After getting married, Ms. Nong Thi Hanh (born in 1972) - an ethnic minority woman in Cao Bang province - chose Quang Tri as her second hometown. After 27 years of attachment, she has left her mark on this land with her tireless and passionate journey with Huong Hoa coffee trees.
Ms. Nong Thi Hanh (3rd from left) at the national "Women's Creative Startup and Green Transformation" competition in 2024 - Photo: LV
Linking coffee production with 100 households
“The value chain of coffee is very long. If only one person produces it, it will not be able to handle it all, so there needs to be a division of tasks and close connection with each other. The person in charge of each stage needs to perform well in their stage, then the quality of the product will improve. Only then can the Khe Sanh coffee brand be developed,” Ms. Hanh shared. With this concept, her journey of starting a business from coffee trees is a strong bond with farmers, partners, and consumers of the product.
Graduated from the Forestry University in 1997, after following her husband to Quang Tri, Ms. Hanh quickly participated in foreign non-governmental projects in the field of agriculture. Thanks to participating in community development programs, she was able to set foot in many lands, connecting with the people of the highland villages of Huong Hoa district.
In 2008, from a research project on developing coffee trees according to GAP standards implemented by the Center for Community Development Research, Ms. Hanh "fell in love" with Huong Hoa coffee trees.
“At that time, the project supported some households to produce clean coffee, but then the products could not be sold. The project manager came up with a way to roast coffee and introduce it to some foreigners working in non-governmental projects. They tried it and praised Khe Sanh coffee as very delicious. Since then, every time we went on a business trip, we always processed and brought coffee products to introduce to our partners. In particular, every time we went to Hanoi, we often took the opportunity to go to places with many foreign visitors such as Au Trieu Street, the area near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the airport... to introduce and sell coffee,” Ms. Hanh recalled.
Ms. Hanh (6th, from left) participates in signing a contract to consume coffee products for the 2024 crop year with production groups - Photo: LV
The approach to the market during the project had a significant impact on shaping Ms. Hanh's coffee business path later on. In 2018, she stopped working on the project and established the Ta Lu agricultural and forestry production service business. By 2023, it had developed into Ta Lu Khe Sanh Coffee Company Limited, with her as the director.
Currently, the company has 7 types of products (ground coffee, roasted coffee, specialty coffee, paper filter coffee, blended coffee, liberica coffee, coffee husk tea). The company's coffee product market is in most provinces and cities in the country, especially in localities with many foreign tourists and has begun to receive export orders to Malaysia, Denmark, and Canada.
To achieve the above results, the company has built a close relationship with 100 farming households in Huong Phung to grow over 100 hectares of organic coffee. In 2024, the company signed a contract to purchase 100 tons of fresh coffee from the producers at a price 10% higher than the market price.
In addition to the roasting facility and product introduction cafe located in Tan Hop commune, Ms. Hanh also built a factory, equipped with machinery and a waste treatment system to produce green coffee in Huong Phung commune. Every year, the company also processes more than 200 tons of husks to make coffee tea and bio-fertilizer for the coffee garden. Currently, Ta Lu Khe Sanh Coffee Company Limited creates jobs for 30 local workers, including 10 regular workers. The company's annual revenue reaches 5 billion VND, with a profit of over 500 million VND.
Raising the value of Khe Sanh coffee
“At Ta Lu Coffee, we do not pre-grind. When customers choose the type of coffee, we grind and package it to ensure the product is always fresh. Therefore, it will take a few days for the coffee to reach you,” the introduction on the company’s Facebook fanpage made many people curious.
Explaining this introduction, Ms. Hanh said: “Slowly but surely, our customers are sustainable customers. The company does not pursue mass quantity but conquers customers with product quality”. Not only is she the founder of the Ta Lu coffee brand, understanding every stage of growing and processing coffee, Ms. Hanh is also known as one of the best coffee roasters in Khe Sanh. She knows how to adjust each roasting batch to suit the customer's requirements, bringing a unique flavor to each cup of coffee.
Ms. Hanh (far left) introduces products to customers - Photo: LV
According to market segmentation, in Huong Hoa district, there are currently 3 different coffee product lines: instant coffee, high-quality coffee and specialty coffee. While most coffee businesses in Huong Hoa district produce instant coffee (sell raw materials), Ms. Hanh chose to pursue the goal of producing and processing high-end coffee with 2 product lines: high-quality coffee and specialty coffee. She shared that the company's high-quality coffee customers have now become stable and familiar customers. The specialty coffee line that the company is pursuing is aimed at young coffee drinkers who want to learn and explore new things and serve coffee tours.
To affirm its brand and reputation, in 2024, the company participated in the Vietnam Specialty Coffee Competition held in Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak Province. Both samples, Arabica natural (naturally processed) and Arabica honey (honey processed), of the company were certified by the organizing committee as meeting specialty coffee standards.
Sharing about these two coffee lines, Ms. Hanh said that naturally processed coffee or honey processed coffee both require the outer shell of the fruit to be ripe and delicious, ensuring that it has absorbed enough natural sugar and nutrients during its development cycle. Both of these product lines are very elaborate. For example, naturally processed coffee is dried whole before peeling and harvesting green beans. This is one of the oldest and most environmentally friendly methods of processing green coffee beans.
This processing method is capable of producing the best coffees, retaining the most distinct and characteristic coffee flavor. Coffee processed using the honey method makes many people think that honey is an ingredient used in the coffee production process. But in fact, it is not.
The process gets its name from the sticky feel of the mucilage/sugar layer present in the ripe coffee skin that clings to the coffee beans, like honey, when they are dried.
“Along with the variety, soil, weather, and ripeness, the processing is also very important. Coffee processing is an indispensable part in creating the unique flavor of a cup of coffee. I am trying every day to add value to Khe Sanh coffee,” said Ms. Hanh.
Connect to expand your market
For the past 2 years, Ms. Hanh has been the Head of the Khe Sanh Specialty Coffee Group. The group consists of 5 members who regularly meet, organize roasting, and taste each other's products after harvest to evaluate quality and share production experiences. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality and value of Khe Sanh coffee. In 2023, the group will cooperate with the Khe Sanh Vietnam Tourism Cooperative and the Netherlands PUM Organization to establish and operate a local specialty tourism product, the Khe Sanh coffee tour.
Of the 7 coffee products of Ta Lu Khe Sanh Coffee Company Limited, 2 products have achieved 4-star OCOP quality (ground coffee and roasted coffee). In October 2024, Ms. Hanh won the first prize in the Central region, the second prize nationwide in the "Women's creative start-up and green transformation" contest with the project "Developing the value of Huong Hoa organic coffee". |
The organic coffee gardens of the company in Huong Phung have recently become an attractive destination for visitors on this tour. Up to now, the gardens have welcomed more than 10 groups to visit and experience the actual stages of coffee care, harvesting and processing. Especially here, visitors will be able to make their own specialty coffee cups according to their favorite flavors.
“Many tourists who came to experience the reality, witness the production stages and taste the products have returned to place orders,” said Ms. Hanh.
In June 2024, a tourist in Malaysia (a coffee entrepreneur) contacted the company to order products after experiencing a coffee tour. Based on this tourist's request, Ms. Hanh recently connected with an intermediary business, carrying out procedures to export 1.5 tons of green coffee beans to Malaysia, at a price 10% higher than the domestic market.
Also through tourism, there was a tourist who was a Vietnamese expatriate in Canada who was interested in Khe Sanh coffee products, so he connected and used the company's products as raw materials for his coffee shop in Canada. At this coffee shop, he also arranged an area to introduce Ta Lu coffee products.
Le Vy
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/dua-huong-ta-lu-ca-phe-bay-xa-191396.htm
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