Firms profit from Tet gift sales

HCM CITY — Companies in Vietnam are offering an interesting range of special Tet (Lunar New Year) gifts and services for the holiday.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Lam, deputy director of Fisco Sai Gon Co said her company is selling a gift tray named Ngu Loc. There are many kinds of dried seafood inside including goby, smoked shrimp sausage, cuttle, and anchovy.

All of them are sliced thin, making a suitable gift for friends and family gatherings.

The company also launched a pack of frozen hotpot. Different from other hotpot packs, it weighs one kilogram with enough seafood to serve 10.

On Tet occasion, families usually gather or go travelling together, so the products are tailored to suit.

This year, Vissan Co introduced a new special kind of domestic chicken. It was fed on food mixed with natural herbs about two months before slaughter to give it an aromatic flavour.

Every chicken weighs 1.3-1.5 kg and costs VND104,000 (US$5.2) per kg. The company said the herbal chicken was a trial so there are only 5,000 available.

Another product favoured by housewives is pomelo peel jam. The jam is yellow resembling ginger jam. It has a hot, salty and sweet taste.

The owner of the Thanh Long jam workshop, Ngoc Thuy, said it is made using 10 tonnes of pomelo peel to make one tonne of jam.

The jam price is about VND70,000 ($3.5) per kg. It sells well, especially in Central and Northern provinces because it has a warming effect on cold days, she added.

Farmers in Long An and Hau Giang Province will launch the seedless "Mat Troi Do" (red sun) watermelons in time for the Tet market.

Bui Huu Dung, head of Can Gio District's Agricultural Promotion Department, Long An Province, said this project was a co-operation between the locality and Syngenta Co.

Farmers followed technical standards in cultivation including no use of prohibited chemicals and proper use of legitimate chemical sprays and fertilisers.

This year, weirdly shaped watermelons are one of the extraordinary gifts being sold. Farmers have also launched square watermelons.

According to a seller in An Giang Province, the price of a pair of round-square watermelon is about VND800,000 ($40); a pair of square-square watermelons VND1.2 million ($60).

Another unique product is a picture drawn by professional artists with a music player function launched by AA Art Audio Co in District 11.

Nguyen Hung Son, general director of the company said the components are imported from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, and Denmark. They cost $150-350 each.

Apart from unique gifts, ochna tree rentals are thriving. Thong who owns an ochna garden in Thu Duc District said he has a lot of orders this year despite the high price of VND10-50 million ($500-2,500) for an 50 year-old tree.

Another ochna garden owner, Hieu, said more than 100 trees worth VND2-15 million ($100-750) each were ordered for rent by customers with the price equivalent to 30-50 per cent of the tree's value. — VNS

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Spit roasted crocodile fresh from Hoa Viet’s farm

The Hoa Viet Company chef cooks a small crocodile on the grill- Photo: My Tran

Since fire was invented, man has loved a chew on some grilled meat. Whether in the countryside or the city, over a wood fire or a gas BBQ - grilled beef, grilled pork, grilled seafood or chicken or meat from any kind of animal - be it ostrich, snake or duck - whatever it is that you have killed to grill - it is a good thing. However, people do not often think about grilled crocodile. The giant lizard that is made into luxury belts, purses or wallets doesn’t often appear on the menu. Instead people are more likely to associate crocodiles with horror movies, where humans are the reptiles’ dinner not the other way around. Crocodiles are excellent on the spit roast though, and Hoa Viet Crocodile Company Ltd., located in HCMC’s District 12 has proved that.

As a pioneer of this dish, Hoa Viet Company surprised many gourmets with their crocodile spitroast at the Phuthotourist food program at the Dam Sen Cultural Park from October 8 to 10. One diner named Son said, “This is the first time I saw crocodile on the grill. At first, I feel a bit nervous but the dish is made really outstanding with a little lemon grass.”

“To make the dish, the chef has to remove the fatty layers, and then mix it with spices and lemon grass. They have to grill the crocodile for about 50 minutes and you have to eat it while it still hot, because if it cools to about 80 Celsius degrees, it’s too tough,” said Ton Nu Hong Tam, from the company.

Thao, another diner, said, “These days, I are afraid of eating pork or beef, sometimes chicken due to epidemics. Now if crocodile meat would appear in the supermarket, I would have another choice, not only to enjoy a new dish but also to feel guaranteed about food safety. Crocodile doesn’t have much cholesterol either so I needn’t worry about getting fat.”

The company also makes crocodile spring rolls, crocodile sausages and crocodile paste. Hoa Viet Company supplies crocodile meat and other products to restaurants in town and Dam Sen Cultural Park and will supply supermarkets soon. Anyone who wants to enjoy a whole crocodile on the spit can ask the company and they will send their chef to your house with a crocodile.

 “I believe the dish will be a hit at parties, because not only it is delicious but it is strange. On Tuesday, people often want to eat new dishes with new flavors and style,” added Le Ngoc Bich, director of the company.

Hoa Viet Company is dedicated to produce hand-made crocodile leather products including wallets, men shoes, belts, laptop bags and key rings. With two crocodile farms in Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts, the company produces a swathe of products every year for souvenirs shops and tourist areas.

For more information, contact the company at the company’s representative office at 278 Le Van Khuong Street, HCMC’s District 12, tel:  (08) 3717 8922.

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Spit roasted crocodile fresh from Hoa Viet’s farm

The Hoa Viet Company chef cooks a small crocodile on the grill- Photo: My Tran

Since fire was invented, man has loved a chew on some grilled meat. Whether in the countryside or the city, over a wood fire or a gas BBQ - grilled beef, grilled pork, grilled seafood or chicken or meat from any kind of animal - be it ostrich, snake or duck - whatever it is that you have killed to grill - it is a good thing. However, people do not often think about grilled crocodile. The giant lizard that is made into luxury belts, purses or wallets doesn’t often appear on the menu. Instead people are more likely to associate crocodiles with horror movies, where humans are the reptiles’ dinner not the other way around. Crocodiles are excellent on the spit roast though, and Hoa Viet Crocodile Company Ltd., located in HCMC’s District 12 has proved that.

As a pioneer of this dish, Hoa Viet Company surprised many gourmets with their crocodile spitroast at the Phuthotourist food program at the Dam Sen Cultural Park from October 8 to 10. One diner named Son said, “This is the first time I saw crocodile on the grill. At first, I feel a bit nervous but the dish is made really outstanding with a little lemon grass.”

“To make the dish, the chef has to remove the fatty layers, and then mix it with spices and lemon grass. They have to grill the crocodile for about 50 minutes and you have to eat it while it still hot, because if it cools to about 80 Celsius degrees, it’s too tough,” said Ton Nu Hong Tam, from the company.

Thao, another diner, said, “These days, I are afraid of eating pork or beef, sometimes chicken due to epidemics. Now if crocodile meat would appear in the supermarket, I would have another choice, not only to enjoy a new dish but also to feel guaranteed about food safety. Crocodile doesn’t have much cholesterol either so I needn’t worry about getting fat.”

The company also makes crocodile spring rolls, crocodile sausages and crocodile paste. Hoa Viet Company supplies crocodile meat and other products to restaurants in town and Dam Sen Cultural Park and will supply supermarkets soon. Anyone who wants to enjoy a whole crocodile on the spit can ask the company and they will send their chef to your house with a crocodile.

 “I believe the dish will be a hit at parties, because not only it is delicious but it is strange. On Tuesday, people often want to eat new dishes with new flavors and style,” added Le Ngoc Bich, director of the company.

Hoa Viet Company is dedicated to produce hand-made crocodile leather products including wallets, men shoes, belts, laptop bags and key rings. With two crocodile farms in Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts, the company produces a swathe of products every year for souvenirs shops and tourist areas.

For more information, contact the company at the company’s representative office at 278 Le Van Khuong Street, HCMC’s District 12, tel:  (08) 3717 8922.

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Lavish funerals as rich Asians go out in style

Lavish funerals in vogue as rich Asians go out in style

Photo: Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR - Demand for luxury funerals is booming in Southeast Asia, driven by the rising ranks of the wealthy in the region.

From $100,000 gold-plated caskets to million dollar burial plots, a growing number of the rich are making the passage to the afterlife with the best that money can buy.

"Our clients tell us their loved ones deserve the best in life and in death," said Au Kok Huei, the group chief operating officer of Malaysia's NV Multi Corporation Berhad, Southeast Asia's sole listed bereavement services provider.

The company offers a range of funeral services and runs cemeteries and columbariums in six countries - Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Taiwan.

Its 100,000 clients are mainly ethnic Chinese who make up more than 40 million of Southeast Asia's population. Muslims make up the majority of the population in the region, but lavish funerals are frowned upon by the religion.

Company officials said demand for luxury funerals among the ethnic Chinese has been growing especially in Indonesia, which has a small but affluent Chinese community and in Singapore, where the company runs a $22 million columbarium.

Among the more popular top-of-the-line products are a burial urn crafted from Canadian jade priced at 188,000 Malaysian ringgit , while a gold-plated casket costs 388,000 ringgit. Prices for a basic burial provided by smaller firms start from about 4,000 ringgit.

The company's most expensive burial plots are on hilltops, conforming to Chinese geomancy principles. Each costs 1.6 million ringgit and wealthy customers usually purchase several adjacent plots for their family members.

"Cemetery like a garden"

To expand further the company said it plans to offer pre-planned funeral services tied to investments in palm oil or rubber plantation schemes.

Profits from these investments are used to defray the cost of the customer's eventual funeral.

NV Multi aims to finalise a foray into China with Chinese partner next year, where it will eventually compete with players outside Southeast Asia including Hong Kong-listed Sino-Life Group Ltd, a funeral service provider in Taiwan and China.

Chief executive officer Kong Hon Kong, who founded the company 20 years ago, said the idea to set up the company came after he was asked to manage a relative's funeral.

"Local cemeteries were poorly run and eerie, so I thought: 'why can't we manage a cemetery like a garden so our children will want to visit us after we pass away'?"

The goal led him to design a showcase memorial park near Kuala Lumpur, currently the largest in Southeast Asia.

Landscaped to resemble a recreational park, the sprawling 809-acre facility features burial plots divided according to the respective religious beliefs of its customers.

A statue of Guan Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, venerated by Taoists and Buddhists, stands on the head of a kilometre-long dragon replica, while a 20-feet statue of Jesus takes centre stage at the Christian section of the cemetery.

The dead buried at the memorial aren't limited to humans. A corner is dedicated to cats and dogs, with over 100 burial plots costing 4,900 ringgit each.

"The next generation won't be afraid to go to the cemetery again," said businessman Loke Kam Weng, whose father is buried in the cemetery.

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Insurer donates school in Phu Yen Province

ACE Insurance Limited Company (ACE Life) on Monday cut the ribbon on Xuan Lam Primary school in the central province of Phu Yen after six months of construction.

The insurance company said it donated VND1.2 billion to develop the primary school in a mountainous area of Xuan Lam hamlet in Song Cau town in Phu Yen Province.

The original school had been completely destroyed during a hurricane last year so ACE Life decided to rebuild it.

The new building has six rooms, of which five are classrooms and one office. It has two floors, offering local pupils a safe facility for learning.

The insurance company, at the opening ceremony, presented the school with extra equipment such as drums, book shelves and concrete benches.

“Primary schools are very important since they provide the first education foundation for children, and we are happy to take part in the social cause to enable more children in disadvantaged localities to go to school,”  Lam Hai Tuan, chief executive officer of ACE Life Vietnam said.

He said there was a demand for good schools for young children at many places around the country as many had fallen into disrepair or been destroyed by floods or storms.

The money to build the school came from a special “Crossing Wave Fund”, part of which was contributed by staff and agents of ACE Life nationwide. Under the framework of the fund, the company has offered a total of 1,144 scholarships to needy students in many universities of Vietnam.

From 2010 onwards, besides the scholarships, ACE Life plans to use a large part of the fund to support the building or renovation of schools in poor provinces.

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