American businessman in Vietnam finds his fate in foie gras
HANOI - "Two and a half years ago, I woke up one day and said: 'foie gras'," says Hugh Adams, recounting his mission to bring one of France's top gastronomic delicacies to Vietnam.
The country's one-time rulers have left their mark on Hanoi, where baguettes and pate are available on the shady boulevards lined with elegant colonial architecture.
But foie gras -- a distinctive pate made from goose or duck liver -- had to wait for 56-year old American Adams.
He is not quite your average US businessman.
Before his culinary revelation in Vietnam, he had worked in Armenia and in US financial markets, in the public and private sectors, in the mining and nuclear industries, automobiles and education.
"My greatest success is to have listed one of my companies in Nasdaq. But I also had horrible disasters which were probably more interesting than my successes," he explains with typical modesty.
Whether his foie gras venture will be a disaster or a success, only time can tell.
After arriving in Vietnam in September 2001, he looked for a labour intensive sector to benefit from the low cost of workers in the southeast Asian country.
Today, he runs a farm close to the village of Sapa in the country's northern mountains, a few kilometres (miles) from the Chinese border, with some 5,000 ducks. It is a pilot project that he intends to expand.
Several years ago, Adams and his wife spent a few days in Perigord, home of foie gras -- hailed in France as a miracle of gastronomy.
The pate is made by force-feeding grain to birds to swell the size of their livers.
"I learned a lot in France but you can't just import everything, you have to do with what you get here," he explained.
In 2003, he started out breeding geese. The resulting foie gras was good but his timing was bad.
Avian flu hit the region, devastating the poultry industry. The H5N1 virus killed millions of poultry in Vietnam, and across a swathe of Asia in late 2003 and early 2004. In total, the disease also claimed 32 human victims.
It was a tough time for Adams and his dream.
"In one day, all my geese were killed," he said.
Once the outbreak was over, the farm got back to work but this time with ducks, which are less expensive than geese.
The American identified the best species available locally, a Chinese hybrid. He also did research to find a corn to feed them with the right qualities to give the foie gras' fat its characteristic yellow color.
In addition, he had to safeguard the quality of the water and look after the hygiene of farm personnel, and that of the ducks.
It was a real headache.
"It is an expensive experience," he admits.
If his pet project proves a success, Adams plans to develop small production units several kilometres (miles) apart in order to reduce the risk of widespread contamination and the likelihood of losing everything in one go.
On paper, the project seems at the very least complex and risky. But in business as in everything else, risk is a relative concept.
"Everybody feels pain and risk at different levels," he said philosophically.
At any rate the prospects look good. Adams' foie gras has already won over foreign chefs working in top restaurants in Vietnam.
Members of Vietnam's growing middle class are also continually increasing their leisure spending and little by little discovering gastronomy and luxury.
Adams is reluctant to reveal figures but implies that the market is a potentially flourishing one.
"My goal is to mature this company and sell it in five or six years," he said.
It will then be time to launch another one.
Agence France Presse - December 24, 2004.
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