Vietnamese students bring clean fragrance to conquer international arena

One quiet afternoon, in a small workshop, the scent of vetiver mixed with coconut shell charcoal spreads, gentle and warm. No irritating smoke, no toxic chemicals, those clean, skillfully pressed incense sticks are the result of three Vietnamese students, preparing to bring their products to the international arena.

SubstitOud clean incense products. Photo: NVCC.

Clean scent from memories and worries

The “SubstitOud Clean Incense” project is a creative product of Dao The Anh (a student at Taft School, USA), Pham Tran Bao Chau (a student at UWC Dilijan, Armenia) and Quan Minh Khoi (a student at Hanoi – Amsterdam High School for the Gifted). In June 2025, the project won second prize in the national “Sage World Cup 2025 International Entrepreneurship Competition” for high school students, becoming one of two representatives of Vietnam to participate in the international competition in Tbilisi, Georgia in September 2025.

Dao The Anh, international student at Taft School (USA). Photo: NVCC.

Talking to Knowledge and Life about the origin of the project idea, Dao The Anh shared that a few years ago, his grandfather, whom he was very close to, passed away. To remember him, he often burned incense and prayed. But then he started coughing continuously and had red eyes.

“I started thinking about making a clean incense product, because I believe that connecting with ancestors and spiritual roots should not come at the cost of one's own health,” said The Anh.

Pham Tran Bao Chau, an international student at UWC Dilijan (Armenia). Photo: NVCC.

The Anh’s concerns found deep resonance with Pham Tran Bao Chau, a friend studying abroad in Armenia. Chau’s mother suffered from bronchial asthma since she was a child, while her grandparents were Buddhists, burning incense and worshiping Buddha every day.

“My family has always been looking for clean sources of incense. However, the products we use still have a lot of smoke. So when I heard about The Anh’s idea, I was extremely excited and felt like I had to join in,” Chau said.

Two stories, two situations but with the same concern: how to make incense burning, a profound spiritual cultural beauty of the Vietnamese people, safe and pure, so that each incense stick burned is a complete reverence without affecting health and the environment. And so SubstitOud was born.

New Vietnamese incense sticks: Clean in ingredients, different in manufacturing

According to Bao Chau, the incense market in Vietnam and Asia is not lacking in products that call themselves “clean incense”. However, most of the products still produce smoke due to the burning of bamboo sticks and other organic ingredients inside. Meanwhile, many people assume that “burning incense requires smoke” without fully understanding the potential risks from chemical incense smoke.

“SubstitOud Clean Scent” has created a unique path, a new definition of “clean”. Our products are different because they maximize the use of clean and sustainable ingredients,” Chau shared.

Making SubstitOud clean incense in the lab. Photo: NVCC.

Bao Chau said that the main ingredient of the incense is a delicate combination of vetiver powder, smokeless coconut shell charcoal powder and agarwood powder.

Agarwood Grass, a familiar ingredient, was chosen to partially replace agarwood, helping to reduce product costs and reduce over-exploitation of agarwood while still retaining its characteristic warm, sacred scent.

Meanwhile, using activated carbon from coconut shells instead of conventional wood sawdust will help take advantage of waste from the food industry, which is abundant in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

The most special and unique feature of SubstitOud is the complete removal of the bamboo toothpick at the core.

“We achieved this by increasing the proportion of natural adhesives from Litsea bark powder, completely replacing chemical glues. This means that the incense sticks will be pressed into a mold instead of rolled around a bamboo core. This process requires higher techniques and must be dried thoroughly to ensure firmness,” The Anh shared about the technical challenges the team overcame.

The result is a coreless incense stick that burns evenly, gives off a gentle scent and is especially almost smokeless, completely solving the problem of toxic smoke and dust.

Aspiration to elevate Vietnamese flavor on the world map

The journey to create SubstitOud was challenging due to the time zone differences and geographical distance between team members.

“The time zone difference was really a challenge. I remember there were times when I stayed up until midnight in the US to prepare for a presentation with Bao Chau who was in Armenia,” The Anh said.

Once the idea had taken shape, finding a factory in Vietnam that could make it happen was another difficult problem. “Even though we had the formula and sample, it took us months to contact local manufacturers to find someone who truly understood the special technical requirements of the product, especially the process of making stickless incense. Last summer, we returned to Vietnam, directly visited the factories to discuss and supervise the production process,” The Anh shared.

Fortunately, on that journey, the group received valuable advice from teachers both at home and abroad such as Ms. Ryan and Dr. Benedict at school, or Mr. Pham Van Du and Ms. Nguyen Thi My Nga from the Vietnam Agarwood Association.

Especially, mothers are a solid support in the rear. "Mothers have supported us not only professionally but also as invaluable spiritual support, helping us to overcome all difficulties," Bao Chau said emotionally.

When asked why they chose to represent Vietnam in an international competition despite being international students, the students shared: “We chose Vietnam because we both feel the deepest connection to Vietnamese culture. Incense is not just a product, it is a heritage of our homeland.”

The team’s dedication and attention to detail completely won over the Sage World Cup judges and instructors. One common comment the team received was “their incredible attention to detail and dedication, rooted in their own personal stories and issues.”

Mr. Pham Van Du, Chairman of the Vietnam Agarwood Association, said that the Association highly appreciated the idea of young people in researching the use of vetiver incense in addition to agarwood to produce incense, serving society. This is a smart move to exploit natural aromatic resources to create fragrant, clean products to meet the huge demand of society, and the price will be suitable for the majority of consumers, while using agarwood raw materials will cost more.

“If this idea is widely applied, we will help expand the cultivation and processing of aromatic herbs from vetiver, bringing great benefits to farmers. The Vietnam Agarwood Association is very happy to see young people interested in the country's precious products such as aromatic herbs, specifically vetiver and agarwood,” said Mr. Du.

The President of the Vietnam Agarwood Association said that vetiver and agarwood are treasures that nature has bestowed upon our country but have not been effectively exploited. Now, for future generations who are interested and passionate in these fields, the Vietnam Agarwood Association enthusiastically supports, shares and inspires, and supports them unconditionally: helping them understand the value and uses of agarwood and vetiver; helping them visit plantations, demonstrate how to create agarwood, exploit and manufacture agarwood products.

“All of this is to instill in the children a love and pride for their homeland... and then strive to study and research to contribute to bringing Vietnamese agarwood further and further, for the agarwood industry to develop further. Currently, Dao The Anh is an honorary member of the Vietnam Agarwood Association thanks to his passion and research as well as his contributions to the agarwood industry,” Mr. Du shared.

Not just stopping at a competition, the group has outlined a development roadmap with many aspirations. “We hope to popularize SubstitOud clean incense in the Vietnamese market this year and next year. In the immediate future, we will distribute it to large temples and pagodas and a system of stores selling worship and spiritual items nationwide. By 2027, we hope to export products to neighboring Asian countries that share the same spiritual culture,” The Anh shared.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/hoc-sinh-viet-dua-huong-sach-chinh-phuc-dau-truong-quoc-te-post2149046133.html