This post is part of our regular series of interviews with people across Asia-Pacific who’ve caught our eye, using the Internet to create, connect and grow.

Tran Ba Luan of Ca Kho Tran Luan in Vietnam

How would you describe Ca Kho Tran Luan in one sentence?
We want to preserve our family tradition of making ca kho (braised fish baked in a clay pot) and bring it to food lovers nationwide, and hopefully in the future, introduce this signature Vietnamese dish to the rest of the world.

Why did you choose to go online?
Our village is well-known throughout Vietnam for its ca kho, and three generations of our family made this dish to earn a living. But more recently, we struggled to make ends meet as we relied on seasonal tourists and visitors from neighboring areas. My son, Tran Ba Nghiep, was exposed to technology at college and came home one day, saying technology—especially the Internet—would be the only way we could spread our tradition and reach customers across the country. This offered us our ticket out of poverty. With the Internet, all we needed to do was to build a website to be able to reach far more customers.

[Image] Tran Ba Luan’s business of bringing braised fish to the world — from claypot to cardboard box ready to be sent to and enjoyed by the customer. Source: cakhotranluan.com What difference has the Internet made to Ca Kho Tran Luan?
The Internet has been our savior. We’ve been able to make our family’s rendition of this traditional dish easily accessible without the overhead associated with establishing a physical presence in other cities. Through online advertising, we are able to cost efficiently connect to people anywhere, anytime. Within the first year of using Google AdWords, sales grew by 50 percent and we’ve been able to sustain double digit growth ever since. This is turn has allowed us to reinvest in building our business. I feel especially honored when people tell me that we’re a startup inspiration success story for younger generations to follow.

What lessons have you learned along the way?
Gaining a customer is one thing, but retaining them is another, and brand building is just as important for this as creating a quality product. This is a constant work in progress. I’m not just talking about customer service; there’s also the matter of brand identity. We had a lot of trouble with copycats, which is why we spent time creating a more unique visual brand.

What’s next for Ca Kho Tran Luan?
We are building a tourist complex where visitors can experience making ca kho themselves. On the one hand, it’s supplementary to our existing business. On the other hand, it’s very much a complementary strategy as it allows us to bring more of our tradition and our culture to the rest of the world. Marketing guru Philip Kotler once said, “Vietnam can be the kitchen of the world”. We think so too, and this is just the beginning.

Posted by Tran Ba Luan, Founder, Ca Kho Tran Luan, Vietnam