Starting a business with black garlic, a 9X guy creates a sustainable livelihood for people in the highlands

TPO - From fresh garlic bulbs that were thought to be only for drying and retailing, young man Nguyen Van Tuan (born in 1994) has created high-quality black garlic products, successfully establishing the 26-03 Youth Cooperative in sub-area 4, Yen Chau town, Yen Chau district, Son La province. Not only creating a career for himself, he also contributes to developing sustainable livelihoods for the highland community.

Persist, never give up

In 2016, when he was in his 20s full of enthusiasm, Nguyen Van Tuan began to learn about black garlic products, a popular food for its nutritional and medicinal value.

He spent time reading foreign research documents, especially publications on Japanese garlic fermentation technology. Without the financial means to invest in modern machinery, Tuan chose to explore and create black garlic making equipment at home from available materials.

Starting with batches of garlic of just a few kilos, the capacity gradually increased to 100kg, 500kg, and now 1,000kg per batch. Along with those increasing numbers came many failures.

Many batches of garlic had to be discarded because they did not meet standards and did not taste good. There were times when he had to borrow money to continue importing raw materials, with the sole hope of making quality products that were easy to eat and suitable for Vietnamese people.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan started his business with black garlic, successfully building the 26-03 Youth Cooperative in sub-zone 4, Yen Chau town, Yen Chau district, Son La province.

Thanks to his perseverance, the quality of his black garlic products has gradually stabilized. Not only stopping at production, he has established the 26-3 Youth Cooperative, which focuses on producing clean, safe agricultural products from local ingredients such as black garlic, male papaya flowers, herbal tea... with a factory scale of more than 5,000m², using modern technological lines, ensuring hygiene and consistent output quality.

Up to now, the Cooperative has achieved 4-star OCOP certification, its products are available in major supermarket systems such as Dabaco, Winmart, Vincom, retail stores in the province, and tourist destinations across the country.

Not only creating branded products, the cooperative also brings in billions of VND in revenue per year, creating stable jobs for nearly 20 local workers. This is a very meaningful number in the context of Yen Chau still being a mountainous district with many communes facing difficulties.

Not only creating branded products, the cooperative also brings in billions of VND in revenue per year, creating stable jobs for nearly 20 local workers.

Realizing the dream of poverty reduction in the highlands

Not only stopping at creating good products, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan also cherishes a greater aspiration which is to contribute to changing the livelihoods of people in the highlands in a sustainable way.

In the past, Yen Chau people grew garlic, dried it, and sold it retail. Prices were unstable, and income was unstable. In years when the harvest was good, traders forced down prices, and in years when the harvest was bad, no one bought it.

Understanding that, Tuoi Tre Cooperative 26-03 has signed a contract with farmers, providing technical support, guiding clean farming, ensuring stable output, reasonable purchase prices, helping people feel secure in production.

Since then, Tuan's model has not only created economic value, but also raised people's awareness in producing high-quality agricultural products, opening up a new direction for mountainous agriculture associated with the modern market.

Not only does Tuan operate production well, he also pays special attention to communication and digital transformation. He is promoting the introduction of products to social networking platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and e-commerce platforms, in order to expand the consumer market, and at the same time spread the inspiring startup story of the cooperative to the community.

From the first batches of black garlic full of risks, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan has built a new type of agricultural cooperative in the mountainous region, both producing clean products and creating livelihoods for dozens of households. He is starting a journey to multiply the trust and hope of young people who dare to think big and live responsibly for their homeland.

He always believes: "Youth is the stage where you can accept failures to rise up. As long as you dare to think, dare to do and truly attach yourself to your hometown's products, you will definitely have success."

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan is one of 43 outstanding young people nationwide to receive the Luong Dinh Cua Award in 2023.

His efforts have been recognized with many awards: He is one of 43 outstanding young people nationwide to be awarded the Luong Dinh Cua Award in 2023; Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of Son La Provincial People's Committee for his high achievements at the 2022 Innovative Startup Talent Search Competition; Certificate of Merit "Advanced Youth Following Uncle Ho's Teachings" in 2022 - Certificate of Merit from the Son La Provincial Youth Union Executive Committee for his achievements at the 2021 Youth Union Startup Project Competition.

Dieu Nhi

Source: https://tienphong.vn/khoi-nghiep-tu-toi-den-chang-trai-9x-tao-sinh-ke-ben-vung-cho-ba-con-vung-cao-post1746523.tpo