New profession in Thai Hoa

(Baonghean) - The family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Lieu, Block 3, Long Son Ward, is considered the first place to produce incense in Thai Hoa Town.

When we arrived, workers at the facility were busily finishing packaging the incense sticks to deliver to customers on time. Born in 1978, Ms. Lieu had worked in many professions, but it was only when she started making incense that she truly found her calling. Since 2007, her family decided to invest in the production of traditional incense. Initially, due to a lack of capital, the production scale was small, using manual methods to create jobs for family members. “Getting customers familiar with the Thuy Lieu incense brand was a long and extremely difficult journey. Many times, I thought I couldn't make it, but my love for the craft didn't allow me to give up, motivating me to overcome many difficulties,” Ms. Lieu shared.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lieu (standing) is seen talking with incense production workers.

Through efforts to improve product quality and actively seek and expand markets through various channels, the Thuy Lieu incense brand has gradually established itself in the market. To meet development needs, in 2011, Ms. Lieu's family decided to borrow capital to invest in modern machinery and equipment, expanding production scale. A year later, the family decided to establish Phuc Hoa Co., Ltd. to facilitate transactions and the purchase and sale of raw materials and goods. Currently, the family has a 700m2 production workshop with 2 raw material crushing machines, 2 drying machines, and 16 incense stick extrusion machines. The incense products from the facility are sold as soon as they are produced, as the market is not limited to the province but extends internationally to countries such as India, Thailand, and Laos. The development of the Thuy Lieu incense facility has created regular employment for about 15 local workers with stable incomes ranging from 2.5 to 3 million VND per person per month. Ms. Le Thi Hong, a resident of Block 3, Long Son Ward, and a worker at the facility, said: "Working at this facility, the average monthly income is about 2.5 million VND. This income helps to stabilize my family's life."

To develop incense making into a new profession and create jobs for people in Thai Hoa town, Ms. Lieu collaborated with the town's Farmers' Association to open four vocational training classes in incense production for nearly 120 students who were members of the Farmers' Association in 2012-2013. After completing the training, Ms. Lieu also advised and supported the students in purchasing machinery and equipment for incense production locally. Currently, Dong Hieu commune has an incense production facility with 6 machines and Nghia My commune has a facility with 10 machines. All products from these two facilities are sold under contract. Therefore, in a short time, these production facilities have experienced significant growth, creating many jobs and providing stable income for local workers. With these achievements, Ms. Nguyen Thuy Lieu is one of the exemplary individuals and outstanding members of the Thai Hoa Town Farmers' Association in terms of production and business. “Besides maintaining the quality and brand of incense products that our family has painstakingly built, we will continue to invest in machinery and expand the production scale of our facility to create more jobs for workers in the area. At the same time, we will develop the incense-making craft in the locality,” Ms. Lieu shared about the development direction in the coming time.

Ms. Lieu's approach to developing the incense-making craft is also a long-standing development direction of the Thai Hoa Town Farmers' Association. In an interview, Mr. Nguyen Van Que, Chairman of the Thai Hoa Town Farmers' Association, stated: “During the development process, many farming households have lost their agricultural land due to urban development and large-scale projects, leading to unemployment. Therefore, the Farmers' Association wants to develop new crafts to provide employment for these workers locally. Among the proposed new crafts, incense production has initially proven effective. Currently, the incense-making craft in Block 3, Long Son Ward, has been recognized as a craft village. In the future, the Association will continue to promote incense production among households, notably the Phuc Hoa Company Limited owned by Ms. Nguyen Thi Lieu, to expand production and strive to establish an incense-making craft village as soon as possible.”

Thanh Duy