With the desire to establish himself and his career, along with the desire to do something useful for his hometown, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Quyen (Luong Hoa Lac commune, Cho Gao district) has researched and implemented a model of producing silk thread from pineapple leaves. Initially, the production of silk thread from pineapple leaves shows a lot of potential, turning something that is considered to be discarded into a valuable product.
 Mr. Quyen's project "Producing silk fibers from pineapple leaves" won Special Prize in the Organization, Individual, and Enterprise Category. at the Contest "Innovative startup ideas and projects in Tien Giang province" in 2024. |
*Starting a business from scrap
Pineapple is one of the fruit trees that occupies a large area in Tien Giang province. Currently, the pineapple area of the whole province is about 15,000 hectares, mainly concentrated in Tan Phuoc district. In 2022, after the Covid-19 pandemic ended, Mr. Quyen left Ho Chi Minh City to return to his hometown with the concern of finding a suitable startup model that is closely linked to the locality. Once, when he happened to visit his friend's house in Tan Phuoc district, Mr. Quyen saw that after harvesting the fruit, pineapple leaves were all thrown away by farmers. This is a huge resource but is being wasted.
Mr. Quyen shared: "Normally, farmers will burn or hire a machine to chop pineapple leaves and spread them on the ground to make fertilizer. However, this decomposition process takes a long time and can affect the environment. When I saw this, I remembered the story my grandmother told me during the resistance war. Due to shortages, my grandmother had to use ceramic scraps to scrape pineapple leaves to get fibers and then spin them into thread to sew clothes for the soldiers. From here, a plan to create useful products from pineapple leaves was nurtured in me."
Through research, Mr. Quyen learned about Eco Fiber Research, Production and Development Joint Stock Company, which has produced a machine to wind fibers from pineapple leaves. After a period of research and visiting the actual model, Mr. Quyen decided to establish Bach Chan Phi Company Limited and invest in testing 2 small fiber winding machines to produce fiber from pineapple leaves. This machine has a capacity of only about 2.5 kg of finished products/day. After a period of testing, seeing the potential, the company cooperated with another enterprise to invest in a production line from winding pineapple fibers to cottonization. Accordingly, pineapple fibers will be produced in raw form and then go through a cottonization process to be spun into fibers for fabric production.
Mr. Quyen said: "It is estimated that 1 hectare of pineapple will yield about 10 tons of leaves. After the pineapple leaves are brought back, they will be put into the fiber-winding machine. Next, the fiber will be washed to remove dirt and dried. On average, 60kg of fresh leaves will produce 1kg of finished pineapple fiber. Currently, the enterprise only produces raw fiber to supply factories. The company has invested in a fiber-winding machine with a capacity of about 2 tons of pineapple leaves/day. On average, about 15kg of pineapple fiber is produced each day. Raw fiber is sold to factories at 175,000 VND/kg".
 Mr. Quyen's startup model brings a lot of prospects. |
*Directions for the future
In reality, Mr. Quyen's journey to start a business with pineapple silk was not a smooth one. According to Mr. Quyen, the current profit margin of the enterprise is relatively low. The reason is that the labor cost for harvesting pineapple leaves is quite high, accounting for about 80% of the input cost. Not to mention, the labor source in rural areas is also very scarce. "The labor cost in silk fiber production is very low, only 3 workers are needed to operate the stages. However, the biggest difficulty is still the high labor cost for harvesting pineapple leaves, so the company has not been able to expand its production scale. Pineapple silk is very durable and strong, so the market demand is very high, but the enterprise has not been able to meet it. Currently, the company is researching and producing a specialized device for harvesting pineapple leaves to reduce input costs. From there, we will expand our production scale to supply partners" - Mr. Quyen shared.
According to Mr. Quyen, in the next 3 years, the company will focus on developing the production of pineapple fiber. When stable, the company will invest in a factory in Tan Phuoc district to expand production and business with a scale of about 10 tons of finished products/month. To produce this output, the company needs to invest in 10 - 20 fiber winding machines, with an estimated cost of about 5 billion VND. Currently, the market demand for pineapple fiber products is very high. This is also a world trend, because pineapple fiber products are very environmentally friendly. Especially solving the "problem" of waste sources, ensuring the environment. In the long term, the company plans to invest in eco-tourism sites associated with visiting and learning about the pineapple fiber production model.
In addition to the main product of pineapple fiber, Mr. Quyen is also collaborating with Tien Giang University to conduct a grassroots research project to produce microbial fertilizer from pineapple leaf husks after separating the fiber. The project has been approved. In the near future, the company will collaborate with Tra Vinh University to research the production of light wood from pineapple leaf husks after separating the fiber. For the wastewater in the fiber washing process, the company is collaborating with the Southern Fruit Institute to research adding microorganisms to create fertilizer for plants.
In fact, Mr. Quyen has achieved initial success in turning a seemingly worthless material into sustainable fabric fibers, bringing a great revolution to the fashion industry. Especially contributing to solving the problem of agricultural by-products.
With the above positive and promising results, recently, Mr. Quyen's "Fiber production from pineapple leaves" project won the Special Prize in the Organization, Individual, and Enterprise category at the "Innovative startup ideas and projects in Tien Giang province" Contest in 2024.
Anh Thu
Source: https://tiengiang.gov.vn/chi-tiet-tin/?/bien-la-khom-thanh-to-soi/57811580
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