Overview of a trade village

Thanh Loc Ward of HCMC’s suburban District 12 is now a trade village, with over one hundred satellite farms supplying crocodiles for Hoa Ca Crocodile Company which makes and sells crocodile leather products. “Hoa Ca Crocodile Company just provides farmers with baby crocodiles and technical assistance, and takes responsibility for the output,” said Mr. Ton That Hung, manager of the company.

Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan (R) visited the factory of Hoa Ca Crocodile Company when he was Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of HCM City and Mr. Hung - company manager (Photo: Huu Tho)

The objectives of Hoa Ca Crocodile Company gained the interest of SIPPO (Swiss Import Promotion Program Organization) when it visited the company in late 2005. It then decided to help the company to extend its business to developed countries as the company could meet the Global Compact’s ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. It arranged for the company to take part in an exhibition in Germany in 2006, and this year it has arranged for the company to show off its products at MIPEL in Milan, which will take place from September 20-23.

The story of Hoa Ca Crocodile Company began in 1985 when Mr. Hung, working as a vet at the Sai Gon Zoo, had a chance to meet a group of experts from Cuba and learned that crocodiles were in great demand and could earn big profits, but were on the edge of extinction. He then conceived of an idea to breed and preserve crocodiles. As a result, he left his job in 1987 and started his own business with a few crocodiles.

Objectives

Hoa Ca Crocodile Company wants to lend a hand in preserving the two endangered species of crocodiles in Viet Nam – saltwater crocodiles and Siamese crocodiles, which are among the 21 species of crocodiles worldwide.

The company also aims to supply people with a source of meat that is clean and healthy. Studies by the University of Agriculture & Forestry in HCMC show that crocodile meat provides seventeen kinds of healthy amino acids of which seven kinds (Threonine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Phenylalanine, Methionine, Lysine HCL, Histamine – which children cannot produce by themselves) cannot be created by the human body. The meat is tasty, too, and can be used in numerous dishes.

More importantly, the company wants to satisfy part of the huge global demand for crocodile leather products, taking advantage of Viet Nam’s favorable environment and creating jobs for local people at the same time.

Parent crocodiles on the farm of Hoa Ca Crocodile Company (Photo: Huu Tho)

Farmers are self-employed and are not exploited. They can buy baby crocodiles and get technical assistance from the Hoa Ca Crocodile Company, raise their crocodiles and then sell grown ones back to the company for a 30-40% profit without having to worry about the rest. The company, however, has at times operated at a loss.

Take last year for example: the price of crocodiles on the market was just half of what the company wound up paying the farmers. It would have saved VND3 billion (that’s some US$187,000) if it had paid the farmers the market price. However, the loss incurred by the company made it appear more reliable in the eyes of the farmers, earning it loyalty from them as they continued to raise crocodiles for the company. This improvement of the crocodile business community is sometimes worth taking such a loss.

What’s more, the company factory functions as a training workshop in which people are paid between VND650,000 and VND1,000,000 for their work and get training for six months before they go home to be their own bosses, making products as ordered by the company. In this way, they are paid according to how much work they actually do.

In addition, Hoa Ca Crocodile Company has done some charity work. It has given computers to farmers, given scholarships to meritorious students in the Thanh Xuan and Thanh Loc wards of District 12, and contributed to the building of houses for poor people in Can Gio District.

The company has been making steady steps in a positive direction to ensure sustainable development for the community as a whole.