(BGO) - After nearly 5 years of startup, Thien Phu Agricultural Production, Trade and Service Cooperative (Thien Phu Cooperative) of Nong Thi Hue (born in 1992), belonging to Nung ethnic minority group in Hong Ky commune, Yen The district, Bac Giang province has been in stable operation. Recently, Hue won Luong Dinh Cua award honoring outstanding young people in rural areas by Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee.
Coming back home to establish the Cooperative
It is quite difficult to meet Hue on final days of the year because the Cooperative is concentrating on completing goods to deliver customers. This 30-year old woman owns a 2-storey well conditioned building on the main road of Trai Nhi village where is both her family’s house and business headquarter and goods exhibition place of the Cooperative.
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Nong Thi Hue (second from left) wins third prize at the 2021 Startup and Innovation Contest. |
She graduated from Nursing Faculty, Thai Nguyen Medical College in 2013 but she had to give up her dream to become a nurse due to her family hard condition and worked as a worker in Bac Ninh province to earn for living.
She could earn stable income that time but she had to live far from home that made her difficult to balance the work and family stuff.
“At that time I thought many people could get rich in their homeland, why I didn’t try? Thus, I decided to go back my hometown in early 2017”, said Hue.
She spent time researching the market and seeking proper seedlings to suit the local soil and climate conditions for startup. She realized that more and more people are interested in natural healthcare products; hence, she studied to create a product to meet the demand. With the knowledge she studied from the college and advices of her friends about good effects of celastrus hindsii tree (a kind of herbal) for people’s health and she bought 2,000 seedlings from Hoa Binh to grow.
As the plant grew well, she asked others in the village to expand the growing area and create a production linkage to improve the product value. Nong Thi Hue established Thien Phu Agricultural Production, Trade and Service Cooperative in August 2019 with 7 members and created Diep Nhat trademark for the Cooperative’s products.
As the Director of the Cooperative, she has ceaselessly studied and enriched her knowledge in economics and law. As a result, she can build the plans on production and consumption of goods and sign purchasing contracts with partners by herself while researching to develop 2 main products including celastrus hindsii tea and Diep Nhat wine.
Gradually establishing trademark
After the field visits to the economic models organized by the provincial Youth Union and the district Youth Union, this female Director has gained more experience in business to gradually affirm position of the Cooperative in the market. Currently, the Cooperative has 15 members instead of 7 and expanded the celastrus hindsii tree growing area to 15 hectares.
The Cooperative gained annual revenue of nearly 1.5 billion (65,675 USD) creating regular jobs to 6 young people at a salary of at least 6 million VND (262 USD) per month. |
The Cooperative’s products are now available at 100 restaurants and 220 stores in the province and were recognized 3-star OCOP product by the provincial People’s Committee. Particularly, Diep Nhat celastrus hindsii tea was recognized title of the provincial outstanding rural industrial product in 2021.
The Cooperative gained annual revenue of nearly 1.5 billion (65,675 USD) creating regular jobs to 6 young people at a salary of at least 6 million VND (262 USD) per month.
Besides, Hue has been the Secretary of the Youth Union of Trai Nhi village since 2019. She is always willing to share business experience to other youths and organizes many voluntary activities for the community.
In 2021, the economy faced numerous challenges due to impact of Covid-19 pandemic; however the Cooperative still maintained its production and sought solutions to support people with seedlings and fertilizers.
In addition, the Cooperative has invested in factory facilities on an area of 450 metre square with modern equipment. Nong Thi Hue wished to expand the market for Diep Nhat products to many provinces and cities nationwide.
“Try your best, think carefully before making decision of startup and stay consistent with your set targets. You win yourself when you dare to try and face challenges”, shared Hue.
