Vietnam’s Invigorating Dynamism

When Darren White took the helm of The Caterers—Vietnam’s leading corporate and event catering company—he didn’t just take over a long-running business; he found himself personally and professionally re energized in the process.

After working in Bangkok for 21 years, relocating to Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 was something of a leap for Darren White, CEO of The Caterers. Originally from Australia, he had first moved to Thailand to work in real estate, eventually developing an F&B business with 450 outlets across six brands in eight countries.

Following the sale of that business in 2018, White was eventually approached by Dusit Foods, a subsidiary of the Thai hospitality conglomerate Dusit International. The company had recently acquired The Caterers, a brand with 22 years of experience in Vietnam.

Dusit Foods, already familiar with White’s track record in Thailand, approached him with a clear directive: assess Business Executive Network 21 and lead their newly acquired operations in Vietnam.

“Dusit knew me from Thailand, and they said, ‘We need a guy that we know to go over to Vietnam and find out what we’ve actually bought,’” White recalled.

The Caterers turned out to be a well-established brand with two core divisions: large-scale canteen catering—serving 20,000 children daily across more than 50 international schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City—and an event business capable of catering to anywhere from two to 5,000 people.

White was well-suited to take this on as a leader.

“First of all, it’s people management,” he said when asked how his experience fit the role. “So we have more than 700 staff, while my business in Bangkok had over 1,600. It’s a people business, a human resources business, so multiculturalism is a big part of my job, as we’re working with both Thais and Vietnamese.”

Food safety and food production are also critical, as was the case across White’s business in Thailand.

In the bigger picture, there is the matter of bringing a Vietnamese company that has only operated in Vietnam into a publicly listed multinational.

The Caterers has traditionally been a Vietnamese business. How do you transform that from a local company into an international company? White explained, “It’s taking what we’ve got, which is a really good foundation, and bringing it up to the next level and determining where we see ourselves in three years, five years, 10 years.”

Vietnam and Thailand: Different Countries, Shared Ambition

Moving from one country to another – even when they are in the same region- obviously presents significant differences, but White has found some similarities from his extensive time in Thailand.

“Vietnam now reminds me of Thailand when I moved there 21 years ago. People here are hungry to learn, hungry to grow. They want to develop themselves. They want to prosper, and that’s what I really like,” he shared. “People are very forward, in a good way; they come and talk to you and introduce themselves, whereas Thai people can be less open until you really know them.”

Prior to this opportunity, White had only visited Vietnam a handful of times, and only Ho Chi Minh City for two or three days each time. The country was something of a blank page, and White found that the role came at the right time.

“Coming out of COVID, personally, I just was sort of stuck in my own old ways, and I wanted to break out of that,” he said. “And when Dusit tapped me on the shoulder and said they wanted me to go to Vietnam, I said I’d do it. You get set in your ways after 20 years.”

Vietnam, on the other hand, energized him.

“The first couple of months here were great on a personal and business level, and then it was like someone turned the switch,” he said. “Now I feel like I’ve been here for years.” He described strong support from the locals, the company, and the expat community, all of which have helped him feel quickly at home.

Evolving a Legacy Business

When asked about the potential difficulty of taking the helm at a company that had been around for over two decades, White explained the benefits of such a situation.

“I like that it’s established because your foundations are there, whereas I’ve always done startups before, so it’s a white sheet of paper where you design it and you find the money,” White said. “I really like that side of it, where you have a team that has been there for years. But that also comes with challenges because the same people have been in the job for 10 years, 15 years. So waiting to sort of shake the company up and turn it into an international corporate environment comes with changing mindsets.”

With that in mind, White worked with The Caterers’ previous CEO through a transition process over several months, allowing the team to see his vision and what was in store for the next phase of the business.

“In fact,” White said, “they’re now pushing me to go faster.”

This has all played a role in changing his mindset on how long he may stay in Vietnam.

“If you had asked me that question six months ago, I would’ve said I’m just here for a year or two to set the direction of the business up. But I’ve really enjoyed my nearly 12 months here and I do want to stay for a good period of time. I see the change in me personally, I just feel a lot more vibrant and energetic while learning new things, and we’re starting to turn the corner on some of the strategies of the company as well. So I really want to see that agenda through.”

This is in line with where White sees Vietnam as a whole.

“The thing with Thailand is that they’ve had it really good for over 30 years, and I think it’s somebody else’s turn,” he said. “I think it is really Vietnam’s time now and if they play it right they’ve got a good 10 years of really solid growth.”