Choose the difficult path to 'survive' with tea cultivation.

While many young people leave their hometowns to seek opportunities in urban areas, in Minh Hop hamlet (Vo Tranh commune), one young man chose to go against the trend. After graduating from university, Nguyen Thai Ninh chose to return to his hometown, a place with quiet, green tea hills. His choice was once considered unconventional, but it was from this that a new path was opened.

Members of the Thai Ninh Safe Tea Production Cooperative are packaging their specialty tea products.

To make a living from a profession, you have to change your methods.

Born in 1993, after graduating from the University of Information Technology and Communications ( Thai Nguyen University), Nguyen Thai Ninh returned to his hometown with a simple concern: the tea from his hometown was delicious, but because it was produced using traditional methods, its value was low, and tea farmers, despite their year-round hard work, struggled to make a living. He believed that for farmers to be able to make a living from their profession, it had to start with changing their farming methods.

Based on that idea, in 2017, he established the Thai Ninh Safe Tea Production Cooperative with the aim of producing safe tea, moving towards organic production, and applying science , technology, and digital technology to both production and consumption.

The cooperative was established with a clear objective: to clean up from the root. No herbicides, minimal use of chemicals, priority given to organic fertilizers and biological products, and cultivation according to strictly controlled procedures. This path was challenging from the start. Many households were apprehensive, fearing that "cleaning up will lead to low productivity and high risks," and some even gave up halfway.

To convince the villagers, Ninh agreed to take the lead, accepting losses to build trust. "If I don't do it properly, I can't expect others to follow," he shared. With each passing tea harvest, the results became clear: the tea buds were small but had a strong aroma, the selling price was high, and the market was more stable.

Long-term tea-growing households began to earn a better income than before. From just a few initial cooperative households, the raw material area gradually expanded. For many families, tea cultivation is no longer a seasonal, hand-to-mouth occupation, but has become a stable source of livelihood.

In the following years, the cooperative developed a tea raw material area meeting VietGAP standards with an area of ​​10 hectares and converted a portion of the area to organic production. Not stopping at raw material production, Mr. Ninh determined that he had to increase the value of the product in the processing stage as well.

The cooperative invests in machinery and standardizes the roasting, rolling, and drying processes, while still retaining necessary manual steps to preserve the flavor. The product lines are clearly categorized, from common teas to high-quality teas such as young shoot tea, premium tea, and especially purple tea – a new product line with high economic value.

Selling on digital platforms

Thai Ninh Safe Tea Production Cooperative aims to produce safe tea, moving towards organic production.

As someone who studied information technology, Ninh quickly chose the path of selling products on digital platforms. When many farmers were still unfamiliar with smartphones, he put his products on e-commerce sites, learned how to take photos, write content, and build a brand on social media.

The initial orders were few, but they opened up a completely new market approach. Thanks to this distribution channel, the cooperative's tea products gradually expanded beyond the local area, reaching many provinces and cities nationwide. Tea growers were no longer entirely dependent on traders, avoiding the situation of "bumper harvest, low prices."

Thanks to market expansion, the income of cooperative members has increased significantly. Many households have seen their revenue from safe tea production increase two to three times compared to before, and some households producing organically have achieved an income of 120-150 million VND per year.

Commenting on Mr. Ninh's startup model, Mr. Hoang The Tien, Chairman of the People's Committee of Vo Tranh commune, said: "Mr. Ninh is one of the outstanding young people in the locality in the movement to develop the rural economy. The Thai Ninh Safe Tea Production Cooperative not only brings economic efficiency but also contributes to changing traditional agricultural practices, linking production with the market and digital transformation."

For Mr. Ninh, the greatest success lies not in the numbers, but in the fact that more and more households are trusting and joining him on the path of producing safe tea.

He hopes to expand the organic tea production area in the future and develop products linked to experiential tourism so that tea cultivation can create more sustainable livelihoods for the people.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202512/chon-duong-kho-de-song-ben-voi-cay-che-a7c06de/