Increase your income during Tet (Lunar New Year) with specialty products.

Exploiting the potential strengths and available resources of the locality, every year, during the Lunar New Year, many ethnic minority people in the mountainous region of Quang Tri are busy preparing characteristic products to serve the market. To build trust with customers, they put their heart into selecting and creating high-quality products with attractive designs and a wide variety of types. Through selling goods during Tet, ethnic minority people not only increase their family income but also create jobs for many workers, contributing to preserving and promoting the good traditional values ​​of their ethnic group, and boosting tourism development in the locality.

Ms. Hoa My is ready to offer local specialties to customers during the Lunar New Year 2025 - Photo: Provided by the owner.

In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year, Ms. Ho Thi Hoa My, a Pa Ko woman in Krong Klang town, is busy preparing products considered "exclusive" to Dakrong district. These include smoked beef, buffalo meat, and pork, chili salt, fish paste, rice wine, black glutinous rice wine, and leaf-fermented wine... each with its own unique and delicious flavor that diners will find hard to forget.

“To ensure sufficient quantities of products for Tet (Lunar New Year), I’ve been preparing ingredients for a month now, and hiring additional workers, including women from ethnic minority groups in the town, to help with the initial processing. After processing, I personally prepare each dish to ensure it follows the correct recipe and suits local tastes.”

"I carefully selected the packaging, bottles, and labels for the product with the desire that it would not only be delicious but also aesthetically pleasing. Customers who buy it for personal use or as Tet gifts for relatives and friends will have a more positive impression and see the dedication of the person who created it," Ms. Hoa My shared.

In addition to the aforementioned products, Ms. Hoa My also selects high-quality produce sourced from ethnic minority communities in remote villages within the district to serve the Tet market, such as rice, black sticky rice, vegetables, fruits, freshwater fish, forest honey, and free-range chicken. Besides selling products at her store in Krong Klang town, during Tet, Ms. Hoa My also participates in a stall at the border market in Lao Bao; and increases online sales through Facebook, Zalo, TikTok, and YouTube.

The finished dried bamboo shoots retain their beautiful bright yellow color, produced by the Ba Tang Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative - Photo: Provided by the Cooperative

Starting a business is fraught with difficulties and hardships, but she always strives to overcome them, acting as a bridge to bring the unique products of her hometown to an increasingly wider market. In particular, she has contributed to helping local people find outlets for some of their crops and livestock. During the Lunar New Year month alone, she creates jobs for 3-5 ethnic minority women, providing them with an average income of 150-200 thousand VND per person per day.

Bamboo shoots are one of the characteristic products used in preparing many delicious dishes during the Lunar New Year. Taking advantage of the mountainous region's abundant natural bamboo shoot resources, members of the Ba Tang Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative in Huong Hoa district have focused on harvesting large quantities of bamboo shoots, banana blossoms, male papaya flowers, bitter melon, and wild tea to process, dry, and preserve them for the upcoming Tet market.

Previously, the economy of the members' families relied mainly on slash-and-burn farming, and due to outdated production methods, life was very difficult. With funding from Plan International Vietnam, the cooperative was established in July 2023, consisting of 16 members who are Van Kieu women in the commune.

Ms. Ho Thi Linh, a member of the Ba Tang Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative, shared: “Our task is to harvest natural products such as bamboo shoots, wild bananas, and various herbal leaves, process them, and put them into a solar-powered agricultural drying system.”

Taking advantage of the free time after working in the fields, we went into the forest to gather agricultural products to supplement our income.

"Participating in this model, we earn an average of 150-200 thousand VND per person per half day. During the Lunar New Year, we spend more time harvesting and processing agricultural products, so our income is almost double. Orders for dried agricultural products arrive a month before Tet, with dried bamboo shoots being the most popular, so we are very busy."

Ms. Hai Au's glutinous rice wine with herbal yeast is displayed at the booth of Bao An Khoi Trading and Service Co., Ltd. at the Quang Tri Provincial Cultural and Film Center - Photo: KS

Thanks to drying in a sealed chamber with stable temperature, the cooperative's dried products are very beautiful, especially the bamboo shoots, which are processed immediately after harvesting following the correct procedure, so they don't discolor or release sap, and after drying they are fragrant, delicious, and golden yellow. The products ensure food safety and are carefully packaged.

The cooperative's products are actively promoted on social media by Mr. Nguyen Huu Khoa, Deputy Head of the Plan Project Management Board in Ba Tang commune, ensuring that everything produced sells out. Mr. Khoa said: "Through the cooperative, the Van Kieu women have a significant additional source of income by using their free time from gardening and farming to buy books and school supplies for their children, food, and jams, candies, and melon seeds for Tet (Lunar New Year). The main market for the products is in Quang Tri and neighboring provinces such as Hue and Quang Binh. This year, the number of orders for dried agricultural products at the cooperative is higher than last year, but the members always encourage each other to ensure both quantity and quality to maintain their reputation with customers."

Like Ms. Hoa My, from the Ba Tang clean agricultural products cooperative, in the last months of 2024, Ms. Ko Kan Hai Au, a Pa Ko woman in Block 3B, Khe Sanh town, Huong Hoa district, prepared a considerable amount of glutinous rice (both purple and white) to process into various types of wine using forest leaf yeast.

Thanks to her unique recipe, her products are delicious and have established a reputation for quality in the market. Her products have been inspected and certified by relevant authorities, assigned barcodes, and guaranteed to meet food safety and hygiene standards, making them popular in the market.

“The liquor is made with wild forest yeast and naturally fermented, giving it a distinctive flavor and guaranteed quality. Therefore, I hope to contribute to providing customers with this characteristic drink of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko people during Tet (Lunar New Year). The amount of liquor my family produces for Tet is higher than in other months of the year, approximately over 1,000 liters of various types of liquor, with a profit of about 20 million VND after deducting expenses.”

Members of the Ba Tang Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative are pre-processing fresh bamboo shoots in preparation for drying - Photo: THT

In addition to the aforementioned typical agricultural products, the Van Kieu and Pa Ko people in the mountainous districts also prepare a wide variety of products for the Tet market, such as broomsticks, brocade fabrics, and items made of rattan and bamboo like a dien and a du...

According to producers of specialty products in ethnic minority areas, besides the advantages, they also face some difficulties in production and business such as: lack of capital to invest in modern equipment and machinery; labels and packaging are mostly self-designed and not in accordance with regulations...

Therefore, to improve product quality and quantity, and to meet the ever-increasing demands of the market, they hope that relevant authorities and agencies will pay attention to and support ethnic minority households and production facilities in designing labels, packaging, and product packaging. They also request training courses to help ethnic minority women learn more about using technology and meeting market demands, as well as promoting, connecting, and expanding the market for their products.

Ko Kan Suong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/tang-thu-nhap-trong-dip-tet-tu-san-pham-dac-trung-191343.htm