Dr. Le Tran

CEO, NutiFood

Vietnam

Winning women Asia-Pacific Le Tran

Dr. Le started her entrepreneurial journey in 2000 as a Founding Shareholder of NutiFood. She took up role of the Director in 2000, and became the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2002. The company’s original products include three main categories: nutritional feeding powder for children, pregnant and baby-feeding mothers; nutritional milk powder; and high-energy nutritional food. NutiFood grew substantially from 2000 to 2007.  

To support the growth plan of NutiFood by expansion of its distribution network, Dr. Le called for new investment from other shareholders through a private placement and IPO transaction (non-listed public entity) in early 2008. She stepped down from the CEO position before the IPO to focus on other projects. However, NutiFood experienced a financial loss and crisis in 2008, and Dr. Le was invited by the board of directors to rejoin as the CEO and save the company. She fought hard to overcome losses and brought the company back on the growth trajectory, as before. In late 2008, a new chapter of NutiFood began with several restructuring exercises, management improvement and revised growth strategies. With the support of her husband and other trusted private lenders, she acquired more shares from shareholders for NutiFood. 

In 2012, Dr. Le withdrew from the chair position — giving way to her husband — to focus more effectively on the CEO role for new product development and market growth. The company officially resumed as a private business in 2015 with two major shareholders — Dr. Le and her husband. 

Dr. Le is passionate about making innovative products for infants and children, and her long-term goal is to eradicate malnutrition from Vietnam. Currently, NutiFood is among the top three Vietnamese dairy companies, in terms of volume; having many cow farms, factories, nutrition and health advice centers; and distribution network. NutiFood’s network covers 64 provinces and cities across Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, China and the US. The company plans to expand to Sweden and France in 2019–20. 

Forbes listed Dr. Le as one of Vietnam’s top 10 successful women in 2015 and Vietnam’s 50 most influential women in 2017.

“Our vision is to become a leading company in nutrition products, sustainably developed for consumers’ benefit.”