Nguyen Thi Duyen with mango Bingsoo Ice Cream.

After graduating from Finance and Accountant University in 2012, Duyen started working for several domestic and foreign companies. Though she earned a high salary in 2014 that was expected by many friends, the strong personality kept urging her to quit the stable job with the rigid number day by day to follow her own way.

I always focus on quality for each product. The same dish is made with my sudden emotion thus each dish seems to be the only one. For me, quality is the crucial factor because ice cream is my spiritual work first then a way to earn the living. Nguyen Thi Duyen

Spending months on experiencing and learning from the top leading coffee and ice cream shops in the big cities, Duyen decided to set up her small shop in Bac Giang city by the initial capital of 200 million VND (8,700 USD) borrowing from friends and families.

Acknowledging her great effort on self-affirmation, all of her relatives, friends and especially the beloved husband gave her a hand to establish the eye-catching Thailand Pat Bingsoo Ice Cream and Coffee in yellow at the T-junction on Le Loi street.

The ice cream with tropical fruits.

“The first summer is fascinating because my shop was always at full capacity,” said Duyen. She revealed that Bingsoo is a very popular and elaborate shaved ice cream in Korea. The snack is composed of ice shavings and various ingredients such as Germany fresh ice cream, sweetened condensed milk, fruit syrups, sweetened azuki beans and cereal flakes. However, the price for a small bow was 60-70,000 VND (around 3 USD) that was not so attractive for Bac Giang’s customers to enjoy.

Thus, the owner kept considering how to reduce the price with the same quality. By her creativeness, Duyen transferred her inspiration into the ice cream, making them in her own way. She replaces the Germany ice cream that has a lot of cheese and milk with slight sweet Thailand ice cream. Korean sweetened azuki beans and syrups are replaced by available tropical fruits and local ingredients which offer a diverse taste and beautiful image. Thanks to the inventive thinking, she is able to cut nearly half the price so as to lure more customers.

The popular dish of PatBingsoo with tropical fruits.

Starting up with a 20 square meter shop, she managed to widen it up to 4 times after one year anniversary. Each month her shop consumes hundreds of ice cream boxes with average revenue of 300 million VND (13,100 USD). She not only sells the ice cream but also acts as a vendor to her partners, supports to set up the shop and train the staff.

To date, Duyen is helping to introduce Bingsoo to a chain of coffee, ice cream and milk tea shops at Phung Xa ward, Thach That district, Hanoi, Floating Island Coffee in Luc Nam district, Garden Coffee in Dinh Tram Industrial Park and many other addresses in the provincial districts.

Tam Thu