Although the road to clean products is difficult, with perseverance and effort, the couple Mai Xuan Thinh and Pham Thi Hieu in Toan Thang commune (Gia Loc, Hai Duong) have achieved success.
Risky decision
Mr. Mai Xuan Thinh's path to agricultural production was not accidental but something he had cherished and wanted to do for a long time. Working at the Tu Ky District Transaction Office (Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade, Hai Duong Branch), Mr. Thinh had the opportunity to travel to many places, meet many people and directly see farmers producing agricultural products but sometimes not following the process, leading to unsafe products. He always wondered and worried about how to make consumers feel comfortable using food and drinks without affecting their health. In his hometown, there are still some areas of agricultural land left abandoned, which is a huge waste.
That desire urged him to seriously think about starting a business in agriculture.
Born into a family with a mother working in a bank and a father working at the district People's Committee, he had almost no contact with agriculture, so when he shared this idea with his family and friends, he received more opposition than support. Many people thought that he would have difficulty succeeding because agricultural production not only requires diligence and knowledge but also requires large investment capital and a consumer market...
Clean vegetable products produced by HDGreen Organic Agriculture Joint Stock Company are sold at the company's store in Hai Duong City (Hai Duong).
"Despite the hardships, I always believed that I would succeed, so I was determined to invest in agriculture. I realized that if I produced using traditional methods, I would not make a difference and would not be able to assert my position in the market. Through research, I found that safe agricultural products and clean food have potential in the future and are in line with my wishes, so I decided to follow this direction," Mr. Thinh shared.
In addition to reading books, newspapers, and researching documents, he visited many production models in and outside the province to accumulate agricultural knowledge.
When the conditions were relatively adequate, in 2015, he rented 7,000 square meters of land in Bai Thuong village (Toan Thang commune) to grow organic vegetables. He hired an agricultural engineer to research methods to remove toxic substances that have accumulated in the soil for a long time, kill weeds using safe methods, and develop safe production processes for each type of fruit and vegetable.
During this time, he also established HDGreen Organic Agriculture Joint Stock Company to facilitate transactions in the market.
Organic vegetables are well received by consumers, which is the motivation for him to pursue his dream of clean agriculture. However, working at the bank takes up a lot of his time, making it difficult for him to concentrate, so after much deliberation, in 2017, Mr. Thinh quit his job at the bank to devote himself to agricultural production.
At that time, greenhouse and net house production began to develop and he saw that this would be the right direction for clean agricultural production. Applying this technique, crops would avoid the impact of weather, limit pests and diseases, and produce off-season crops, so he continued to rent land to expand production. He built nearly 7,000 square meters of greenhouses and net houses to grow many types of vegetables to provide a variety of fruits and vegetables to the market.
Producing vegetables and fruits successfully, but how to sell them is also a problem that Mr. Thinh is concerned about, because organic vegetables and vegetables grown by conventional methods do not look much different on the outside. To bring the products closer to consumers, in addition to advertising on social networks, inviting relatives and friends to try them, Mr. Thinh also markets them in schools and collective kitchens. He builds products that are OCOP certified, and promotes them at trade fairs...
The good news spread far and wide, the products produced by the company were increasingly accepted by friends and the market by the fact that he signed a contract to become a vegetable supplier for many schools and kitchens in the province. Not stopping there, he expanded the market to a number of supermarkets and kitchens in other provinces with an output of more than 3 tons/day. He even coordinated to export some vegetable and fruit products abroad.
The business is going well, the system is operating stably, the market is expanding, so in order to manage the work, in 2021, Ms. Pham Thi Hieu, Mr. Thinh's wife, who is working at the State Treasury of Gia Loc district, quit her job to support her husband. The couple operates HDGreen Organic Agriculture Joint Stock Company with a production scale of 10 hectares of vegetables, 3 clean food stores (in coordination with a number of partners) and dozens of clean vegetable sources in and outside the province...
Mr. Thinh's organic vegetable growing model has become a typical example in Hai Duong, attracting Japanese experts to come and learn about it to expand cooperation.
Mr. Mai Xuan Thinh hopes to continue bringing safe products to consumers.
Restart
While production and business were on track, operating smoothly and bringing efficiency to the business as well as creating jobs for many local workers, storm No. 3 hit, destroying the greenhouse system, net house as well as the plans that Mr. Thinh was nurturing.
"Ten hectares of vegetables are ready for harvest, including 2 hectares of greenhouses and net houses that were flooded and completely collapsed, causing damage of more than 6 billion VND. Looking at the fertile, green fields gradually turning withered, my heart is heavy," Mr. Thinh shared.
When the storm passed, the turmoil in Mr. Thinh's heart also calmed down. If he was committed, he would stick with it until the end. With that determination, he revived the production and distribution system and changed it to be more suitable for the present.
He no longer focused on vegetable production but reduced it to only 5 hectares, while strengthening cooperation with greenhouses and net houses in the area to ensure vegetable supply for units. The number of vegetable suppliers also decreased, to only 5 units, with an output of about 2 tons/day, while maintaining the operation of the clean and safe food store system.
While his business was in trouble, Mr. Thinh found a new direction. Through his relationship, he agreed to become the general distributor for Viet - Nhat Group Trading Joint Stock Company (Ninh Binh), specializing in the production of biological products such as toothpaste, shampoo, floor cleaner, insecticide, etc. "After researching and trying some products, I found that the production and business orientation of the enterprise was similar to the goal I was pursuing, which was to provide safe, biological products to consumers at affordable prices, so I agreed. I will build 12 agents in districts and cities in the province and provide this product to consumers in a short time," Mr. Thinh said about his future plans.
Sharing about the journey he has gone through, Mr. Thinh said that investing in agriculture is like a "gamble", with many risks, but because of his passion, he still pursues it. The initial successes have confirmed that the path he has chosen is completely correct. On that arduous path, besides his own efforts, the support of family and friends is also a decisive factor in part of his success.
"I am lucky to have a family, a wife and a companion for the past ten years, so the difficulties have gradually disappeared. At this point, I want to do something more solid, so I decided to change my business direction. However, I will continue to stick with agriculture because this is my origin and passion," said Mr. Thinh.
Regarding the secret to creating trust, Mr. Thinh added that when one door closes, another will open. The important thing is whether you can find and seize that opportunity or not. "Be bold and proactive in stepping out of your "comfort zone" to pursue your dreams and aspirations. That path will certainly have many obstacles but there are also many things to discover. Through that, you will mature, be more responsible for your family and society, and especially know how strong your inner strength is," Mr. Thinh advised those who want to start a business but are still hesitant.
Source: https://danviet.vn/bo-viec-ngan-hang-anh-trai-hai-duong-ve-trong-rau-sach-bi-bao-danh-bay-6-ty-dong-van-vung-tam-khoi-nghiep-lai-20250308151549926.htm
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