Exporting loofah

Businessman Mac Nhu Nhan, Director of Vinhands Trading and Service Company Limited: Exporting loofah to foreign countries

Knowing how to use the discarded loofah fiber to make gifts since his school days was the opportunity that led businessman Mac Nhu Nhan to become the first person to produce and export products made from loofah fiber abroad, bringing in tens of billions of dong each year.

Mr. Mac Nhu Nhan, Director of Vinhands Trading and Service Company Limited.

Building a career from loofah

The opportunity to enter the business world of businessman Mac Nhu Nhan is a destiny tied to old, withered squash, thought to be thrown away, or perhaps used as dishwashing utensils. For this businessman born in 1980, those discarded items have become wallets, hair clips, greeting cards... for export.

Telling us about his affinity with loofah, Mr. Nhan said that he was born into a poor family in the mountainous town of Gia Lai, and his childhood was associated with his mother's fragrant loofah trellis. When he was 16, every holiday and New Year, his friends would prepare small gifts for each other. Because his family was poor and had no money to buy gifts for his friends, he thought of ways to make gifts from loofah himself.

“Back then, whenever there were old loofahs, my mother would cut them to wash the dishes. While washing the dishes with my mother, holding a loofah rag and looking at the texture of the loofah fibers, I thought to myself that I could cut them neatly and dye them to create many souvenir items. And then I started to try. At that time, the first thing I made was a hair clip to give to a female classmate on International Women's Day,” Mr. Nhan recalled.

Also from the time he made gifts from loofah that were enjoyed by his friends, Mr. Nhan discovered that loofah has high elasticity and good texture thanks to the horizontal and vertical fibers. Even better, loofah is not moldy, termite-free, so users can rest assured because they don't have to worry about the fibers being sprayed with preservatives. However, loofah is not easy to shape as desired, so Nhan spent a lot of time researching and finding solutions to process the raw materials.

Because of my affinity with the Central Highlands, what I do not only fulfills my childhood dream, but also helps farmers in Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Lak provinces... have a stable income by growing squash.

- Mr. Mac Nhu Nhan, Director of Vinhands Trading and Service Company Limited

Many times, the products did not meet the design shape, were blistered, too thick or too thin, so they had to be discarded. Finally, Mr. Nhan found the secret of pressing loofah into large sheets, then using them as decals, paper, leather, etc. to shape and glue the products. There were some elaborate loofah products that took him several days to complete.

“But then, after a long time of making gifts from loofah, life with many ups and downs, I temporarily put aside my dream of loofah to make a living with all kinds of jobs, such as carpentry, real estate brokerage, selling pho to have money to live and take care of my family,” said Mr. Nhan.

Later, the fate with loofah returned to Mr. Nhan like a destiny. That was in 2012, when he took his wife to buy a wallet, after choosing for a long time but not finding a satisfactory one, Mr. Nhan decided to make his wife a wallet from loofah. Surprised by the sophistication, beauty and luxury, Mr. Nhan's wife "incited" her husband to make and try selling it.

Receiving a suggestion from his wife, the man with a family tradition of Cai Luong art and no experience in fine arts or handicrafts decided to pool his capital for the dream of loofah. Also from this year, the brand Vi Lam Loofah was born, named after Mr. Nhan's daughter.

A year later, he founded Vinhands Trading and Service Company Limited. He researched and started processing loofah into commercial products by testing fashion accessories and kitchen appliances, then brought them to fairs and exhibitions to sell.

“In 2013, I brought my products to a fair with the hope that with thousands of visitors, I would sell at least a few dozen products. Although many customers stopped by to look at and marvel at the things made from loofah, I didn’t sell any products,” Mr. Nhan recounted.

He explained that back then, people saw that loofahs could be made into products, so everyone wondered about their features and uses, but almost no one dared to try them. Not to mention, the price of dishwashing sponges, bath sponges, hair clips, etc. was 4-5 times more expensive than industrial products, so that also made users somewhat hesitant.

However, Mr. Nhan still persistently pursues fairs in Ho Chi Minh City, because according to him, this is the best way to sell products, or at least to make people remember him.

Mr. Nhan said: “I stuck to the markets and gradually sold a few products. When I used them and saw the quality, people spread the word and became more aware of Vi Lam.”

In 2015, Vi Lam opened a store in the center of District 1 (HCMC), but due to poor communication and human resource management, it closed. Also in this year, Mr. Nhan began receiving the first export order with a shipment of kitchen appliances to Korea.

In addition, Director Vi Lam focuses on online business, bringing products to e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, the Company's website, and Facebook social network.

“Because of my affinity with the Central Highlands, what I do not only fulfills my childhood dream, but also helps farmers in Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Lak provinces… have a stable income by growing squash. At the same time, I am determined to build a brand of green, clean, environmentally friendly products from this typical fruit of the Vietnamese people,” Mr. Nhan proudly said.

The proof is that, currently, Mr. Nhan is not only successful in pioneering the loofah product, but he is also a startup speaker at many events. He is an example and teacher for many young entrepreneurs on how to process, produce and export products from loofah.

Incident, empty-handed, rebuilding and revival

In 2017, Mr. Nhan invested in a factory and employed more than 30 workers. The business started to gain momentum and brought in profits and motivation with an income of hundreds of millions of VND, even billions of VND per month. This has helped Vi Lam Loofah position its brand in the domestic and foreign consumer goods market, with 80% of its products serving exports.

“But then, a major incident happened to Vinhands Trading and Service Company Limited. In February 2022, the factory burned down, not only burning all the raw materials and machinery, but also some personal assets such as vehicles were engulfed in flames. My wife and I were left with almost nothing,” Mr. Nhan sadly recalled.

At that time, although the pandemic had just ended, orders were still coming in every month. Suddenly, an incident occurred, the machines burned down, there were no more goods to deliver and the contract had to be paid. The couple had to rent land to set up temporary tents, gradually buy equipment and decided to start a new business after 1 month of the incident.

“Once you start something, you have to follow through. In the past, I couldn’t start anything, so now I have more experience. I have partners who give me more time and people who love me and send me money in advance to fix it. This is the motivation for my husband and I to stand up right after the incident,” said Mr. Nhan.

With no more capital, Mr. Nhan returned to taking orders for furniture, because carpentry was his first profession. In addition, he borrowed money to open a pho restaurant with the purpose of "taking short-term to support long-term", and rebuilding the loofah workshop. Orders gradually increased and Mr. Nhan began renting the workshop to start a new business.

At present, Mr. Nhan said, although the consumer market has not yet recovered as strongly as before the Covid-19 pandemic, recently, customers from Japan and the EU have come to learn more and discuss cooperation with the Company thanks to the quality.

“A Japanese customer brought a sample of loofah from another place and compared it to Vi Lam’s product, it was a world apart. From then on, they immediately placed an order with us. Actually, we have the advantage of being the first to launch, but every product we release is copied and counterfeited. Even though the quality is not as good, they do strong media, so sometimes, we are at a disadvantage,” Mr. Nhan said sadly.

However, Mr. Nhan is still proud that the quality of Vi Lam products is something that other places cannot copy. The proof is that customers in the US, Korea, Japan and some other Asian countries trust and highly appreciate products made from Vi Lam loofah.

According to Mr. Nhan, during this period, orders decreased, so revenue was only about 300 - 400 million VND/month. However, the company's export orders remained steady throughout the year.

It is worth mentioning that the Gia Lai dry pho shop in the center of Ho Chi Minh City is currently not only nurturing the dream of this businessman, but is also known for its unique way of decorating products from loofah such as paintings, lamps, signs, etc.

Mr. Nhan said he intends to expand this store into a chain in the near future as a tribute to the local brand - where he discovered the dream of a loofah brand like today.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/doanh-nhan-mac-nhu-nhan-giam-doc-cong-ty-tnhh-thuong-mai-dich-vu-vinhands-dua-xo-muop-xuat-ngoai-d216453.html