Carambola, from snack to branded product

Soc Trang Mr. Ngo Tuan Thanh, a young and enthusiastic person, has turned Soc Trang star fruit from a popular snack into a high-quality product, becoming a valuable specialty.

Soc Trang Mr. Ngo Tuan Thanh, a young and enthusiastic person, has turned Soc Trang star fruit from a popular snack into a high-quality product, becoming a valuable specialty.

Increase the value of star fruit

When mentioning the star fruit, many people will immediately think of the image of a shiny green, oval-shaped fruit that often grows along the banks of rivers and canals in the West. When fresh, the star fruit has a characteristic sour and astringent taste. But when processed into candied star fruit, salted and chili-marinated star fruit or candied star fruit, the flavor becomes more attractive, a blend of sour, sweet, salty and spicy flavors.

Previously, star fruit was often considered a popular snack, few people thought about raising the value of this fruit. However, in Ward 7, Soc Trang City, Mr. Ngo Tuan Thanh (36 years old) spent a lot of time, effort and money to invest in machinery, turning star fruit into a branded product, known by many people across the country.

Mr. Ngo Tuan Thanh processes star fruit into a branded specialty of Soc Trang province. Photo: Kim Anh.

In 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Thanh's family's canarium garden was also laden with fruit. At this time, the consumption of canarium was facing many difficulties. Seeing the canarium fruits falling all over the ground, Thanh had a thought: "Why not process canarium into a product that can be preserved longer and is easier to consume?". From this initial idea, Thanh decided to research and launch his first product, salted canarium.

“Previously, star fruit was only considered a popular, cheap snack. I want to change that, to turn it into a well-known specialty, with good quality, properly processed, safe and with a clear brand,” Mr. Thanh shared.

With that determination, he continued to research the market and consumer tastes in many regions. According to Mr. Thanh, sweet and sour canarium fruit products are still new to consumers in the Northern and Central regions. Meanwhile, the processed canarium fruit products on the market today are not in sufficient supply due to the disadvantage of being difficult to preserve.

Soc Trang star apples are deseeded, better meeting consumer demand. Photo: Kim Anh.

Therefore, Mr. Thanh decided to invest more systematically and accurately in the product. He spent hundreds of millions of dong to import machinery, research processing formulas and test many different preservation methods to process crushed canarium fruit, ensuring that the product maintains its quality for a long time. His goal is to turn Soc Trang canarium fruit into a high-quality product that can reach far and wide, not just stopping at the local market.

The beginning was not easy, the crushed canarium fruit product was born, he brought it to introduce at markets and stores in Soc Trang province. However, because the price is higher than the traditional processed canarium fruit, finding an outlet was not without difficulties.

Flexible in his approach to the market, Mr. Thanh continues to exploit the strengths of social networks to introduce and open more stores to introduce Soc Trang canarium products, located in Can Tho city.

These efforts have brought positive results, compared to the previous consumption of a few boxes per day, the number of orders for crushed canarium fruit has increased.

The processing of star fruit at Mr. Ngo Tuan Thanh's facility is carried out in a closed system, with the support of machinery, and the preservation time is longer than the traditional processing method. Photo: Kim Anh.

Continuing to record feedback from customers, realizing that customers were reluctant to eat star fruit because the seeds were hard and difficult to eat, Mr. Thanh continued to research how to separate the seeds for the product.

At first, the seed separation was done entirely by hand, which took a lot of time and effort. He approached mechanical engineers to order the manufacture of seed separation machines.

After more than 2 years of testing with many different versions. Finally, the complete carambola seed separator was born, helping the processing process to be faster, the product has a beautiful appearance and keeps its freshness for a long time.

Product commercialization

Currently, the products processed from star fruit of Mr. Thanh's facility are carried out in a closed process, from the stage of selecting raw materials to packaging finished products. Fresh star fruit is purchased from gardens in the West, then brought to the factory to separate the seeds; washed with an ozone machine to ensure food hygiene and safety; followed by stages such as: sugaring, freezing and packaging.

Thanks to this process, the star fruit is not astringent but still retains its crispness, harmonious sweet and sour taste, and beautiful green color. In particular, the product when stored in the refrigerator will last for more than 1 month, and can be frozen for up to 12 months.

On average, each month, Mr. Ngo Tuan Thanh produces more than 2 tons of seedless star apples and many other products made from star apples. Photo: Kim Anh.

With prices ranging from 80,000 - 90,000 VND/500g box, the seedless canarium product quickly won the trust of customers. Each month, his facility produces more than 2 tons of seedless canarium. Not stopping there, he also continues to expand production to include dried canarium and seedless star fruit. After deducting expenses, his monthly profit is up to about 100 million VND.

In the future, Mr. Thanh hopes to bring Soc Trang canarium products to the international market, especially markets with a large Vietnamese population. On the other hand, he is looking for opportunities to cooperate with large distributors to bring products to supermarkets, to gain a solid foothold in the market.

From a rustic fruit, seemingly only associated with the childhood of people in the West, Soc Trang canarium fruit has now become a branded specialty, contributing to promoting the culinary beauty of the river region to a large number of domestic and foreign diners.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/ca-na-tu-mon-an-vat-thanh-san-pham-thuong-hieu-d420400.html