Hung Xuan thrives in oil pressing

(Baonghean.vn) - While craft villages in some localities are facing many difficulties, in Hung Xuan commune, Hung Nguyen district, the peanut oil pressing profession is still thriving.traditionalis being maintained and promoted effectively.

Ms. Nguyen Thi An's family in Yen Thai village, Hung Xuan commune has been pressing peanut oil since 1945. Previously, the steps from peeling, grinding peanuts to pressing oil were all done manually, so it took a lot of effort and the profit was low. In recent years, her family has invested in buying peanut shelling and flour grinding machines, which has shortened the time, improved quality, output and income. On average, her family presses 700 kg of shelled peanuts per day to get 200 liters of oil. During peak times, they press 1 ton of peanuts per day.

The traditional peanut oil pressing profession has brought Ms. An’s family an income of 500-700 thousand VND/day. From this profession, she has also created regular jobs for 4 workers with a monthly salary of 3 million VND/person.

Many families in Hung Xuan invest in machinery to meet the increasing demand for peanut oil pressing. Photo by Thanh Tam

Ms. An said: “My family’s peanut oil products have participated in exhibition fairs in Hanoi and received many orders from everywhere. To meet the increasing demand of customers, my family has purchased additional hydraulic presses to improve productivity and production efficiency.”

Peanut oil pressing is a traditional craft of Yen Thai villagers. The whole village has 80 households that press peanut oil. However, only 25 households have large-scale production, the remaining households mainly work seasonally, producing only 3-4 months per year.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Chu - head of Yen Thai village (Hamlet 10), Hung Xuan commune, the peanut oil pressing profession has appeared in the village for nearly 100 years. In the past, there were no snake carcasses that had to be wrapped in straw. Now, machines have basically replaced manual production stages, so the income from this profession is also better. The peanut oil pressing profession has created jobs and stable income for hundreds of workers during the off-season. On average, each day, households in Yen Thai village produce and sell 1,000 liters of peanut oil to the market.

Peanut pressing facilities attract a lot of customers. Photo by Thanh Tam

According to the families working here, although the peanut oil pressing job is hard, the income from this job is quite high. The selling price of oil is only equivalent to the purchase price of peanuts, the main profit is from selling dried oil, each batch of pressing 11kg of peanuts yields 5 liters of oil and about 60 thousand VND from selling dried oil.

Households in Yen Thai often hire out oil pressing for 50,000 VND per batch. Every day, dozens or even hundreds of customers from all over the country bring peanuts to hire them for oil pressing. From this profession, the peanut shelling profession has developed. By-products from the peanut shelling, grinding and oil pressing profession are used as feed to develop livestock farming, contributing to increasing income for the people. Each year, the craft village produces 400,000-420,000 liters of peanut oil, equivalent to 1,500 tons of shelled peanuts.

From the peanut oil pressing profession, Hung Xuan has developed milling and livestock farming. Photo by Thanh Tam

Faced with the increasing demand for peanut oil, the traditional craft village of Hung Xuan commune has created jobs for hundreds of workers, with an average income per capita of 45 million VND/year, nearly twice as high as the commune's average. In 2016, the Provincial People's Committee recognized Hung Xuan peanut oil pressing village, Hung Nguyen district.

Mr. Nguyen Canh Toan - Vice Chairman of Hung Xuan Commune People's Committee said: "Hung Xuan Commune is promoting the brand of peanut oil products of the craft village and at the same time promoting propaganda to households doing the craft to always ensure food hygiene and safety and environmental hygiene. Being recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a peanut oil pressing craft village is an opportunity for households doing the craft here to promote, introduce and consume products."

Thanh Tam