Sell house to start business with sachi
Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong - Director of Kim Thong Import-Export and Tourism Service Trade Cooperative (Kim Thong Cooperative) has brought sachi seed products to introduce at conferences and seminars many times to find customers and outlets for sachi seed products, which are very unfamiliar to Vietnamese people.
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| Booth introducing sachi seed products of Kim Thong Cooperative. Photo KT |
Sacha inchi (sachi) seeds are a type of seed originating from South America, known to the world as a "new superfood", also known as the "king of nuts", because recent scientific studies have shown that this type of seed possesses nutritional value far surpassing that of walnuts and cashews. Some studies even suggest that the omega-3 content in sacha inchi seeds is 17 times higher than salmon and nearly 50 times higher than olive oil.
Because of such high nutritional content, in 2018, after traveling to Peru and bringing this type of seed back to Vietnam to learn more, Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong decided to "start a business" at the age of 52 instead of retiring like many people have chosen.
One of the main reasons why the U60 woman decided to start a business with sachi trees is because, in addition to its high nutritional content and suitability to the climate and soil in Vietnam, this tree also has great potential as the harvest time is only 8 months and lasts up to 20-30 years. Besides, the tree also has the advantage of being pest-free, easy to grow and easy to care for.
Another advantage that Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong also mentioned is that Vietnam's agricultural land area is very large, and there are many idle agricultural workers, especially in provinces such as Dak Nong, Gia Lai, and Lam Dong. In fact, in Vietnam at that time, sachi trees were planted experimentally in some localities but had not been planned into concentrated planting areas.
To have money to start a business, Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong sold 2 apartments in Thanh Xuan district - Hanoi city for nearly 10 billion VND to plan the growing area and invest in machinery. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused difficulties in finding output, plus consumers did not know or understand the nutritional value of this type of seed, "so there was a time when, after investing in seeds, the harvest could not be sold and had to be thrown away. Until now, I still keep the clip of that difficult period" - Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong said.
Despite the difficulties, instead of being discouraged, the woman in her 60s never intended to give up. She persisted with her choice, because according to her: "Even if there is still a small glimmer of hope, I will pursue it to the end."
According to Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong : "In addition to the heart, the most important thing in farming is perseverance and endurance." With that in mind, she continued to research and invest in a cold-drying technology line instead of the previously invested hot-drying technology, in order to better meet customer needs, while also making efforts to introduce and promote products at fairs and exhibitions at home and abroad.
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| Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong (far left) is introducing products in China. Photo: KT |
First order and dream of conquering the European market
With the efforts of this little woman, in 2020 - that is, after nearly 3 years, the first sachi order of Kim Thong Cooperative was sold to a Korean female customer at an event in Hanoi. After that, this customer continuously imported a lot of goods from Kim Thong Cooperative to Korea, at one point up to 10 tons of sachi seeds.
In addition to the Korean market, Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong said that the Chinese market and some Asian countries are also very fond of Vietnamese sachi seed products. Currently, Kim Thong Cooperative has planned a 500-hectare growing area with the participation of several hundred households. Each month, Kim Thong Cooperative purchases about 60-70 tons of sachi seeds for its members. In addition to freeze-dried sachi seeds, Kim Thong Cooperative also processes sachi seeds into other products such as sachi oil, in order to meet the more diverse needs of domestic and foreign customers.
“Now, I am not afraid of anything anymore, as long as there are people willing to invest in growing sachi with me, I can sell the products” , Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong affirmed and shared that, after this short interview, she will have an appointment with 2 Russian partners about exporting this type of seed to their country. According to Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong, the reason why the sachi seed product of Kim Thong Cooperative receives the attention of international customers is because, in addition to quality, the product also has a suitable price, because Vietnam has advantages in growing areas and labor costs for the agricultural sector are cheaper than other countries.
With what she has experienced and the upcoming prospects, Ms. Do Thi Kim Thong confidently believes that sachi seeds do not originate from Vietnam, but will soon affirm their position in the international market. In the last months of 2024, the Director of Kim Thong Cooperative affirmed that her goal is to export sachi seeds to the European market - an extremely demanding market. If this goal becomes a reality, it means that Vietnam's sachi seed brand will be known to more consumers around the world. Opening up more opportunities for Vietnam's agricultural industry.
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