The place to preserve the traditional chopstick making profession

Thai Nguyen Chopsticks Production and Trading Cooperative (Thai Nguyen Cooperative) in Village 2, Suoi Kiet Commune, Tanh Linh District not only brings a prosperous life to the people but also preserves the traditional chopsticks making craft. Thai Nguyen Cooperative has a rather special history, originating from the couple Nguyen Quang Thai and Nguyen Thi Thu Dong. Both have been attached to handicraft products made from the La Ban tree, a tree species that has grown strongly in Ham Tan, Tanh Linh since the 1980s.

Signboard of Thai Nguyen Chopsticks Cooperative

From a small establishment

Before the establishment of Thai Nguyen Cooperative, more than 30 years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Thai’s family made blinds or curtains from Buong leaves in Suoi Mau village, Tan Ha commune, Ham Tan district. At that time, the collective economy and cooperatives developed sustainably throughout the country. In particular, Thuan Hai province (separated from Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan) had Ham Tan and La Gi districts with cooperatives such as Tien Tien, Doan Ket, 19/5, Thong Nhat… exploiting Buong trees to produce handicrafts and export raw materials domestically and internationally.

Ms. Thu Dong shared: “In 1976, she went to study handicrafts, graduated with honors, and together with her husband, she developed a handicraft business, mainly making blinds for export domestically and internationally. In 1991, she saw that most of the villagers were ethnic minorities who had a tradition of going to the forest to collect the edges of old palm leaves to make chopsticks to eat and sell, and begged her to buy or exchange them for rice. After that, she bought and collected them to sell to people in the area and neighboring areas.”

The edges of old leaf sheaths are split to make chopsticks.

In 1997, when the Buong tree in Ham Tan was overexploited, leading to exhaustion, the couple moved their production facility to Hamlet 2, Suoi Kiet Commune, where the Buong tree was still quite abundant, but also in a state of destruction. To protect this tree species, the Provincial People's Committee assigned 814 hectares of forestry land in Sub-area 332 to Suoi Kiet Forestry and Agriculture Cooperative to manage, restore, nurture, preserve genes, plant and develop Buong trees in order to develop production, process handicrafts for export, contributing to improving people's lives, stabilizing security and order, and protecting the environment. The Suoi Kiet Commune People's Committee also established a Buong chopsticks production group, reviving the traditional craft that had been lost. At the same time, Mr. Nguyen Quang Thai, a person skilled in making Buong chopsticks, was assigned to be in charge of the group with 3 other members. But then the Buong forest area gradually narrowed due to the encroachment of high-value crops such as rubber and fruit trees. With no local raw materials, and the cost of buying raw materials from outside to feed the group was high, the group could not survive for long before disbanding. Determined to keep the profession, Mr. Thai managed to make ends meet by borrowing capital from the District Agricultural Bank to establish his own chopstick production facility, named Thai Nguyen.

A worker of the cooperative is making chopsticks.

Many bundles of chopsticks have been classified and brought to the market.

Join the cooperative alliance

In 2018, Mr. Thai's chopsticks manufacturing facility joined the Binh Thuan Cooperative Union in the spirit of the National Target Program on new rural construction for the period 2011 - 2020, taking the name of Thai Nguyen Chopsticks Production and Trading Cooperative.

This is also a way to support localities to reach the new rural destination when the program requires meeting 19 criteria, including economic content and production organization. This is also consistent with the national target program on new rural construction in the period of 2021 - 2025, requiring communes to have cooperatives operating in accordance with the provisions of the 2012 Law on Cooperatives.

Thai Nguyen Cooperative currently has 8 members, of which Mr. Thai, who invested in equipment and facilities, is the Chairman of the Cooperative. The initial capital is 10 million VND per member, a total of 80 million VND. The entire Cooperative has about 15 households (members) in the commune participating, they are provided with raw wood to split, then whittled into chopsticks. Then they bring it to the workshop or the Cooperative headquarters, which is located at Mr. Thai's house, where there are usually about 4-5 workers working, including workers operating the chopstick polishing machine. Mr. Thai said: "All stages of chopstick production are contracted to the members, and the final stage of finishing the product is done by himself or by skilled workers with high technical skills. The market has expanded, output has increased, so prices have increased, the contract levels in the stages of cutting, sawing, splitting, and whittling are all higher than before, making people excited to accept more contracts."

Currently, the cooperative's chopsticks are available in many places across the country, especially in the northern provinces and cities, where many families use dishwashers in the cold winter. Because the chopsticks are put into the washing machine and do not break like other types of chopsticks. "At first, I did not know why they kept calling to buy chopsticks. After researching, I found out that chopsticks are very durable and can withstand strong impacts," Ms. Thu Dong shared. That is why it brings revenue to the cooperative, an average of 3 - 4.5 billion VND/year. Ordinary workers are members who do housework, harvest crops, and receive raw wood to whittle chopsticks for 5 million VND/month, while skilled workers work directly in the workshop for nearly 20 million VND/month, Mr. Thai shared.

Ms. Tran Thi Bich Cham - Chairman of Suoi Kiet Commune People's Committee said that Thai Nguyen Cooperative has created stable jobs for many people in the commune. This is an effective cooperative, leading the way in joining hands to build new rural areas in the locality. The Commune People's Committee pays special attention to the cooperative to encourage the development of cooperative models in the commune in accordance with the province's and district's plans on developing cooperative collective economy in 2024. At the same time, it will create all conditions for the cooperative to develop and expand further.

According to the plan of the People's Committee of Tanh Linh district, in 2024, the whole district will establish 9 more cooperatives. In Suoi Kiet, in addition to Thai Nguyen cooperative, the commune is preparing steps to establish a fruit tree cooperative according to the policy and direction of the district People's Committee.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/noi-luu-giu-nghe-dua-buong-truyen-thong-122966.html