9X girl successfully started a business with a model of growing Cordyceps mushrooms

Ms. Pham Thi Hong Duyen (striped shirt) introduces Cordyceps mushroom products to customers.

Pham Thi Hong Duyen was born in 1993, in Thanh Nguyen commune (Thanh Liem district, old Ha Nam ). After finishing high school, Duyen applied to work as a garment factory worker in a town near her home. With her diligence and carefulness, Duyen was selected to work in the product quality control department and has a fairly stable income.

Then Duyen's chance to come across Cordyceps mushrooms was very coincidental, she shared: More than a year ago, a cousin in Dong Nai introduced me to this type of mushroom. After a period of use, realizing the wonderful uses of Cordyceps mushrooms, I became curious and learned more about the production process, initially with the intention of being self-sufficient in mushroom sources for family use. However, realizing that in my locality there was no facility growing this precious mushroom, I wondered why I didn't produce it to serve my hometown people?

After a period of thinking and receiving support from her family, in July 2024, Duyen decided to give up her stable job as a tailor, and put all her capital and passion into investing in building the An Vien Cordyceps mushroom production facility.

According to Ms. Duyen, Cordyceps is a precious medicinal herb with high economic efficiency but is very difficult to cultivate. The mushroom needs to be cultivated in a closed process in a sterile, light and airy environment. The quality of the product depends on many factors, such as: seed source, technology, raw materials, of which the most important is the cultivation environment.

To ensure the best growing environment for Cordyceps, Ms. Duyen focuses on investing in sterile rooms, cold rooms, mushroom cultivation rooms, air conditioning systems, etc., to help maintain the necessary temperature and humidity throughout the mushroom production process.

At the beginning of the model, Duyen actively learned, researched, and studied the formula for cultivating and propagating in an artificial environment. Every day, she persistently monitored the growth of mushrooms and eliminated poor quality seedlings. Ms. Duyen revealed: Brown rice and silkworm pupae were carefully measured, crushed, and put into a sterilizer, then grown in a cold room according to regulations. After more than 3 months, the Cordyceps mushroom product could be harvested. "I was not successful with the initial cultivation and propagation of mushrooms. Many times I thought I had failed, and many people in my family were skeptical about the success of the model. But I always thought that only with failure can there be success, so I never allowed myself to falter in the face of difficulties," Duyen shared.

The process of growing Cordyceps mushrooms sounds simple but requires meticulousness, patience and scientific knowledge. With perseverance, persistence, and not afraid of difficulties, after 1 year of starting a business, Ms. Duyen's Cordyceps mushroom growing model has brought initial success, many customers in the area have known the product and placed orders.

In order to increase the value of the product, Ms. Duyen also invested in the production of freeze-dried mushrooms. This is a modern technology that helps dry mushrooms while still retaining all their nutrients. "When the fresh mushrooms grow to a certain level, I will cut the base, take the mushroom stem to freeze-dry. It only takes 48 hours for the mushrooms to dry, still retaining their color, flavor and nutritional content" - Ms. Duyen explained.

Cordyceps products of An Vien production facility meet 3-star standards.

Not only striving to improve quality, she also pays special attention to building brands, labels, and product packaging to create more attraction and affirm the sustainable effectiveness of the model.

Every 3 months, An Vien Cordyceps mushroom production facility harvests more than 3,000 boxes of fresh mushrooms, each box of 200g, with a selling price of 50,000 VND. In particular, 100g of freeze-dried mushrooms costs up to 1 million VND, giving an economic value many times higher than fresh mushrooms. The product is currently consumed in the region and surrounding areas of Hanoi.

Thanks to high-tech investment and focus on quality, the mushroom products of the facility have gradually gained a foothold in the market. In June 2025, the Cordyceps product of Ms. Duyen's An Vien facility was honored to receive 3-star OCOP certification. Not only enriching herself, Ms. Duyen also creates jobs for local people.

Ms. Tran Thi Anh, a resident working at the facility, happily shared: The job of stacking and packaging mushrooms is very suitable for me. With a stable income, I will stick with this facility for a long time. Ms. Duyen's efforts also helped me realize that if I have passion, I will definitely succeed.

Comrade Tran Van Phuong, Head of the Economic Department of Thanh Liem Commune, said: In recent times, the Party Committee - People's Committee of Thanh Liem Commune has focused on leading and directing the comprehensive development of agriculture in the direction of commodity production; performing well in service stages; applying scientific and technical advances in production. In particular, special attention is paid to encouraging farmers to continue building the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program. Now, in Thanh Liem, in addition to OCOP products such as Taiwanese guava, Cuong Hanh sticky rice wine, Minh Long bottled water, many people also know about An Vien Cordyceps mushroom products.

The success of the An Vien Cordyceps mushroom production model is one of the positive directions, with the ability to spread, encouraging young people to participate in agricultural production. With youthful energy and a dynamic spirit, daring to think, daring to do and increasing the application of scientific and technological advances, the youth start-up models will bring success, create jobs for families and increase the value of cultivated areas.

Starting a business is a difficult journey, but the belief in clean and quality products has led the young woman Pham Thi Hong Duyen to initial success. Determining that success is not just a destination, but a journey of passion and dedication, Pham Thi Hong Duyen is cherishing the plan to continue expanding the model and investing in technology to improve the quality standards of Cordyceps products, thereby expanding the market and creating jobs for many workers in the region.

Article and photos: Mai Lan

Source: https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/co-gai-9x-khoi-nghiep-thanh-cong-voi-mo-hinh-nuoi-trong-nam-dong-trung-ha-thao-251112115313014.html