Right in the heart of Hanoi, the brand “Silver Waterfall Salmon from Sa Pa and Sturgeon from Tam Dao” is now known among business people for its high-end dishes made from these premium specialty fish products.
Viet-Duc Investment and Trading Co., Ltd. is the first Vietnamese enterprise to breed Siberian and Russian sturgeon at Thac Bac, Sa Pa (Lao Cai province), and has been achieving success step by step. Accordingly, the company continues to expand its model, developing and supplying breeding stock to farms in several provinces in the North and South of Vietnam.
Venture
Driven by a legitimate desire to get rich, Mr. Nguyen Trong Cu (Director of Viet-Duc Investment and Trading Company Limited, abbreviated as Viet-Duc Company) has gradually succeeded in raising sturgeon and salmon, associated with brands named after famous landmarks such as “Silver Waterfall Sa Pa” (Lao Cai) and “Xa Huong Tam Dao” (Vinh Phuc).
At the “Silver Waterfall Sa Pa” restaurant, located at 44 Nguyen Thi Dinh Street, Trung Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District (Hanoi), Mr. Nguyen Trong Cu shared with us his experiences in risky investments. While living in the Federal Republic of Germany, upon learning about the research of Dr. Le Thanh Luu (former Director of the Research Institute of Aquaculture I) which showed that sturgeon and salmon could be successfully raised and developed in Vietnam, lawyer Nguyen Trong Cu conceived the idea and planned to return to Vietnam to build his unique business.
Upon returning to Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Trong Cu immediately sought out Dr. Le Thanh Luu to share his aspirations for applying advanced technologies from around the world to the breeding and development of sturgeon and salmon, both for breeding and commercial purposes, in his homeland. Mr. Cu’s investment and business plans were gradually accepted and supported by Dr. Le Thanh Luu and relevant authorities…
With the resilience of a man from Duc Tho (Ha Tinh province) who doesn’t shy away from difficulties, Mr. Cu invested his finances and time traveling to several sturgeon and salmon farms in Germany and other European countries to gather information, learn from experience, and contact leading experts to exchange ideas about sturgeon and salmon farming worldwide.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Cu is a very practical thinker who always wants to turn his dreams into reality. He is passionately building a “Model for clean, high-quality sturgeon and salmon from farm to table.” Based on this idea, and to honor the “Sa Pa Salmon and Tam Dao Sturgeon brands in particular, and to honor Vietnamese sturgeon and salmon in general,” Viet Duc Company has been successful at the “Silver Waterfall Sa Pa” restaurant in the heart of Hanoi, at 44 Nguyen Thi Dinh (Trung Hoa, Cau Giay, Hanoi), and at the Silver Waterfall tourist area in Sa Pa (Lao Cai), allowing visitors to enjoy fresh salmon and sturgeon dishes – sourced from the pure, clean water of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, originating from the summit of Mount Fansipan, the highest peak in Indochina.
Opportunity
Having spent 35 years studying, living, and practicing law in Germany, Mr. Nguyen Trong Cu’s “professional acumen” allowed him to quickly meet Mr. Udo Gross, one of the owners of a large sturgeon farm in Germany. Mr. Udo Gross’s family has a tradition of raising sturgeon and salmon for over 130 years. Impressed and impressed by Mr. Cu, Mr. Udo Gross agreed to accompany him to Vietnam to directly survey locations suitable for raising and developing salmon and sturgeon, in order to provide breeding stock and transfer technology to Mr. Cu.
After numerous visits to Vietnam, Mr. Udo Gross considered Vietnam his second home and became the supplier of breeding stock and technology transfer to Viet Duc Company; at the same time, Mr. Cu became the first person to receive the breeding stock and technology transfer for sturgeon and salmon farming from the Udo Gross family.
On the other hand, with the support of the General Department of Fisheries and the CITES Organization of Vietnam, Mr. Cu has built Viet Duc Company into a leading unit in breeding Siberian and Russian sturgeon in Sa Pa, Lao Cai province. From that success, he has expanded to supply fry to farms throughout the North and South of Vietnam. Currently, Viet Duc Company has two hatcheries in Sa Pa (Lao Cai) and Tam Dao (Vinh Phuc), producing over 500,000 fry and 100 tons of commercial fish annually. Building on this success, Viet Duc Company continues to regularly share and supply sturgeon and salmon fry to several fish farms and facilities in the North and some Southern provinces.
Mr. Cu also stated that, thanks to the assistance of the CITES management agency of Vietnam, Viet Duc Company is the only unit in the North granted CITES permission to import sturgeon eggs. Furthermore, Viet Duc Company is a pioneer in Vietnam, working with the General Department of Fisheries to conduct trials on the incubation of sturgeon eggs and fertilized eggs imported from Germany, and is the first to build a sturgeon breeding brand in Vietnam using German biological filtration and temperature-raising technology. Simultaneously, Viet Duc Company is also the representative of Coppens International Group – Netherlands, a leading global producer of sturgeon and salmon feed.
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Dream
Given the alarming state of water and environmental pollution today, Mr. Nguyen Trong Cu has always dreamed of contributing, through his practical actions, to bringing clean food into Vietnamese family meals.
In 2010-2011, the investment in sturgeon farming was very popular, but now farmers have either stopped farming or are only farming at a minimal level. This is because sturgeon of unknown origin, smuggled into Vietnam, is sold on the market at very low prices, only about 120,000-130,000 VND/kg, much lower than domestically produced sturgeon.
According to information provided by the official, approximately 600-700 tons of smuggled sturgeon enter Vietnam annually. Is there any agency that can guarantee the food safety and hygiene of this smuggled fish? Meanwhile, Vietnamese sturgeon farming, using clean farming processes and European standards, can produce significantly more, around 4,000-5,000 tons per year, with the Southern market consuming about 60-70% of the output. Yet, this Vietnamese sturgeon faces the pressure of falling prices compared to similar smuggled fish.
However, Mr. Nguyen Trong Cu shared his feelings with great enthusiasm and optimism, saying: “It’s fascinating that more than 100 years ago, the French chose Sa Pa and Tam Dao as tourist and wellness destinations, and now I choose this place to contribute to building the brand of Sa Pa Salmon and Tam Dao Sturgeon.”
According to Mr. Cu’s explanation, Silver Waterfall in Sa Pa (Lao Cai) is the source of water from the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, and Xa Huong Lake in Tam Dao (Vinh Phuc) is home to a vast area of pristine forest surrounding Xa Huong Lake, which boasts crystal-clear water year-round and a cool climate. These two locations have been proven highly suitable for applying clean technology to the farming and development of salmon and sturgeon. Mr. Cu also stated that with European breeds, feed, and technology, combined with the diligence and creativity of Vietnamese people, high-quality, clean salmon and sturgeon products that many countries in the region aspire to produce will be created.
