Ninh Binh is a land containing many cultural sediments. Those cultural layers and strata were thought to exist only in stories, but now, there is a class of young entrepreneurs with their acumen who have found ways to turn cultural resources into valuable tourism products, known to domestic and international tourists.
There is still a folk story about Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong - a man with the talent to prescribe medicine. He often hid in a cave and planted medicinal plants to cure the poor. The mountain area where the Zen Master planted medicinal plants is called Sinh Duoc. The legendary stories about Zen Master Minh Khong were quite a long time ago, then revived when the Bai Dinh Mountain Pagoda Spiritual Tourism Area was built and put into operation. The people of Gia Sinh commune benefited a lot from the service activities at the tourist area. Many industries have brought people jobs and stable income such as: photography, parking, food and beverage service business, accommodation, tour guide, souvenir sales...
Among them, there is a young man named Vu Trung Duc (Gia Sinh commune) who has been struggling to find a new direction - a direction that can exploit local cultural values to serve tourists. That is the reason why Sinh Duoc Cooperative was born. Thanks to the large number of tourists, combined with the dynamism of the leader, Sinh Duoc Cooperative has developed rapidly. Up to now, the products are not only limited to the shelves of tourist gift shops but are present everywhere. Sinh Duoc herbal products have followed tourists to Japan, America, Europe...
Sinh Duoc's business idea did not stop there, but was developed into a business "ecosystem" by Mr. Vu Trung Duc. To take advantage of the large number of tourists coming to Ninh Binh for spiritual tourism, Mr. Duc and his partner Hoang Thanh Phuong established a Bodhi leaf gallery. He himself also invested in building Sao Sa King, with a signature product being a medicinal bath service, using natural herbs grown on Sinh Duoc hill.
In addition, to actively promote the culture of his homeland, Vu Trung Duc has invested in building the Ba Ngan Art Exhibition House. This is a place where exhibitions, exchanges and discussions of artists from inside and outside the province are regularly held. Because of his passion for cultural values, Sinh Duoc has become a "midwife" for many art projects such as: "Natural Color" Exhibition, "Journey of Vietnamese Traditional Costumes to Find Heritage", "Mr. Thirty" Exhibition, "Personal Stories" Exhibition... Ba Ngan Art Exhibition House is both a place to promote culture and a place to display and introduce the products of Sinh Duoc Cooperative to the public.
With his approach, Vu Trung Duc has successfully combined business with cultural promotion, integrating cultural elements into products. The story of Mr. Ngo Duc Tam with the Tong Truong perch floss is another example of success in exploiting cultural values for business purposes.
Mr. Ngo Duc Tam, Director of Dong Song Xanh Food Processing Trading Company Limited, confided about the process of coming up with the idea of producing Tong Truong perch floss: In folklore, when talking about the products of Hoa Lu, people often hum: "When I go, I miss you and her/ When I come back, I miss Tong Truong perch"... The song reminds us that in the culinary life of Hoa Lu, there is a famous delicacy, Tong Truong perch. Many dishes made from perch such as: perch soup, salt-roasted perch, sour soup, grilled perch, crispy fried perch... have become traditional delicacies, specialties of Truong Yen land.
However, to enjoy these dishes, diners have to come to the place, so for many years, the cuisine, although famous far and wide, has only been limited to the area of Truong Yen commune, in Ninh Binh province. The question of how to bring Hoa Lu specialties to people in all regions has always been a concern for Mr. Tam.
In 2022, Mr. Tam established Dong Song Xanh Food Processing Trading Company Limited and then launched the product of perch floss. To turn perch from a folk idea to a 4-star OCOP product of the province serving tourism, Mr. Tam devoted a lot of effort to this product. At that time, he was running a chain of 5 culinary restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, but Mr. Tam still decided to lease and transfer the restaurant, return to his hometown alone, and invest his efforts to make Tong Truong perch floss.
When starting to produce the specialty dish of perch floss, Mr. Ngo Duc Tam was concerned about how to make the famous delicious perch floss dish reach domestic and foreign tourists. Then, for many years, he worked hard to think of ways to improve the quality and appearance of this dish. He tried every way to increase the preservation time, improve the packaging label, packaging method to make it convenient for transportation, suitable for tourists to give as gifts... Up to now, perch floss dish has found a place in the market, gradually becoming a typical product, chosen by many tourists, and the reputation of Dong Song Xanh Company has also grown from there.
Currently, Mr. Ngo Duc Tam is planning to search for and expand the pond area to proactively supply raw materials and strictly manage the quality of input materials for the product. In addition, to increase the market share of the product, Mr. Tam promotes the product in many ways on social networking sites, consigns the product to many distribution points, stores in tourist areas...
Developing their business in two different directions, Vu Trung Duc and Ngo Duc Tam have in common the exploitation of cultural values as a starting point for business ideas and along with business is the effort to promote products with the cultural characteristics of their homeland to the public.
They are two businessmen representing the new generation of Ninh Binh entrepreneurs with the tendency to exploit cultural values to serve business and develop tourism. Their success is meaningful to inspire many young people to start their own businesses. The direction of these two businesses is also supported by all levels and sectors because it is consistent with the policy of taking advantage of cultural advantages to develop the province's tourism economy.
Along with Sinh Duoc and Dong Song Xanh, currently in Ninh Binh province, there are many units and enterprises developing business activities in this direction, such as: Lac Hong Tourism and Trade Company Limited; Ninh Thang Clean Agriculture Company Limited; Cuc Phuong Honey Production and Consumption Cooperative; Vu Gia Medicinal Materials Company Limited; Bo Bat Ceramic Conservation and Development Company Limited... The common point of these enterprises is developing commercial products from exploiting indigenous cultural resources; this is a relatively sustainable and highly recommended business direction.
Article and photos: Mai Phuong
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