9x girl successfully develops banh chung la rieng brand

At nearly 30 years old, Ms. Nong Thi Quynh, born in 1995, in Na Khao hamlet, Trung Hoi commune (Dinh Hoa) has successfully built the brand of green banh chung with galangal leaves. Her banh chung with traditional flavors are often chosen as local specialties, participating in promotion at major fairs and exhibitions.

Ms. Nong Thi Quynh with her green banh chung with galangal leaves product.

Nong Thi Quynh’s house is located at the end of a winding road at the foot of Nan Mountain, where Chung cakes are meticulously made in every step, and then developed into a specialty of ATK Dinh Hoa. When we visited the house, Quynh’s family members were working together to make a new batch of cakes.

While stacking each stack of dong leaves, Ms. Quynh leisurely told: Ever since I was little, I have followed my grandparents and parents to help wrap traditional banh chung, starting with simple tasks like washing leaves, washing rice, green beans... to staying up late at night to boil the cakes. Growing up, although I have been to many places and tried many different dishes, the taste of my family's banh chung is still the most unforgettable for me. Several times, when I gave banh chung to my friends, everyone praised it and asked how to buy it. Therefore, I always had the thought in my mind: Why not develop the brand of my family's banh chung products to expand the consumer market?

With that in mind, in 2021, Ms. Quynh decided to quit her job as a worker to start implementing the idea of developing the traditional banh chung brand. According to Ms. Quynh, the ingredients for making green banh chung are Nep cai hoa vang rice and Dinh Hoa Vai sticky rice, which are the best specialty rice varieties in the region. The most special thing about the cakes Ms. Quynh makes is that before wrapping the cakes, the sticky rice is mixed with galangal leaf water to create a natural green color and a characteristic aroma. Other ingredients such as dong leaves, giang strings, green beans, pork belly... are also selected from the best types to prepare for the cake wrapping stage.

Traditional banh chung is wrapped tightly and evenly without using a mold. Ms. Quynh shared: The wrapped cakes must be wrapped tightly so that the finished product is square, thick with rice, and soft. The wrapped cakes are placed in a large pot, each pot has about 40 pieces, and the bottom of the pot is lined with leaf stems. The cakes are arranged in pairs, pressed tightly, covered with rainwater and boiled. The cakes are cooked on a wood stove and kept at a stable temperature for 6-8 hours.

The green banh chung cakes produced by Ms. Quynh have a particularly delicious flavor. When eating, diners will feel the stickiness and richness of rice, beans, and the richness of meat. Thanks to that, the product is well received and loved by the market. To develop the brand, in early 2022, Ms. Quynh started building a sales channel on e-commerce sites and social networking platforms such as Facebook, Zalo, and Tiktok. Gradually, the product became known to many customers, and the number of orders increased day by day.

Currently, Ms. Quynh's green galangal banh chung products are sold in many provinces and cities such as: Hanoi , Bac Ninh, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh... On average, she sells more than 1,000 cakes per month, at a price of 50-60 thousand VND/cake, with a revenue of over 1 billion VND/year. Near Tet, customer demand doubles or triples compared to normal days, so she has to hire 10-20 more seasonal workers.

For Ms. Quynh, banh chung is not only a dish but also a story about traditional culture and good customs of the nation that she wants to spread to more people. And with her passion for business and the spirit of daring to think and dare to do of youth, she has achieved initial success by developing a brand for traditional products.

Ms. Quynh said that at the end of 2023, she submitted a trademark registration application for her green galangal banh chung product. In the coming time, along with continuing to improve the quality and design beautiful product packaging, she will strive to build banh chung products that meet OCOP certification and aim for the further goal of exporting.

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