From cultivation, breeding to production, everything is done in a closed system. This is also a typical enterprise that meets the standards of quality, food safety and hygiene, and is one of the three Science and Technology enterprises of the province.
Circular production model
After many initial stumbles and crises, the management of Tra Tam Lan Company realized the importance of producing products according to quality standards. Therefore, the company boldly invested in herbal growing areas combined with cow and earthworm farms to strictly control input materials.
Ms. Vo Thi Lan and the display corner at Tra Tam Lan rest stop .
Ms. Vo Thi Lan - Director of Tra Tam Lan Company Limited said: "In the beginning, we had to go out to buy fertilizer and buy more medicinal plants from other localities, but this had many potential risks because there were dishonest partners, no stability, which affected the company's production process. From then on, we decided to do everything ourselves to take the initiative in clean raw materials, ensuring product quality and consumer health."
The company's cow farm is located in Phan Commune (near Ba Den Mountain), about 20 hectares wide, including many areas such as grass growing area, barn area, cow sunbathing area, wastewater tank, earthworm breeding area... There are 400-500 fat, healthy cows here that are responsible for producing manure. Those that reach a large weight or are old and weak will be sold for meat. In July 2024, the Provincial Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine granted a certificate of the right to use the "Tay Ninh Cow" trademark to this farm.
Mrs. Vo Thi Lan next to her garden.
Cow manure is used as food for earthworms, which are then harvested to fertilize nearby medicinal plant gardens. It is known that the amount of earthworm manure from this farm is not only enough to supply the garden but is also sold outside.
Mr. Nguyen The Tan - Deputy Director of Tra Tam Lan Company Limited shared: "Compared to composting cow manure waiting for it to decompose, raising earthworms helps to shorten the time a lot. Earthworm manure is highly nutritious, full of macro, medium and trace elements. In earthworm manure there is also a beneficial microorganism system, earthworm cocoons help loosen and improve the soil."
Notably, nothing is wasted or thrown away at the company. They always have an effective way of using renewable resources. Specifically, wastewater from cowsheds is put into water hyacinth tanks and used to water grass. Grass and water hyacinth become food for cows. Tea dust from the factory area is mixed with cow food to increase resistance. Even waste from cows' leftover food is composted into food for earthworms.
Green and modern
A representative of Tra Tam Lan said that in the past, the company often bought manure from dairy farms, but the transportation was quite difficult and caused pollution. Furthermore, due to concerns that the source of feed for dairy cows contained growth stimulants, the company sought to produce its own fertilizer on site.
The cows raised here only eat grass, straw, corn… grown by the company itself, saying no to industrial feed and fattening powder. This not only promotes the development of green agriculture but also helps the company optimize profits.
Product packaging stage.
With abundant sources of fertilizer, the fields at Tam Lan farm are grown entirely with organic fertilizer, without the use of additional chemical fertilizers, foliar fertilizers, pesticides, growth stimulants, etc. Therefore, the herbal garden ensures the preservation of the natural properties and medicinal ingredients of the plants, contributing to the protection of the soil, water, and air environment. Even demanding markets such as France, the US, Australia, Korea, etc. are very satisfied with Tam Lan Tea products, because when tested, they did not detect any chemicals or pesticides.
The raw material garden is divided into many areas, each area grows a different type of plant such as: ginseng, pearl, golden comb, honeysuckle, black xạ, spoon, guava... There are areas where intercropping is done, the season for growing medicinal herbs - the season for growing rice or corn, beans... after harvesting, straw is used to feed the cows. From the methodical and serious investment of Mrs. Nam Tra, now the company's cow farm and medicinal plant garden have met the criteria according to VietGAP standards, helping consumers feel more secure.
After harvesting, medicinal plants are sterilized with advanced technology, then dried and stored in a warehouse with insect screens, ensuring absolute hygiene and ventilation. In particular, since 2022, the company has put into use a new GMP-ISO 22000:2018 standard factory. With a construction capital of more than 100 billion VND, the factory produces according to a one-way processing process, owns modern machinery and lines, and is nearly 100% automated. In addition, the factory is equipped with a dust filtration and extraction system, ensuring a working environment for workers, significantly reducing the impact on the surrounding environment.
Not only does it create products of the best quality and meet food safety and hygiene standards, this factory also helps save production costs. Because when operating, the factory only needs a few workers, mainly in the observation, inspection and packaging stages that require human intervention. Applying modern technology, the company has significantly reduced the amount of electricity consumed, as well as human resources. However, this has led to a great deal of concern for the management board. Mr. Nguyen The Tan confided: “The new factory has a very large capacity, several times larger than the old factory, so we cannot operate every day. The automated production line, many positions no longer require workers, unintentionally making it difficult for us to solve the problem of employment for workers, because there are employees who have been with the company for a long time”.
Towards sustainable development goals
After the Covid-19 pandemic, the global economy went into recession, and Tra Tam Lan Company Limited was also affected and faced many difficulties. According to Ms. Lan, the company had more than 50 hectares of land to grow raw materials, but after the pandemic, the amount of goods sold decreased significantly, and the area for growing medicinal herbs was only maintained at about 20 hectares.
Before the pandemic, the company raised more than 1,000 cows, but the current market is also consuming cows very slowly. “The time we built the new factory was also when the pandemic started to break out, so the construction process encountered countless difficulties.
Once the project is completed and all operations are gradually stabilizing, purchasing power will be a big challenge, because tea is not an essential commodity. Since the pandemic, the company has never operated at full capacity," the founder added.
However, the company is always confident in its direction, persistently implementing a sustainable development strategy. As a business that has been certified as a High-Quality Vietnamese Goods by consumers for 12 consecutive years, owning 4-star OCOP products, along with a series of other awards and certifications, Tra Tam Lan hopes to expand further into the world. The 77-year-old female CEO hopes to have more opportunities to cooperate to promote trade, increase exports, and make the Tra Tam Lan brand a source of pride for Vietnamese people. The company also cherishes many plans, completes documents for products to achieve 5-star OCOP and moves towards solutions using environmentally friendly packaging in the future.
With the motto "The company's interests are also the interests of consumers", Tra Tam Lan puts the health and experience of users first. Customer satisfaction and trust are the driving force for the company to grow. In addition, this enterprise is also a typical example with contributions to the community and society. "We hope that consumers will always support, prioritize using Vietnamese products and accompany green enterprises, taking many actions for the environment. At the same time, we hope that the State will have preferential policies and more practical programs to encourage the trend of green consumption, promoting the development of enterprises with sustainable ecosystems" - Mr. Nguyen The Tan expressed.
Anh Thu
Source: https://baotayninh.vn/an-tuong-cach-lam-kinh-te-xanh-tren-mien-dat-do-a186310.html
Comment (0)