products to cover the whole country and reach international level.