Instead of just raising frogs and crickets for sale like many other farmers, Mr. Phan Thanh Phong, in Chau Thanh district, has researched and applied deep processing methods to increase the value of livestock. The new method helps young people live a healthy life with farming.
Raising crickets helps Mr. Phong diversify products and increase income.
Initial success
Born into a farming family, Phan Thanh Phong was passionate about farming from a young age. However, to change his life soon, he decided to go abroad to work. With his savings and experience, he decided to return to his hometown to start a business.
In 2019, Mr. Phong started raising crickets and frogs. He started by learning from newspapers and radio and then started his business with a total of only about 6 square meters for raising frogs and crickets. Working and learning at the same time, after 4 years of struggling with all kinds of things, Mr. Phong now has a 4,000 square meter property to raise these two animals.
Mr. Phong confided: “There were many failures. There was a time when my entire farm was broken and I lost money. I had to go through a lot of experience for a long time before I succeeded for more than a year now. At that time, I was the only one working on it. When I succeeded and was also a member of the Youth Union, I started to introduce other young people to implement it and then linked up with them to have enough materials to make products.”
The special thing about Mr. Phong's model is that he sells both crickets and frogs, creating many choices for consumers. Here, the crickets are raised in cages for processing, for sale, and as food for frogs. The frog farming area is right next to, below the crickets, making use of space and science .
Taking the prepared cassava shoots to put in the cage to feed the crickets, Mr. Phong confided: “Crickets processed into food must be raised according to a formula that I have specially researched and I can control the origin. Crickets raised here are called egg crickets, they are not available outside. Each farm has its own skills, people raise them differently from us. When we process the product, we have to research our own raising and nutrition methods.”
According to Mr. Phong, from the first day of experimentation, he began to summarize for himself the smallest things about farming techniques from food to care regimen for efficiency. Taking advantage of the available cricket source, Mr. Phong used it to supplement nutrition for the frogs in the farm. The source of nutrition is both natural and helps the quality of frog meat to be more delicious than industrial food.
“In the outside market, people raise frogs for about 2 months before they can sell them. My farm also raises them and traders really like them. If I raise frogs for processing, I have to raise them for about half a year or more, the quality of the meat is better. I will process and supply the market myself. Customers who have used them have rated the quality as very good,” Mr. Phong added.
Wishing to make his product known to many people and find a new direction for himself, Mr. Phong boldly registered to participate in the 3rd Hau Giang Province Startup Competition in 2023 and received many positive responses. For Mr. Phong, this is a great encouragement for him to be confident on the path he has chosen.
Future plans
At Mr. Phong's farm, there are currently many product lines that are popular with customers. Introducing his products to reporters, Mr. Phong's eyes radiated happiness and pride: "I currently have many types of frogs. Commercial frogs such as: frozen frogs, dried frogs or pre-marinated frogs. As for crickets, I am producing cricket eggs. Currently, I make frozen, processed and pre-marinated crickets, making many dishes such as: fried, salad or many other dishes."
With the initiative of “home” raw materials and the connection with 2 households, even with the current modest scale, Mr. Phong does not have to worry about raw materials. However, with the plan of this young farmer, when the business develops more, he will expand the scale and increase the number of connected households.
“I sell processed crickets in boxes, each 1kg box is 200,000 VND. For every 1kg of fresh crickets, processing will leave about 700-800 grams of finished product. As for frogs, there are many prices, processed and canned, 1kg is about 260,000 VND. In addition, there are also fresh frozen frogs. This product is only pre-processed and frozen. Currently, I mainly sell live frogs to traders,” Mr. Phong excitedly shared.
It is known that Mr. Phong's products are currently sold through regular customers and then gradually introduced to wholesale customers. This young man's future plan is to research and process to create better quality products, register packaging and food safety to bring to the market, to supermarkets, contributing to diversifying the choices for consumers, as well as developing the family economy .
Starting a business in any field is never easy, and it is even more difficult in agriculture because it requires experience, capital, and love for farming. Mr. Phong's story is a testament to the youth's strength, daring to think and act, both developing the family economy and creating jobs for local workers. And most of all, it contributes to arousing the entrepreneurial and creative spirit of the province's youth.
Article and photos: MONG TOAN
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