Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, Founder of TraceVerified and President of the Association of Food Transparency (AFT), has been selected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Vietnam as one of the 10 Outstanding Women in the Agri-Food System and Rural Development in Vietnam 2026.
This recognition celebrates a career spanning more than four decades, dedicated to improving food quality, strengthening supply chains, and building trust in Vietnam’s food system.
From seafood processing and government leadership to international trade, electronic traceability, and food transparency, Dr. Minh has consistently championed a central principle: a safer and more competitive food system depends on reliable information, effective quality management, and trust among all participants in the supply chain.
Her journey is closely connected to the development of TraceVerified, a pioneer in electronic traceability in Vietnam, and the broader movement to make food transparency more accessible to businesses, producers, and consumers.
From Seafood Processing to National Food Quality Management
Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Minh began her career in Vietnam’s seafood industry in 1977, working at the Ca Mau Frozen Seafood Processing Factory. She became Director of the factory from 1988 to 1990, before moving into public administration as Deputy Director of the Ca Mau Department of Fisheries.
From 1994 to 2007, she served as Vice Minister of Fisheries of Vietnam, with responsibilities that included quality management. These were pivotal years for Vietnam’s seafood sector. As Vietnamese producers expanded into international markets, food safety and product quality became essential requirements for export access and global competitiveness.
Dr. Minh was closely involved in this transition, working to strengthen quality management and support the sector’s response to increasingly demanding international requirements. Her experience across production, industry management, and government helped shape a lasting perspective: food quality must be embedded throughout the production and supply chain, rather than assessed only when a finished product is ready for market.
This principle would later become central to her work on electronic traceability and food transparency on building Vietnam’s seafood industry and connecting it to global markets.
Founding VASEP to Strengthen the Seafood Industry
In 1998, Dr. Minh founded the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and became its first President. She subsequently continued to support the organization in an honorary leadership role.
At a time when Vietnam’s seafood exports were expanding rapidly, the industry needed stronger connections between businesses, government institutions, and international markets. VASEP helped provide a platform for trade promotion, policy dialogue, international cooperation, and the development of industry capabilities.
Vietnam’s seafood export value grew from approximately US$205 million in 1990 to US$1 billion in 2000, eventually exceeding US$10 billion in 2025, according to the figures cited in the original profile.
This growth reflected a broader transformation in production capacity, quality management, market access, and international integration. Stronger industry institutions and closer cooperation among stakeholders were important elements of that transformation.
Supporting International Industry Connections Through VIETFISH
Dr. Minh also supported initiatives to connect Vietnam’s seafood businesses with international partners, including VIETFISH, a major specialized seafood exhibition in Vietnam.
Known by the positioning “Asia’s Home of Seafood,” VIETFISH brings together seafood producers, processors, exporters, aquaculture businesses, suppliers, and international buyers. It provides a platform for commercial partnerships, knowledge exchange, and engagement with developments in the global seafood industry.
Together, these industry-building efforts helped strengthen the institutional and commercial foundations of Vietnam’s seafood sector.
From Quality Assurance to Electronic Traceability
After leaving government service in 2007, Dr. Minh continued to pursue her commitment to food quality and transparency through a new approach: using technology to connect information across supply chains.
In 2011, she became Project Director of an electronic traceability project supported by the Global Competitiveness Facility (GCF), with technical expertise provided by international traceability specialist Dr. Heiner Lehr. The project laid the foundation for what would become TraceVerified – Electronic Traceability and Food Transparency.
TraceVerified: Building Trusted Data Foundations for Food Supply Chains
Traceability is often understood as a tool for regulatory compliance or a way to identify a product’s origin. Its potential, however, extends much further.
When implemented effectively, electronic traceability can connect information across producers, processors, distributors, and buyers. It can help businesses document product movements, identify the origins of materials, improve information exchange, and strengthen their ability to respond to quality and food safety issues.
This is the principle behind TraceVerified’s development:
Traceability is only the beginning. The greater opportunity lies in building a trusted data foundation for quality, compliance, and sustainable supply chains.
As a pioneer in electronic traceability in Vietnam, TraceVerified develops technology-enabled solutions that help agricultural and food businesses organize product information, connect supply chain data, and improve transparency in their operations.
The platform supports businesses in moving beyond fragmented records toward more structured and accessible supply chain information. This creates opportunities to improve operational coordination, provide more reliable information to business partners, and respond to evolving market requirements.
For Dr. Minh, technology is not an end in itself. Its value lies in helping people and organizations establish stronger relationships based on credible information and shared accountability.
From TraceVerified to a Broader Movement for Food Transparency
In 2017, Dr. Minh led the establishment of the Association of Food Transparency (AFT), extending her experience in quality management and traceability into a broader platform for collaboration among businesses, public institutions, international organizations, and consumers.
Learn more about AFT at thucphamminhbach.org.
While TraceVerified focuses on technology and data infrastructure for supply chains, AFT promotes food transparency as a shared responsibility across the wider food ecosystem.
Under Dr. Minh’s leadership, AFT has worked with businesses on food safety, traceability, digital transformation, corporate governance, and market development. The association also provides a platform for dialogue between enterprises and relevant stakeholders to address practical challenges facing Vietnam’s food sector.
Making Food Transparency More Accessible to SMEs
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), cooperatives, and smaller producers play a significant role in Vietnam’s agricultural and food economy. Yet many face constraints in finance, technology, management capacity, and access to markets.
For these businesses, meeting increasingly demanding requirements for food safety, traceability, sustainability, and transparency can be challenging.
Food transparency cannot depend solely on expensive, complex systems designed for large corporations. It needs to be practical, proportionate, and accessible to businesses of different sizes.
This is an important principle connecting AFT’s industry engagement with TraceVerified’s technology development. Both seek to help businesses strengthen their capabilities and build trust through better information, more effective processes, and stronger collaboration.
AFT CONNECT: Connecting Food Businesses in the Digital Economy
This approach is also reflected in AFT CONNECT, an initiative developed with international support to strengthen the capabilities of Vietnamese food and agricultural businesses.
Explore the platform at aftconnect.com.
AFT CONNECT aims to connect businesses, products, and market opportunities while supporting knowledge development in areas such as branding, internal management, corporate governance, and sustainability.
The initiative reflects a broader understanding of digital transformation. Technology and data create greater value when combined with stronger management capabilities, access to relevant information, and opportunities to connect with markets and partners.
For smaller businesses, these connections can help reduce capability gaps, improve professionalism, and support participation in higher-value supply chains.
Why Traceability and Transparency Matter for the Future of Vietnam’s Food System
Vietnam’s agricultural and food sectors are undergoing significant changes as businesses respond to evolving consumer expectations, regulatory requirements, international trade standards, and sustainability goals.
In this environment, traceability is increasingly relevant not only to identifying product origins, but also to improving supply chain coordination and providing credible information to business partners and consumers.
Effective traceability requires more than a QR code. It depends on well-designed processes, clearly defined data requirements, reliable records, and cooperation among the organizations involved in producing and moving goods.
For SMEs in particular, the challenge is to implement solutions that are both practical for daily operations and capable of supporting future growth.
TraceVerified’s approach reflects this understanding. By helping businesses structure and connect supply chain information, the company aims to make traceability a foundation for stronger quality management, regulatory readiness, and more transparent business relationships.
The work that Dr. Minh began in food quality and industry development therefore continues to have relevance in the digital economy: building trust requires not only technology, but also sound processes, reliable data, and a shared commitment to transparency.
A Legacy Built on Quality, Traceability, and Trust
More than four decades after beginning her career in the seafood industry, Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Minh continues to contribute to the development of Vietnam’s food system at the intersection of technology, industry, public policy, and sustainable development.
Her professional journey spans the strengthening of seafood quality management, the development of industry institutions, the promotion of international trade, the introduction of electronic traceability, and the establishment of a broader movement for food transparency.
These contributions reflect an evolving understanding of how food systems can become more reliable and competitive: from inspecting product quality to managing information throughout the supply chain; from tracking individual products to connecting supply chain data; and from isolated business initiatives to collaboration across the food ecosystem.
In 2026, FAO Vietnam’s recognition of Dr. Minh as one of the 10 Outstanding Women in the Agri-Food System and Rural Development celebrates this longstanding commitment and its contribution to Vietnam’s agricultural and food sectors.
For TraceVerified, her journey is closely connected to the mission that continues to guide the company: building trusted data foundations for quality, compliance, and sustainable supply chains. Watch the video to discover more about her journey behind TraceVerified and the people working to build a more transparent and trustworthy food system in Vietnam. Through TraceVerified and AFT, the work to strengthen trust in Vietnam’s food system continues – connecting technology, reliable information, and the people who make transparency possible.