Young Entrepreneurs in the Food Processing Industry

Mr. Uy Cheng Heng is a 28-year-old entrepreneur born in Battambang province who is blazing a path forward for Cambodia’s small, but quickly growing food processing industry. He and his sister, Uy Sothearina, established a small enterprise in November 2020 and registered it less than a year later as Navita Healthy Food & Beverages Co., Ltd. To produce its healthy dried fruit, Navita sources natural, fresh fruit from local farmers, processing it into dried dragon fruit, dried mango, dried pineapple, and two recently introduced products – dried longan and longan in syrup. USAID’s Abt-led Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II began working with Navita in December 2020, helping the company develop and improve its products, linking it with new business partners and markets, and improving its processing capacity.

Learning by Example

In January 2021, Heng joined 12 other longan actors - including suppliers, processors, and exporters - in an Abt-led tour of a longan processing facility to help actors improve competitiveness, expand market linkages, and promote a better understanding of market requirements in terms of quality, quantity, and other specifications. The visit allowed Heng and Sothearina to learn more about processing techniques, post-harvest handling, and product packaging and branding, ultimately improving Navita’s production standards, value-addition, and supply chain management.

Improving Business Capacity

As a new entrepreneur, Heng knew he had a lot to learn. In addition to participating in the facility tour, he and his sister attended many trainings conducted by Abt featuring fruit processing techniques, product development, international trade and logistics, and food safety training. Through these trainings, Heng learned how to improve his current products and develop new ones. Courses also covered food safety practices such as Good Hygiene Practices (GHP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and Hazard Analysis and the implementation of Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems. He also learned how to conduct business and connect with international buyers, coordinate logistics and cross-country payment transactions, and meet buyers’ requirements.

New Business Partnerships & Promotional Campaigns

Harvest II introduced Navita to the managers of several local markets in Phnom Penh such as Aliments, Snadai Me, AgroNature, Karot, and KCCV’s safe food mart. These markets have agreed to sell Navita’s products. Harvest II also connected Navita with the online app Khmum eShop so the company could enter the digital market. To promote brand awareness, Heng launched a promotional campaign through Navita’s Facebook page, offering discounts and giveaways. He also conducted product testing and marketing in several markets in Phnom Penh and Battambang. In September 2021, Navita achieved almost $80,000 USD in sales.