The secret of beauty and freshness from coconut

The acceleration phase of Coboté

The entire investment of VFarm (Coboté) in Quoi Son, Chau Thanh district, Ben Tre province is 3 billion VND. It generated over VND 6 billion in income in 2021 from approximately 30,000 Coboté products and roughly 50,000 handcrafted products. Since receiving the Vietnamese High-Quality Goods – Integration standard for the non-food industry, Ms. Dinh Thi Hanh Tam, the CEO of VFarm Foods and Cosmetics Development JSC (Coboté), reports that the company has been contacted by a number of Asian partners, including Bhutan, for export connections.

VFarm has accelerated extraordinarily. After the firm received the third prize for a start-up initiative under the auspices of the BSA Center one year ago, Ms. Hanh Tam only thought of the local market.

Coboté (Beauté du noix de coco/Coconut Beauty) has garnered a growing number of people's attention. VFarm was founded in response to the need for items manufactured from indigenous materials.

"VFarm is targeting Millennials (GenY) consumers who prefer natural products," Hanh Tam feels this essential component will enable her to get more knowledge in the coconut business and extend product research and development on other agricultural products in the Southwest.

Coconut, also known as the Tree of Life, accounted for 65 percent of applications in the US cosmetics business in 2018. In Ben Tre, the coconut is an unseparated part, not only a source of food and medicine, but also fuel, building material, and countless more use.

Integrating forces

Participation in the coconut value chain is viewed as an exit for both farmers and businesses from their crisis situations. It is also the subject of various worldwide product development initiatives.

Hanh Tam, a French alumnus who majored in food research and development, defined that the firm must adhere to high standards from the first stage of input material to the last stage of marketable end-products. That is also the condition to ensure the survival of a microbusiness.

With limited resources, VFarm utilized the low-cost "small production" approach. The operation team continues to produce while simultaneously researching the market. VFarm offers a streamlined, ten-person system that strictly adheres to the notion of cosmetic good manufacturing practice (CGMP - Cosmetic Good Manufacturing Practice), and concentrates on resolving customer issues and addressing personalization demands.

"Ben Tre is home to 60 cooperatives and cooperative groups that serve as a link between companies and organic coconut chains; the province aims to develop 20,000 hectares of organic coconut by 2025... Hanh Tam explained, "When VFarm transitions to organic farming, linking to standard raw material regions will be the most effective method for controlling inputs."

Currently, VFarm uses organic materials to formulate 19 best-selling product lines, including shampoo, hair conditioner, lipstick, eyelash conditioner, and exfoliant among others. Through e-commerce platforms and natural cosmetic stores, VFarm was able to collect massive amounts of customer experience and preference data within three months, but it took three years to determine which goods were trusted.

"As the demand for natural goods rises, VFarm continues to experiment with coconut water, coconut nectar, activated carbon, etc., in order to utilize all the benefits of coconut and become the Vietnamese cosmetic brand capable of gaining the confidence of both local and international markets. It is also VFarm's ambition," Hanh Tam stated.