Nutricare committed to promoting quality of life

Nutricare general director Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh

Nutricare JSC is one of the leading manufacturers for nutritional products and medical supplements in Vietnam and was founded by scientists to provide Vietnamese people of all ages and genders with comprehensive nutritional solutions.

As such, Nutricare is also at the forefront of research and development of medical nutrition for patients, which is carried out at two modern factories that meet international standards and supply 50 product lines for 4,000 stores nationwide.

The company was built by doctors and pharmacists who specialised in nutritional food technology and established the firm with the desire to improve the nutritional status of Vietnamese people.

When applying for the Vietnam Value Programme, Nutricare chose some of its key products with very high market demand to participate. Part of the reason to join the programme was to create a driving force for all employees of the company to work together to innovate and foster our firm’s pioneering energy.

Being part of the programme means a lot to Nutricare, also because it is one of the youngest enterprises that participated and received this year’s award. Though Nutricare cannot boast a long-standing history and reputation, the company may have yet again convinced the judges with its dynamism, enthusiasm, and creativity.

To date, Nutricare has won 19 different titles and awards, but the Vietnam Value Programme was the most challenging so far with its rigorous appraisal process, both now and in 2018. Therefore, when Nutricare joined the programme, all corporate divisions were involved in the profiling process.

The company has organised a lot of activities to boost morale and efforts of staff to achieve the required criteria. Nutricare also made many commitments and implemented additional targets to become a business with pioneering capabilities, especially in the medical nutrition industry, which is still rather new in Vietnam.

One of the factors important for applicants is the evaluation of our market share by American research firm Nielsen. However, Nielsen did not have these numbers. Nevertheless, hospitals, such as K Hospital, the University of Medicine, and some of the largest national cancer treatment facilities, as well as their doctors and patients, all believe in Nutricare’s products. While Nielsen has its own way of making assessments, Nutricare overcame this thanks to the trust of local customers.

While Nutricare’s product coverage remains rather small – covering mostly only hospitals and healthcare facilities – only two international brands are competing with us in the country. Thus, Nutricare prides itself on its established albeit limited portfolio.

Nutricare’s factories and affiliated partners are spread across the country. Nonetheless, the core values are shared among all stakeholders, which are in line with the programme’s criteria for innovation, creativity, and pioneering capacity. However, the biggest concern was to convey and reinforce this spirit among the company’s staff. Through this programme, Nutricare hopes to preserve the high moral and core values of the company in the same way that it does.

Medical nutrition is a relatively new field in Vietnam, and locals have a very high need for specialised nutrition. Two phenomena stand out here: Many Vietnamese children are malnourished and stunted, particularly so in the countryside or among less affluent groups in the cities; and many Vietnamese adults have problems related to overnutrition.

The rising rates of people with metabolic disorders, osteoporosis, heart disease, and exhaustion all stem from a lack of nutrition or the wrong type thereof. This means we currently see a “double nutritional burden” happening in Vietnam, with both a lack of and overnutrition affecting the quality of life for many people.

In that context, Nutricare’s goal is to pioneer in the field of medical nutrition. But this is a difficult field, requiring the ability to create specialised products for nutritional deficiencies or excess. Thus, joining the Vietnam Value Programme will help Nutricare fulfil its mission and provide this assistance to the public.

In essence, a huge proportion of Nutricare’s products comes from agriculture, which is one of the nation’s strongest sectors. Nutricare sees this as a very good opportunity and has big plans. We currently work with an American organisation to develop infrastructure and products for the global nutritional supplement market, focusing on enriched proteins and easily digestible fats to support and supplement nutrition for people in countries like Vietnam.

This year has been the second that Nutricare achieved recognition in the programme. After gaining the title for the first time, the company expanded its production and developed more core product lines. Now, we will continue to do so and strengthen our links with partners in production and research, while cooperating with international partners to expand to foreign markets.

In the coming years, the company will continue to pursue the Vietnam Value Programme as a commitment to Nutricare’s core values.