The areca drying facility of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Yen (50 years old, Minh Son commune, Ngoc Lac district, Thanh Hoa) is located next to Ho Chi Minh road. Since the beginning of August, her family's 5 drying kilns and 2 areca boiling kilns have always been on fire, operating at full capacity.
Ms. Yen’s family has been drying areca nuts for more than 10 years. Ms. Yen said that the price of areca nuts this year is higher than every year, at 70,000-75,000 VND/kg, sometimes up to 80,000 VND/kg. Not only is the price of fresh areca nuts high, the market for dried areca nuts is also bustling.
Purchased areca nuts are boiled to reduce the astringency (Photo: Thanh Tung).
"Every year, the price of fresh areca nuts is only 30,000-40,000 VND/kg, but this year the price is twice as high, selling better so we have a high and stable income. There are times when traders place many orders, the workers at the factory have to increase capacity day and night," said Ms. Yen.
According to Ms. Yen, areca nut drying brings in high income but only lasts for more than 3 months (from August to the end of October). This year, areca nut prices have been high since the beginning of the season, lasting for many days, so her facility operates regularly.
Talking about the production process, Ms. Yen said that 5 tons of fresh areca nuts will make 1 ton of dried areca nuts. Every day, her family buys nearly 10 tons of fresh areca nuts. After buying, the fresh areca nuts will have all their branches picked off, then put in a pot to boil for about 3-4 hours to remove the bitter water and then dried and classified.
"During peak season, we dry 1-2 tons of dried areca nuts every day. Currently, the selling price is about 400,000 VND/kg. After deducting all expenses, my family earns about 100 million VND per month," said Ms. Yen.
Finished dried areca nuts are carefully classified before being sold to traders (Photo: Thanh Tung).
The owner of the areca drying facility also said that although the profit is high, the areca drying business is unstable, due to dependence on the Chinese market.
"It all depends on the traders. Some years they buy a lot and get a good price, but there are also years when they lose money because of sluggish sales and low prices. This year, the Chinese market buys regularly so it is more stable than previous years," Ms. Yen shared.
In addition to bringing in high income, Ms. Yen's family's dried areca nut production facility also creates jobs for 15 local workers, with salaries of 4.5-10 million VND/month, depending on the specific job.
Mr. Dang Sy Thu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Minh Son Commune, Ngoc Lac District, said that in the area there are 2 areca nut drying facilities operating for more than 10 years, including Ms. Yen's household.
Areca nut prices increase, drying kiln owners earn hundreds of millions of dong each month (Video: Thanh Tung).
According to Mr. Thu, this year the price of areca nuts is high and lasts for many days, so the owners of areca drying facilities have a high income, not unstable like every year. In addition, many households in the area growing areca nuts also have a stable income.
"Although there is no planning for growing areas, many households in the locality grow areca in their gardens, with large households having several hundred trees and small households having several dozen trees. In general, areca is an easy-to-grow tree that brings high income, but it is very difficult to build growing areas, because there are currently no processing factories and it depends on traders," said Mr. Thu.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/gia-cau-tang-cao-chu-lo-say-kiem-tram-trieu-dong-moi-thang-20241016163351283.htm
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