Gen Z girl brings Thanh Hoa's fermented pork roll "on air"

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - Born into a family with a tradition of making nem chua, Luyen Thi Quyen, born in 2002 in Trieu Son district, was familiar from a young age with the image of relatives meticulously selecting meat, wrapping nem and marinating each banana leaf and guava leaf. The light, strong aroma of garlic, the characteristic sour taste and the crunchy texture of nem chua have become an unforgettable part of childhood memories for the Thanh girl.

Luyen Thi Quyen livestreams selling Thanh Hoa sour sausage products on the tiktok platform.

“Nem chua is not only a dish, but also the culinary soul of my hometown. I always feel proud to introduce this specialty to friends everywhere,” Quyen shared. However, while many people still associate nem chua with the image of small stalls in traditional markets, the young girl sees great untapped potential: “Why can’t our hometown’s specialty reach consumers through modern platforms like e-commerce?” That question became the motivation for Quyen to embark on her entrepreneurial journey. With the desire to help Thanh Hoa nem chua reach beyond local boundaries, she decided to build her own “brand” and transform herself according to the digital trend.

Not choosing the safe path of traditional business models, Quyen started by researching the market, understanding consumer trends and especially online shopping behavior. She chose major e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Tiki, Lazada and especially TikTok Shop - a platform that is booming with sales via livestream. Quyen said: "At first, it was very difficult because consumers were not used to buying traditional food products like nem chua online. They were concerned about quality, preservation and food safety." But instead of being discouraged, she focused on investing in her "brand" image. From designing beautiful packaging, taking professional product photos, to filming short videos about the nem making process, all of which were posted regularly on social networks to build trust with customers. Each of Quyen's livestream sales sessions is not simply a product introduction, but also a lively "conversation", where she tells stories about her hometown, about the hard-working people making nem and the pride of Thanh Hoa. Thanks to that, the number of interactions is increasing and orders are constantly pouring in. Although bringing the product to the modern digital media environment, the young girl of Gen Z always keeps in mind: Must preserve the soul of Thanh Hoa nem chua. To do that, her production facility still strictly adheres to traditional steps, from selecting fresh meat, washing banana leaves, to mixing spices and monitoring the fermentation time. "My nem production facility only uses clean pork from qualified farms, does not use preservatives. Each batch of nem is carefully checked for acidity, color and taste before being packaged," Quyen shared.

However, when bringing the nem chua product to the e-commerce platform, Quyen also encountered difficulties in preserving and transporting the product. Nem chua is a fermented food, with a short preservation and use time, usually only 4 - 7 days if preserved properly. If the ambient temperature is higher than 25oC, the fermentation process will take place faster, easily causing the nem to become sour, soft, or spoiled before reaching the consumer. Therefore, with long-distance orders, the long shipping time can affect the quality of the product. To overcome this difficulty, Quyen and her production facility have applied modern machinery to carry out a closed nem wrapping process, instead of the traditional hand-wrapping of nem. With this process, the nem will be mixed with the filling by machine and then transferred to the packaging machine. After each spring roll has been sealed in a bag, the workers will wrap it in another layer of banana leaves to ensure that the traditional features are still preserved. After that, the product is also vacuum-sealed to ensure quality during long-distance transportation. It is this "perfectionism" that has helped Quyen's nem chua facility receive thousands of positive feedback on e-commerce platforms. "Delicious spring rolls, traditional taste, carefully packaged" - comments that seem simple but are a worthy reward for the young girl's efforts and creativity.

Luyen Thi Quyen has proven that, with creativity and technological knowledge, young people can absolutely contribute to promoting their hometown's specialties in a new, more effective and modern way. Currently, the brand "Quyen Nem - Thanh Hoa Specialty" of this young person is present in many provinces and cities across the country with hundreds of orders per week. Many videos that Quyen shares about the production process and flavor of Thanh Hoa sour sausage attract millions of views on the tiktok platform. Not stopping there, she is planning to expand her products, researching variations of sour sausage such as square sour sausage, mortar sour sausage... to diversify the product portfolio and meet the increasing needs of customers.

Article and photos: Phuong Do

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/co-gai-gen-z-nbsp-dua-nem-chua-xu-thanh-len-song-252913.htm