Every day keeps getting more interesting in Vietnam! Today we adventured out for breakfast at a little bakery called Merci. It was very quaint and had a select few items, but they were all very delicious. I think it might have been a bit touristy since there were only foreigners inside and everything was in English (it was right next to the hotel, so it makes sense). It really got me thinking about how companies try to cater to the needs of their target market to increase profits.
After an eventful breakfast, we boarded the bus towards UEF and had an amazing lecture on sustainability. The classroom was very similar to a high school setting, and everything was very interactive. We played Kahoot after the lecture and I came in third place. Our whole table came in the top three, and we each received a bag of Vietnamese Lay’s potato chips. Other people got flavors like baked prawn or nori seaweed, so initially I was pretty disappointed to have gotten the original flavor. However, after trying it on the bus, it tasted slightly different than the Lay’s I’m used to in America. I’m not sure why it was different, it could be due to ingredient regulations, difference in local taste, or it’s all just in my head, but I wonder why products that should be the same differ across borders.
The bus ride to today’s site visit was long and took us out to the suburbs. The road was lined with nothing but massive manufacturing plants. I saw companies like Intel and Samsung there. I’m not sure why it was concentrated in this one area of Vietnam, but it was interesting. The company Dien Quang seemed like a much more interesting company on paper than yesterday’s hotel, but I think it was slightly underwhelming due to the lack of air conditioning and translation issues. I think the Park Hyatt spoke for itself and even without great English, it’s cool to just see the beautiful buildings. On the visit we saw the factory and I was surprised to see high usage of technology. I feel like Vietnam is somewhat known for its cheap labor, so it was interesting to see a company focus on automation instead of mass labor.
