‘Bread King’ turns his sights to gelato

For the last few weeks GoGelato in Binh Tan District has been offering ice cream for free to gather feedback for the new products.

Luc, an ethnic Chinese entrepreneur who became famous in 2020 for introducing dragon fruit bread, wants to use domestic fruits as the main ingredients to make ice cream.

"I started learning how to make fruit ice-cream two years ago when I saw lots of fruits remaining unsold due to oversupply."

While people are tightening their purse strings now due to inflation, Luc said the food business is recession-proof and consumption would recover soon.

Luc started doing business in Vietnam in 1979 and has won many international awards for his breads.

His chain supplies to major brands such as Starbucks, KFC, Lotteria, Jollibee and Domino’s Pizza.

The Vietnamese ice cream market grew by 7% last year to VND4.3 trillion (US$182.94 million), with the three top players, Kido Group, Unilever Vietnam and Vinamilk, dominating with a combined 64% market share, according to market research company Euromonitor.

But they mostly sell take-home ice creams via supermarkets and convenience stores.

Companies with brick and mortar stores such as Trang Tien and Thuy Ta only account for a 4.1% and 0.7% market share.

Domestic businesses also face competition from ice creams imported from Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, and others.