Regret for the Once-Famed Bich Chi Weaning Powder Brand

A Father's Love Leads to Success

Mr. Trần Khiêm Khánh (also known as Tư Khánh) was not originally a businessman nor a naturally gifted entrepreneur. He was a revolutionary who had been arrested, imprisoned, and suffered from poor health after years of harsh captivity.

In 1966, in Sa Đéc (Đồng Tháp province), his wife gave birth to their second daughter. Due to financial hardship, they couldn’t afford milk for their baby. Mr. Khánh recalled how, during the war, Dr. Nguyễn Văn Hưởng (a professor and physician specialising in microbiology and traditional medicine, and former Minister of Health) had advised people to occasionally eat brown rice for better health and illness prevention. Inspired, he read more about the benefits of brown rice and decided to try cooking porridge from it, feeding his daughter the strained broth.

After more than a week, the child showed improved health, with no signs of diarrhoea or allergies. Mr. Khánh felt reassured by this new food. However, recognising that cooking porridge was inconvenient due to the hardness of brown rice, he decided to grind it into powder. He commissioned a local craftsman to build a small grinding machine. Thanks to this innovation, his daughter overcame malnutrition and grew up healthy.

With excess powder left over, he gave some to friends and acquaintances with young children. Unexpectedly, after trying it and finding it beneficial, they began recommending it to others, eventually placing regular orders. Before long, he was producing several hundred kilograms a month just to meet demand from acquaintances.

Encouraged by the positive reception and the joy of seeing children grow strong from his powder, Mr. Tư Khánh and his wife, Mrs. Đinh Ngọc Điệp, agreed to set up a factory after just one night of discussion.

He established the factory in Sa Đéc and named it "Bich Chi Powder Factory" after his daughter, who had been nourished with brown rice powder from birth. She had been the first to “taste-test” his early batches. In March 1967, the factory officially began operations. Featuring the image of a “mother holding a child,” Bich Chi powder quickly became well-known across southern Vietnam from 1967 to 1975.

“If it weren’t for Bích Chi, I wouldn’t have made the powder. It’s because I raised her with my homemade brown rice that the company was born, so I named it Bich Chi,” Mr. Khánh recalled.

After founding the factory, Mr. Tư Khánh expanded his product range, introducing green bean brown rice powder and “five-bean” powder – a mix of green, white, red, and black beans plus soybeans. These became the most popular products, alongside a mixed brown rice and cereal powder.

Bich Chi powder became widely used because imported powdered milk was expensive, while brown rice powder remained affordable and nutritious. Moreover, powdered milk was only suitable for drinking, while Bich Chi powder could be prepared with sugar as a drink or eaten as a meal. For older children, meat and finely chopped vegetables could be added to create a savoury weaning food. Even adults and the elderly found it beneficial.

Struggles Amid Changing Economic Policies

Initially, Bich Chi powder spread via word of mouth. However, to reach wider areas, especially Saigon, new marketing strategies were necessary. Aware of his own limitations in sales and marketing, Mr. Khánh appointed Mr. Đỗ Như Công (a friend of his brother Trần Khiêm Ninh and a holder of a French commerce degree) as the sole distributor.

The marketing strategy was innovative, aligning with the popular cải lương (modern folk opera) style of the time. For instance, Mr. Công commissioned scriptwriter Viễn Châu to write a vọng cổ (traditional southern Vietnamese opera) piece performed by artists Ngọc Giàu and Thành Được. Composer Nguyễn Hữu Thiết (father of singer Hồng Hạnh) composed the accompanying modern music, sung with artist Ngọc Cẩm.

During Tết (Lunar New Year), the distributor set up booths at Bến Thành Market, playing the songs and cooking fragrant powder to attract passersby, who sampled the product for free and were eager to buy.

The distributor's vehicles also roamed Saigon, offering samples cooked on the spot. Large billboards were erected along main roads, and TV commercials were produced featuring singer Phương Hoài Tâm and famous actress Thẩm Thúy Hằng endorsing the product.

Thanks to these creative promotions, the factory produced hundreds of tonnes of powder annually between 1970 and 1975. Besides children’s products, Bich Chi also developed various cooking powders – whole grain rice flour for crispy cakes like bánh xèo and bánh khọt, semi-refined flour for steamed or boiled cakes like bánh canh and bánh lọc, and starch-only flour for bánh bò (steamed sponge cake).

By 1970, the factory had over 100 workers. Even renowned milk brands like Dielac and Guigoz approached Mr. Khánh to buy the powder, but he declined, wishing to preserve the product’s identity as uniquely Vietnamese.

After Reunification and Beyond

In July 1975, after Vietnam’s reunification, Mr. Khánh’s family donated the Bich Chi Powder Factory to the State. He was appointed Director by the General Department of Food Industry under the Provisional Revolutionary Government, helping provide a stable livelihood for nearly 200 workers and their families.

Between 1984 and 1988, Bich Chi powder was selected for Vietnam’s Programme 2651, supported by the World Food Programme (WFP), to combat malnutrition among mothers and children. This was Vietnam’s first major international aid project during the trade embargo period, and the factory received modern equipment for the initiative.

In 1990, the HCMC Children’s Nutrition Centre began producing Risolac and contracted Bich Chi to process a mix of rice and soybean flour. “The Bich Chi brand must live on” became the wish of Mr. Khánh’s family and others involved in its founding, despite the sacrifices they made amid shifting economic policies.

In 2001, the Bich Chi Powder Factory was equitised. Many assumed Mr. Tư Khánh held significant shares, but in fact, he had no stake in the former factory. He harboured no regret about donating it to the State. What saddened him was that although Bich Chi brown rice powder remained beloved and was being exported, it could no longer match its former golden era, nor compete with giants like Nestlé and Vinamilk.