Putting Vinh oranges and Nghe eels on the world 'map'
(Baonghean.vn) - Being "female" and both born in the year of the Tiger (1986), Nguyen Thi Le Na and Tran Ha Nhung chose their hometown's specialties, Nghe eel and Vinh oranges, to start their business...
VINH ORANGES ARE SELECTED FOR BEER PRODUCTION!
Graduated from the Academy of Journalism and Communication, with a stable job in a large corporation, Nguyen Thi Le Na in Minh Hop commune (Quy Hop) never thought she would return to stick with orange trees in her hometown. But then, in the 2013 orange crop, Na's family as well as many people in Quy Hop district sadly dumped tons of oranges because there was no output, causing Na to decide to quit her job and return to her hometown to develop the economy from orange trees. "When I worked directly with orange trees, I realized that the orange production of the people in Na's hometown was not tightly organized, spontaneous, and had many potential risks. To build a brand and reposition the position of Vinh orange trees in Quy Hop land, a different direction is needed," Nguyen Thi Le Na recounted.
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| Many products are processed and refined from Vinh oranges: orange jam, orange essential oil, orange cake... |
Na's "different" direction is organic farming, ensuring cleanliness and safety. And in order for the orange products to not depend entirely on traders and the market, falling into the situation of "good harvest, low price, good price, bad harvest", it is necessary to raise the orange brand, ensure all strict criteria on product quality to bring oranges to supermarkets, to large distribution channels and sell through e-commerce platforms. Step by step, the "Cam Vinh Ky Yen" brand that Na has worked hard to build has gradually conquered the domestic market, present in many stores, supermarkets, and international exhibitions of agricultural products.
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| Born in the year of the Tiger - Nguyen Thi Le Na is the first person in Nghe An to succeed with the ecological orange growing model. Currently, Vinh oranges of Phu Quy Agricultural Products Company run by Le Na are available in all supermarkets in provinces and cities. |
Not only finding a way to produce fresh oranges, Na also seeks to increase the value of oranges with refined products, such as: dried orange peel, dried orange segments, orange jam, orange soap, orange essential oil, orange moon cakes... Notably, in October 2021, a world-famous beer company ordered oranges from Phu Quy agricultural farm as raw materials for production. According to Le Na, "the most valuable thing in the success of cooperation with this world-famous beer company is not money, but the story of belief in the direction of Vinh orange specialties. That is not only selling fresh oranges but also aiming at processed and refined products; it is a story about ecological farming, about ecological farmers, to thereby put Vinh oranges as well as Vietnamese specialty fruits on the world fruit map".
“EXPORTING” EEL BY CONTAINER!
Like many Nghe people, many friends and relatives of Tran Ha Nhung in Ha Huy Tap ward (Vinh city) live far from home, some in the North, some in the South and many in faraway Australia, England, Korea... In their nostalgia for their homeland, their family and relatives, the dishes of their homeland are always present. In every conversation over the phone, zalo, facebook, there is always the promise "Come back to Vinh, let's eat eel soup"... This makes Nhung always wonder, how can Nghe people far from home, people in other places enjoy eel without having to "crave" and "wish" to go to Vinh?
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| Tran Ha Nhung, a girl who started her business from Nghe An specialties. To preserve the full flavor of eel specialties in each product, the stages such as choosing ingredients, processing, and packaging all require meticulousness and care. |
In 2015, Tran Ha Nhung processed frozen eel to supply to relatives, Nghe An people living far away from home, and restaurants and hotels in localities in the country. At that time, Nhung only made enough to supply small orders, earning extra income to raise her children. Realizing that the market was open, demand was increasing, customer requirements were also more diverse and the most inconvenient thing was that frozen eel was difficult to preserve and transport, when it reached customers, it was no longer the original "flavor", to enjoy, customers still had to cook. Therefore, Nhung cherished the idea of creating a packaged, ready-to-eat eel product...
Although it is not easy, Ha Nhung always believes that quality will create a brand. In order for customers to go from "trying" to choosing instant eel products for convenient family meals, there is no other way but for the product to be delicious, clean, and "full of flavor". Therefore, right from the stage of choosing ingredients, Nhung is very careful: eel must be pure wild eel; rice for vermicelli and porridge must be from the countryside, shallots and turmeric for spices must also be from the countryside. Then the processing stage must also use technology so that eel dishes do not lose their characteristic flavor...
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| Eel vermicelli - eel specialty of Nghe An. |
The sweet fruit of that “perfection” is the increasing revenue, currently the instant eel products led by Tran Ha Nhung are present on all shelves of supermarkets, stores, agents and are chosen by consumers for convenient meals. Notably, since June 2021, instant packaged eel products have been exported to Australia, UK, Korea, Japan with 12 containers.
