Passionate about eating mushrooms and they must be clean mushrooms, 9X girl Mai Thi Anh Xuan researched, learned and explored to start a business with Xuan Mai clean mushroom farm in Phuoc Khanh hamlet, An Khanh commune, Chau Thanh district (Ben Tre).
9X girl Mai Thi Anh Xuan started a business growing clean mushrooms with many different types of mushrooms - Photo: LU THE NHA
Anh Xuan knows that consumers have a need and increasingly prefer to use green, clean products. Researching the market, the 9X girl realized that growing clean mushrooms has quite good prospects in the future, so she is even more determined to start a business with this product.
Take care of mushrooms like taking care of a baby
In 2017, while working as a planner at a Thai garment company located in Giao Long Industrial Park (Ben Tre), Xuan began experimenting with mushroom growing. After three years of experimental growing and having an initial market, Xuan decided to quit his job and establish Xuan Mai mushroom farm, aiming for clean mushrooms.
In the early days, with little capital, she asked her father to cut down a few coconut trees in the garden, built a house with a roof of water coconut leaves to set up a mushroom farm. The first 5,000 bags of mushroom spawn were bought and hung, but the rack collapsed because it could not bear the weight of nearly 7 tons. After that, she stopped hanging the mushroom spawn bags and made a more sturdy shelf to hold the mushroom spawn bags.
But the journey to start a clean mushroom business was full of obstacles when the quality of mushroom spawn from suppliers was unstable. In Ben Tre, there were none, so Xuan had to go to Vinh Long to buy mushroom spawn.
The ordeal was not over when the mushroom spawn was all damaged but the supplier did not compensate. So she lost all her capital and had no goods to deliver to customers. After searching, she finally found a place that provided quality mushroom spawn in My Tho and Cho Gao (Tien Giang).
Being new to the profession, lacking experience, not knowing how to create a humid atmosphere for mushrooms to grow, the yield of mushrooms was not much and not attractive. I searched online, then hung around mushroom growing groups to learn from their experiences, while working on Anh Xuan, I drew lessons for myself after each batch of finished mushrooms harvested to accumulate hard-won lessons for myself.
"Taking care of mushrooms is very meticulous, you have to check regularly to treat them as soon as you detect fungal diseases. The farm must always keep the environment shady and humid for the mushrooms to grow well. Then you have to take care of them when it rains or shines. The humidity must be measured by a machine... In general, taking care of mushrooms is like taking care of a child," Xuan laughed.
Product diversity
At first, Anh Xuan mainly grew white and gray oyster mushrooms. These were two types that were easy to grow, so many people did it, and the selling price was not high. So Xuan tried growing many other types: ruby mushrooms, golden mushrooms, Thai oyster mushrooms, black termite mushrooms, emperor mushrooms, heavenly mushrooms, lingzhi mushrooms... During the rainy season, the farm also grew black fungus mushrooms, and during Tet, they grew lingzhi mushrooms. Some types of mushroom spawn had to be ordered in Hanoi.
Currently, the farm has 10 mushroom growers, importing 10,000 bags of spawn each month with many different types and colors. The whole family becomes the farm's employees. Each month, the farm supplies the market with 1 - 1.5 tons of various types of mushrooms, increasing to about 2 tons in the seventh lunar month every year because many people are vegetarians.
She also cooperates with some cold mushroom farms in Ho Chi Minh City and Lam Dong to have more king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms to diversify the supply according to customer needs.
In addition to existing sources of goods, Xuan created a fanpage on social networks to introduce and sell clean mushrooms from his farm. Xuan Mai mushroom products are currently available in many vegetarian restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City and some provinces. Xuan also makes colorful mushroom bouquets as gifts on special occasions, and can also be used for cooking.
As for the Ganoderma lucidum mushroom, Xuan grows them in bonsai pots to sell as decorations during Tet and then uses them to soak in wine or make health-enhancing drinks. Anh Xuan has considered buying a dryer and coming up with ideas to develop mushroom products such as seasoning powder, Ganoderma lucidum tea, mushroom snacks, etc.
Xuan Mai Mushroom Farm is now a tourist destination for local kindergarten children and diners. Coming here, people can experience growing, caring for, and harvesting mushrooms.
"I have an online culinary channel on social networks that guides young people and women who want to try growing mushrooms at home to use as food for daily meals or to do business and generate extra income for their families," Xuan boasted.
Say no to growth stimulants
Mushrooms at Xuan Mai farm are grown according to VietGAP standards, and are periodically checked for mushroom spawn, mushroom caps, and water sources. In addition to the strict standards in the care process, Anh Xuan said that when picking black termite, emperor, and heavenly mushrooms, hygiene must be maintained by wearing gloves and using gloves only once.
There were people who came to offer a mushroom growth stimulant that could help increase yield by simply spraying it on the mushroom spawn, and make the mushroom caps bigger and more beautiful. However, Anh Xuan refused right away because from the beginning, they wanted and committed to producing clean mushrooms, ensuring good health for users.
At Xuan Mai mushroom farm, a closed production process is also applied. After 2-3 months of planting, the mushroom spawn bag will be taken to the garden to spread spawn to grow straw mushrooms, which have a good selling price. Not stopping there, after planting straw mushrooms, the mushroom spawn bag can also be used to grow ginger, vegetables or as fertilizer for plants.
The clean mushroom growing model of Xuan Mai mushroom farm has just won first prize in the "Women's Startup to Promote Local Resources" contest in 2023 organized by the Ben Tre Women's Union.
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