Kao Sieu Luc: Letting his wife keep money, losing the brand built 20 years after divorce and a push with ABC Bakery

From a relative, friends and language barrier, 20-year-old Kao Sieu Luc then had to do enough jobs to support his family. Then the unpredictable fate brought Kao Sieu Luc to the baking profession and established the famous Duc Phat cake brand.

illustrious past

For Saigon people living around the 1990s, Duc Phat is a brand of cake that no one does not know.

Founded in 1984, Duc Phat is the result of the constant efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Kao Sieu Luc and Ms. Du Duc Phat. The brand name is taken from the wife's name with the desire to "take virtue to spread".

Initially, Duc Phat only sold sponge cakes, but then Mr. Kao Sieu Luc tinkered with and learned recipes to make new cakes. In turn, sweet French croissant bread, coconut net cake, later bread and packaged cakes were launched and quickly won the hearts of Saigon people because of their fresh taste and reasonable price.

In particular, the good coordination of the couple, a production person, a financial manager has pushed Duc Phat brand further and further.

"She's Van - sitting in the office, responsible for finances. I'm Vo - going to "beat" the world. The books and money are all managed by her hand," Mr. Kao Sieu Luc once shared. shared so at an event held in early 2019.

However, the cracks in the marriage began to appear and became more and more serious. In 2005, the two officially went to court, ending their marriage after more than 20 years of marriage.

On the court date, the couple agreed to divide the property by themselves; The court only deals with the division of trademarks. The owner and owner Duc Phat agreed to split 10 stores each, but the Duc Phat brand was a bit difficult. His wife proposed dividing into Duc Phat 1, Duc Phat 2. But Mr. Luc decided to choose for himself the brand name Duc Phat-Vina Bread.

However, this division is not good, because the identity systems of the two brands have too many overlapping points. If one side does not do well, the other party will definitely suffer because consumers are easily confused. In the end, the two parties agreed that only one person would keep the Duc Phat brand name and the receiver had to pay the losing side 1 million USD. After thinking, owner Duc Phat agreed to pay 1 million USD and keep the brand.

Before leaving, he asked his wife: "My wife and I work together, co-own, how do you feel about taking all that part?". After that, the "bread king" received an answer that he still remembers to this day: "This is only for you. You do not look at the books, you only care about the world."

Kao Sieu Luc said: "She said "don't look at the books", so because I don't know, I have to study. I have to do it myself, look at the books myself." This is also a bloody lesson that the whole life of the "bread king" can not be forgotten, and it is also a painful opportunity to help a talented man realize his shortcomings to perfect and develop more on the way. Future.

To start

After the divorce, the most valuable asset that Kao Sieu Luc has is 3 children. Children are the great motivation to help him stand up and build a completely new brand with the name ABC - a combination of the English names of his three children: Anglela, Bruce and Christine. translated into Asia Bakery Confectionery (Asian confectionery production enterprise).

Starting a second business with 10 stores and a workshop in an unfavorable location, the "bread king" then faced many difficulties. His biggest challenge in the first 2 years was to manage capital flow, even he had to mortgage his house to manage and quickly earn money back. Not backing down, Kao Sieu Luc still opened new factories, imported more machinery and equipment, turned challenges into opportunities because he saw the future in his efforts and anticipation.

Having learned from the bloody lessons, after building ABC, Kao Sieu Luc taught himself to manage the financial - accounting books of ABC and the administration. He admitted that these jobs are not as difficult as he thought, because "all have problems - formulas, I just follow them".

However, when the problem of bookkeeping is solved, there is a problem of technology. Accepting the trend of the times, Kao Sieu Luc invested many technological machines in the production of cakes to promote production. With the mindset that "experience in combination with technology will produce perfect results", he decided to put those new devices in the hands of experienced bakers. However, the reality is quite the opposite when the old skilled workers are not familiar with and cannot adapt to the machines.

Understanding the problem, the "bread king" turned to using young workers to operate the new machine, while the veteran employees were transferred to check the quality of finished products of batches. , if there is a problem, it will be reported to the young workers to adjust the device. This clever calculation and arrangement brought great success to Kao Sieu Luc. Step by step, step by step, Kao Sieu Luc gradually regained his once brilliant aura.

Find the throne

Thanks to the flexibility to innovate and innovate to keep up with trends and customer tastes, and strict management, ABC is increasingly developing and mastering the game in a volatile market.

In the mid-autumn season of 2007, ABC Bakery cooperated with Walt Disney, printing its famous cartoon characters on each cake. This is considered a milestone demonstrating the "breaking of the fence" in Kao Sieu Luc's business method when before, his business thinking was "make sure to wear durable", only interested in product quality without considering the quality of products. emphasis on advertising. As a result of this breakthrough, in just one Mid-Autumn Festival 2007, more than 400,000 ABC moon cakes featuring Walt Disney's famous cartoon characters were sold.

In 2007, Kao Sieu Luc brought ABC to become the first enterprise of the Vietnamese bakery industry to join the International Bread Association. Also in this year, ABC Bakery opened its first store in Phnom Penh, a test for its export strategy to more demanding markets around the world. In 2008, he was honored to be invited to the jury of the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie contest, which is likened to the national cup of bakers in the world, taking place in Paris (France).

At this time, foreign brands rushed to dominate the domestic market, instead of confronting them, he turned them into partners and became suppliers for international fast food chains.

From the original 10 stores, ABC Bakery has grown to more than 35 stores and 4 processing factories. ABC's customers account for 98% of the fast food market share in Vietnam. Not only that, ABC Bakery of Kao Sieu Luc is also a supplier for international fast food chains and famous supermarkets and convenience stores.

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