Vietnamese freelance artist creates chocolate wrapping paper from... coconut fiber

With the desire to create environmentally friendly packaging for Vietnamese chocolate bars that meet international standards, Chinh Ba (34 years old, a freelance artist living in Hoi An) has been experimenting with making wrapping paper from... coconut fiber.

Chocolate bars made from coconut fiber paper with Vietnamese landscape motifs - Photo: BC

The raw material for this wrapping paper is taken from the fiber of the water coconut tree, which is grown in Hoi An. The process of making wrapping paper goes through many steps such as separating the coconut fiber, grinding it into powder, spreading the powder mixture on a mold, arranging the printed paper on it, applying water pressure to the mold, and then drying it...

It took Chinh Ba six months to complete these first batches of paper. In addition, he had difficulty finding a place to print the images on the paper.

"I took it to print but no one accepted it. This type of paper cannot be printed on offset or laser. Silk-screen printing causes the ink to seep into the paper, causing details to be lost. Finally, I found a way to print three layers of ink so the image would appear."

After a period of research, wrapping paper made from completely natural water coconut fiber, without additives and therefore safe for the environment, was "baked".

Not a professional designer, the young man still decided to make wrapping paper for the TBROS chocolate brand.

Chinh Ba said that when Mr. Truong Minh Thang (founder of TBROS) decided to make chocolate, the price of cocoa in Vietnam was very low because traders were forcing down the price. Mr. Thang bought cocoa at a high price and encouraged farmers to invest and take better care of cocoa trees to provide raw materials.

"Mr. Thang's story moved me. I want to make wrapping paper because I also want to contribute to helping farmers," Chinh Ba said.

According to TTO