Heavy heart for lotus

Start a business from lotus

Seven years ago, we got to know Mr. Tam through the introduction of the Chief of Police of Kien Binh Commune (now Tan Thanh Commune) Le Tran Thanh about a young man who had made mistakes but knew how to turn around and start a new life. What is special is that this young man not only brought benefits to his family but also opened up a new direction for lotus farmers in his hometown.

Mr. Vo Van Tam's facility is providing regular jobs for 35 workers.

In addition to continuing his family's lotus growing and fresh lotus root purchasing business, Mr. Tam also began researching recipes for processing fresh lotus root products, looking for markets instead of relying entirely on wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh City as before. After a period of research, he boldly launched sour lotus root products on the market.

It must be known that bringing a new product to the market is not easy, because there are many products made from fresh lotus root that have a brand name and a stable customer base.

Undaunted, he persisted in selling online and sending his products to traditional markets. These merchants paid him only after selling all their products.

In addition, he also went to food companies and businesses to sell fresh lotus root. Here, the units required the lotus root to be processed by cleaning and cutting into pieces but still ensuring the crispness and whiteness - most importantly, absolutely no use of colorants or chemicals.

Through time of research and experimentation, his fresh lotus root processing has met the requirements. However, at this time, he only stopped at processing for customers, and has not built his own brand.

Mr. Vo Van Tam is successful with products made from lotus.

Mr. Vo Van Tam recalled: “My goal is to build the 7 Thuoc lotus brand, not just to make a profit from processing for companies and businesses, because in the long run, we will be forced to lower prices by traders. The refrain of "good harvest, low price" is repeated. Luckily, through an acquaintance, I found a trader in China to sign a contract to purchase the product. On average, each month, the facility exports about 75 tons of fresh lotus roots with the 7 Thuoc specialty brand, accounting for 70% of the output, the rest is supplied to the domestic market. In order not to depend entirely on the Chinese market, I also look for partners in other markets such as Japan, Korea, etc. As a result, in 2024, I was able to export fresh lotus roots to Japan, although the quantity is not large, this is a potential and reliable market.”

The first days we visited, Mr. Tam’s fresh lotus root purchasing place was just a small gathering place with few workers. At that time, due to the lack of machinery, all work and workers had to be done manually. At that time, Mr. Tam only dared to dream that his products would be known by many people, and that he would have more money to invest in cutting machines to reduce the hardship for the workers.

The 7 Thuoc lotus brand has gained a foothold in the market thanks to the efforts of Mr. Vo Van Tam.

After 7 years of returning, we clearly see the development in both scale and quality. Accordingly, the purchasing points have been expanded; cutting, washing, screening, packaging, and vacuum pressing machines operate continuously; workers are busy working; trucks are constantly coming and going,...

On average, the facility purchases more than 4 tons of fresh lotus root per day. During harvest season, this number increases to 7 tons per day.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ha (Mr. Tam's mother) proudly said: "At first, seeing my son's passion for lotus, I was both happy and worried. I was afraid that he would fail and then give up, falling into another path. But then, seeing him grow up day by day, have a job, a stable income and increasingly receive the trust of the people around him, I was very happy and joyful!"

Share the benefits

Coming from a farming family, Mr. Tam understands the difficulties of lotus growers better than anyone else. That is why he is willing to share his profits with farmers.

Mr. Tran Long Dinh (residing in Tan Thanh commune) said: “In the past, every time the lotus root harvest season came, my family was worried that traders would force down the price, or even not buy. Since partnering with Tam, my family has been assured about the output, not afraid of traders forcing down the price. Especially at times, Tam even bought fresh lotus roots at a price twice as high as the market price.”

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen has a job and stable income at Mr. Vo Van Tam's facility.

Not only does Mr. Tam's facility purchase at a higher price than the market, it also provides regular jobs for 35 workers, with an income of 5-12 million VND/month (depending on the job position).

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen (residing in Tan Thanh commune) confided: “Previously, I worked as a worker in an Industrial Cluster. I had to go to work in the morning and come back in the afternoon, but I didn’t have time to take care of my family, so I applied to work here for stability. Currently, I have an income of about 8 million VND/month, and more importantly, I have time to take care of my family.”

Tan Thanh commune is considered a locality with many advantages for growing lotus, because many areas have low-lying, flooded terrain.

People grow lotus monoculture or intercrop one rice crop - one lotus crop. Although growing lotus is hard work, the profit is 2-3 times higher than growing rice on the same land area. The cost of fertilizer, pesticides, and labor for a lotus crop is not as much as growing rice, at nearly 20 million VND/ha.

On an area of 1 hectare of lotus, every other day, farmers harvest 40-50kg of lotus roots, selling for 16,000-20,000 VND/kg. After deducting expenses, farmers earn a profit of about 60 million VND/crop/ha.

Starting from a small purchasing point, Mr. Vo Van Tam has expanded his production scale.

Mr. Vo Van Tam added: “My point of view is that when the export market sells at a high price, we must buy high-quality products from farmers. That way, farmers will not turn their backs on us and feel secure in production. This is also the way we build our brand and reputation in the market. Up to now, the fresh lotus root product after preliminary processing has built the 7 Thuoc specialty brand; my sweet and sour lotus root has been recognized as a 3-star OCOP standard product. In the near future, I will establish a cooperative to share profits with farmers, contributing to building the 7 Thuoc lotus brand.”

After falling, with the determination to rebuild his life, Mr. Tam has affirmed his value to his family and society, building his own specialty brand. Not only that, Mr. Tam's startup story is also a source of inspiration, spreading positive energy to everyone, especially those who have had a wrongful past./.

Kim Ngoc

Source: https://baolongan.vn/nang-long-voi-sen-a200992.html