Young girl and the dream of turning white turmeric into a specialty

Le Thi Cam Thuong with the dream of bringing green and white turmeric - quality to the "big sea"

Born into a family closely associated with agriculture, Thuong's childhood was associated with the smell of red basalt soil and the seasons of coffee, avocado, and durian laden with fruit. After graduating from the Faculty of Economics , Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry, Thuong returned to her hometown to work at the Agricultural Center of Di Linh District (old). The job was stable, the environment was favorable, but the longer she stayed, the more the young girl worried: "Farmers in my hometown work too hard, while local agricultural products have not been properly valued, still in raw form, unstable according to market prices. As a young person, studying economics, why don't I do something?"

That question prompted the 9X girl to boldly turn to the path of entrepreneurship, starting with white turmeric. In 2019, when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, the demand for products to enhance resistance and take care of health increased sharply. Thuong tried to bring products made from white turmeric to the market and unexpectedly received many positive responses. "I realized that white turmeric is a valuable crop, but it is still quite unfamiliar to the market. If developed in a green - quality direction, it can completely become a specialty of Di Linh, Lam Dong and even the Central Highlands," Thuong shared.

But to make the dream come true, passion alone is not enough. Thuong spends a lot of time cultivating knowledge, from business administration, starting a business to customer search skills and human resource development. In 2021, the young girl attended the "Initiative for the United Nations Sustainable Goals" program in Taiwan and excellently won third prize. Those valuable experiences helped Thuong broaden her vision of sustainable development, global value chains and affirm one thing: to go the long way, products must be standardized, professionalized and connected to the market.

By 2025, the 9X girl officially established her own company, starting with nearly 1 hectare of white turmeric that Thuong herself propagated and cared for. From the initial small orders, white turmeric products such as lozenges and soaps gradually gained a foothold and became known to customers across the country through e-commerce platforms. “During peak months, my company sells more than 1,000 orders,” Thuong shared.

Now, Thuong is gradually building links with farmers according to VietGAP standards, cherishing the goal of forming the first large-scale, green - clean - quality white turmeric medicinal growing area in Lam Dong. "I hope that one day, when mentioning white turmeric, people will remember a Di Linh girl who is striving to produce clean agricultural products, with the aspiration to reach out to the world ," Thuong expressed.

According to Thuong, the greatest asset for young entrepreneurs is perseverance and daring to take on challenges. In addition, it is necessary to constantly equip oneself with knowledge about management, marketing, brand building and the ability to connect with the market. Most importantly, it is necessary to maintain the spirit of innovation, because startups not only require ideas, but also require flexibility to adapt to difficulties...

For young businesses, Thuong believes that the most practical support comes from three factors: knowledge and training to improve production and business capacity; market connection to ensure stable output for products; along with capital and preferential policies to boldly invest long-term.

From the white turmeric fields, Le Thi Cam Thuong is sowing a green dream into the red soil of Di Linh. The dream of clean agricultural products, with a brand, a place in the market. And above all, the aspiration of the young generation who dare to do differently so that their hometown agricultural products can reach far.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/co-gai-tre-va-giac-mo-dua-nghe-trang-thanh-dac-san-390566.html