Victor Ceano Savall arriving in Da Nang from Barcelona City, Spain, has settled down in the city to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming an artisan confectionery marker.

Victor Ceano Savall (second, left), the founder of the Pop Keo, teaching kids on how to make candies

The 26-year-old man is a member of the prestigious family in Spain that has made candy for five generations. His beautiful family shop Pastelería Reñé in downtown Barcelona has been a city icon since it opened its doors in 1892.

Victor came into the family business at an early age as he worked alongside his grandfather. He was taught about all the secrets to make sweets and pastry by his respectful grandfather who perfected the traditional techniques of his craft and become a most successful entrepreneur.  

He visited Viet Nam for the first time in 2001 and he immediately fell in love with the country at the first sight. He was deeply impressed by the country’s delicious specialities, fresh fruits, and kind and friendly people. Since then, he has become a regular visitor to the S-shaped country.

He came to Da Nang in 2014 and worked in some of his Vietnamese uncle Duc’s restaurants in Quang Nam Province’s Hoi An City and Da Nang. After that, he worked at the prestigious The Nam Hai resort as pastry chef.

Fascinated by wonderful Vietnamese ingredients, the Spanish man decided to open a candy and chocolate company called ‘Pop Keo’ in Da Nang in 2016.  He now carries on his grandfather’s legacy by living the artisanal tradition and combining it with the locally-grown natural products from Vietnamese localities to make candies as his family did over 100 years ago in Barcelona.

Victor’s candies use local ingredients to make candies, including cane sugar, organic cacao, coconut, fresh ginger, turmeric, passion fruits and honey with colours made of flowers, like red artichoke flowers. He performs the entire process of making candy and confectionery by hand, from cooking sugarcane honey, making honey paste, forming the candy shape, and wrapping candies.

Apart from candies, he is making bonbons and chocolate products.

In addition to the sweets for children, ‘Pop Keo’ has developed a wide range of different products with new and different forms of packaging such as wood, and ceramic and glass vases in order to satisfy customers’ needs.

The Spanish man also designs his sweets in the shapes of some symbols of Vietnamese localities such as the Rong (Dragon) Bridge in Da Nang, the Temple of Literature in Ha Noi, the Hue Citadel in Thua Thien Hue Province, conical hats and buffaloes.

Victor said he faced some difficulties when starting his business in Viet Nam because chocolate products here are often used as gifts rather than as daily snacks, so the consumption of this kind of products is still at a low level.

Also, Victor’s handmade products in natural and organic ingredients are on sale at higher prices than other items.

Due to language barriers, it initially took the young man much time to conduct market surveys and select suitable ingredients to make his candy products.

Victor praised the friendliness and helpfulness of the government and people of Da Nang that offered him easy access to government services to enable him to start and operate his business effectively.

Victor said, in the coming time, he will introduce a new chocolate product named ‘Catànies’ to Vietnamese customers which is considered as a traditional specialty from Catalunya (Spain).

By THU HA - Translated by MAI DUNG