A young man passionate about the brand 'Thanh Chuong Chicken'

(Baonghean) - After graduating from university, with many invitations to stay in the capital Hanoi, but the love for his hometown and the "fate" with his hometown cuisine kept Nguyen Ngoc Toai returning to Nghe An. And he was successful with the restaurant branded "Ga Thanh Chuong"...

Born into a military family in a poor rural area in the midland district of Thanh Chuong, from a young age, not following the family tradition, Nguyen Ngoc Toai nurtured the dream of becoming a successful businessman.

However, Toai always kept in mind that “leaving farming, never leaving home”. Thinking is doing, he returned to his hometown right after obtaining a bachelor's degree in business administration in the capital city of Hanoi.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Toai skillfully arranges the food. Photo: Phuong Thao

The young man's idea at that time was to build and develop a chain of restaurants with a rustic style; the cuisine was meticulously and methodically invested but had to be refined, preserving the characteristics of his homeland. However, how and where to start to gradually realize his dream were still questions that made him ponder a lot.

And then he decided to choose Thanh Chuong hill chicken to implement the idea, because his hometown has full potential to raise chicken with delicious meat quality, but people have difficulty consuming it, the chicken does not have its own brand in the market.

Not only that, some stores, for the sake of immediate profit, "magically" turn dirty and toxic foods into dishes on the table, putting customers at risk of disease from their meals. That further motivated him to build a clean food brand, creating trust for customers.

Combined with that was the policy of Thanh Chuong district at that time, which was making efforts to build and develop the Thanh Chuong hill chicken project. Starting from a small restaurant named Thanh Chuong Chicken in lane 2, Nguyen Van Cu street (Vinh city), then, Nguyen Ngoc Toai started borrowing money to open a restaurant at number 40, Dinh Le street, Vinh city, also named "Thanh Chuong Chicken". With the slogan of building the Thanh Chuong Chicken brand with the people of Thanh Chuong, at first, many difficulties surrounded the young man, making him discouraged many times.

The restaurant's space is luxurious but still very intimate. Photo by Phuong Thao.

The food is carefully selected by him, ensuring freshness and quality, so the import price is not cheap; meanwhile, many diners do not know about the restaurant, so losing money happens all the time.

But that doesn't mean he would use low-quality, low-priced food to replace it. He always keeps in mind that customers must be the center, reputation goes hand in hand with profit. From then on, he spent more time researching and preparing dishes with different recipes to create his own brand and attract diners.

Right from the raw material stage, he personally went back to his hometown to carefully select. Gradually, the name of Thanh Chuong Chicken restaurant became famous not only in Vinh city but also in many other provinces and cities. Not stopping there, to further promote the Thanh Chuong Chicken brand, he also developed a mobile party and event segment throughout Nghe An province.

That is why, every time the Thanh Chuong Chicken brand is mentioned, the name Nguyen Ngoc Toai cannot be forgotten. He said that in the summer months, the restaurant's revenue is nearly 1 billion VND/month, in the cold season, there are many events, the average revenue reaches approximately 1.5 billion VND/month.

The success of the 28-year-old “country boy” has become a typical example in the youth start-up movement. In December 2016, he was honored to join the Party.

For him, those successes are just the beginning for him to go further in his career. He said: “Business always faces risks that you cannot foresee. But I believe that my passion for my hometown cuisine will help me overcome difficulties and continue to bring the Thanh Chuong Chicken brand to more customers, not only in the province but also in many other localities across the country”./.

Phuong Thao