Yen Bai , where Ms. Doan Thi Luong was born and raised, has a typical fruit, which is hawthorn, also known as cat apple. This sour, astringent wild fruit is often dried and soaked in wine by people. During the harvest season, cat apples are sold at cheap prices. Realizing that people have difficulty in consuming them, Ms. Luong has determined to increase the value of this fruit.
Ms. Luong said: "After graduating from Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, I decided to change direction and return to my hometown to set up a hawthorn business. I spent a lot of time researching, exploring, and processing products from hawthorn fruit, to preserve the fruit longer while still retaining the traditional flavor.
In July 2022, with the encouragement and support of the local government, I and a number of colleagues joined together to establish the Doan Luong General Processing and Trading Cooperative in Tien Phu village, Van Phu commune, Yen Bai city, Yen Bai province.
We hope to make hawthorn berries the main product of the cooperative, helping local people increase their income. Instead of selling fresh products, the cooperative has processed hawthorn berries into vinegar, dried apricots, and jams, which have been well received by consumers."
PV: What difficulties have you encountered on your startup journey?
Ms. Doan Thi Luong : My journey of starting a business with hawthorn berries faced many difficulties. First of all, hawthorn berries are a seasonal fruit, only lasting from about July to September each year. In order to supply enough products to the market, the cooperative had to operate at full capacity with the participation of 10-15 members.
On average, each crop, the cooperative processes and consumes about 150 tons, of which the output is about 2 tons of dried apricots, 2 tons of jam and 2,000 liters of apple wine. We have to calculate and balance to ensure both output and meet market demand.
PV: What is your business philosophy?
Ms. Doan Thi Luong: To build a reputation in the market, quality and professionalism are the principles that I always pursue. From the raw materials to the processing and preservation stages, everything must be very careful. In particular, my top priority is to choose quality inputs.
Hawthorn is a typical fruit of Yen Bai, grown in many places but the cooperative has to select the growing area, go to Tu Le garden (Van Chan district, Yen Bai province) to research, purchase and place orders. All types of hawthorn used to produce dried apricots, jams, etc. are carefully selected by us, using only fresh fruits, not crushed, not wormy or rotten.
PV: What activities has the cooperative implemented to develop production?
Ms. Doan Thi Luong: We have sought support and loans to expand our scale and invest in more machinery for production. In addition, members of the cooperative have also made efforts to introduce, promote, and display products, diversifying sales methods, from direct sales at stores, tourist agents in and outside the province to online sales.
Up to now, after more than 1 year of establishment, the cooperative has generated income for its members reaching 5-6 million VND/month. In addition, the cooperative also stands out to link and consume products of local people at stable purchasing prices, avoiding the situation of being forced to lower prices by traders.
Thanks to the application of biotechnology and scientific and technical advances in processing, products from hawthorn fruit have higher value, forming a sustainable production and processing chain. I hope that one day, our products will be exported.
PV: Thank you!
Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/dua-qua-son-tra-xuong-pho-20240702184130111.htm
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