Having just won first prize in the "Cooperative Beauty" contest organized by the Cooperative Union of Bac Kan province, Duong Khanh Ly (born in 1990) is busy with the yellow flower tea drying workshop of Nghia Ta Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative, closing orders, purchasing more products...
Experimenting with growing yellow camellia on the family farm
Khanh Ly, Director of Nghia Ta Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative, confided: "This was my first time competing in a crowded place, so I was quite worried. Because there were many talented women there who had developed cooperatives for a long time. Luckily, I tried my best to demonstrate my knowledge of cooperative economic development and won."
After being dried, the golden flower tea products will be packaged and preserved for consumption.
Recalling her initial entrepreneurial journey as the Director of the Cooperative, Tay girl Khanh Ly smiled and shared about her chance to enter the profession: "I studied Social Work at Thai Nguyen University, which had nothing to do with economics. But when I returned to my hometown, I discovered that my fellow villagers grew a lot of yellow camellia trees and sold both the trees and the roots, which were always sold out very quickly. I learned that the value of yellow camellia trees is quite high, especially when the trees are cared for until they flower before being sold, and even when they are dried into tea products, the value is much higher, up to millions of dong. Yet my fellow villagers kept growing them, then digging up the roots to sell at the market at a cheap price, which I regret. In 2019, I started growing this type of tree on my farm, meticulously caring for it, and monitoring it until it flowers before harvesting."
Learning online, Ms. Ly learned that the benefits of yellow tea flowers are very good for health. It can regulate blood pressure, treat diabetes, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, prevent cancer, and help sleep well. "This plant can be propagated by cuttings or by roots. Initially, I planted about 1,000 yellow tea flowers on my family farm. When the plants first bloomed, I went online to find out the selling price, then tried selling on Zalo, Facebook and received orders from friends, acquaintances, and even people far away," Ms. Khanh Ly said.
The work at the yellow tea and leaf drying factory is light, suitable for women during their free time.
Start a business to have a stable source of goods
Seeing that it was quite convenient to consume yellow flower tea products, Khanh Ly continued to get more raw materials from people around the area. Thinking about needing a more stable source of goods but not having the capital to do business, in September 2019, Khanh Ly mobilized 9 households in the village and commune to pool capital to establish Hoa Thinh Cooperative.
After operating stably for more than 2 years, Khanh Ly boldly separated to form her own Cooperative, with a new name: Nghia Ta Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative - taking the name of her commune to affirm the clean products of her hometown.
"When I separated to work on my own, I also thought I was taking a risk, but if I wanted to develop the economy, I had to dare to do it. At that time, my husband's family was worried, did not trust and support me to work on my own. However, I was still determined, borrowed money from my in-laws, relatives and a little of my own savings, and with more than 100 million VND in capital, I invested in buying a dryer to dry flowers and leaves of the yellow tea tree. Because selling dried products, buyers can keep them longer than fresh flowers. With the remaining money, I bought raw materials, packaging, hired workers to pack the products and deliver them...", the Director of Nghia Ta Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative shared.
Seeing her business getting more and more popular, her husband's family encouraged and supported her to continue her entrepreneurial journey.
However, it was not until March 2022 that her entrepreneurial journey stabilized. At this time, Khanh Ly was supported by the Women's Union of Bac Kan province and the Chia Chia Center with 50% of the labor cost to build an integrated solar-powered yellow flower tea dryer workshop, over 10 square meters wide, and to build an additional tea processing workshop on an area of over 300 square meters next to her house.
"From now on, I will hire 8 more female workers who are members of the association, women who can dry the yellow tea flowers and dry bamboo shoots themselves. This job does not require much physical strength, suitable for women in their free time, because all you need to do is wash the leaves, wash the yellow tea flowers, split the bamboo shoots, then put them in the dryer and package them," Ms. Khanh Ly shared.
The golden flower tea drying oven always achieves productivity, producing clean and quality products.
Confident with clean, quality products harvested in natural forests, without the impact of technology, Nghia Ta golden flower tea products have been recognized as 3-star OCOP in 2022.
From only selling to people in the region, in the district and in Bac Kan province, now the golden flower tea products of Nghia Ta Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative have reached distant provinces/cities such as: Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Dak Nong, Long An...
The director of Nghia Ta Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative said: "I think, from the start, to bring the Cooperative's golden flower tea products to consumers, first of all, the owner must be bold, dare to think, dare to do. I just worked and learned more online from the management stage, finding markets, consuming products and purchasing, processing products, growing raw materials... Up to now, I am quite confident in the profession I have chosen."
Her wish, like many other Cooperative Directors, is to have more capital to expand production and processing. To have more exposure to product promotion and trade promotion channels, so that people know about the product which is both good in quality and ensures the safety of clean products, helping consumers feel secure when using Nghia Ta golden flower tea products from Bac Kan.
Consumers in need can contact directly: Nghia Ta Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative - Ban Bang Village, Nghia Ta Commune, Cho Don District, Bac Kan Province. Cooperative Manager: Duong Khanh Ly, phone: 0393.283.519.
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