Start a business with dried grapefruit

Ms. Do Nguyen Ha Vy (residing in Xuan An ward, Long Khanh city) took advantage of the abundant local raw materials to start a dried grapefruit model to develop the family economy and help farmers. Photo: A.Nhon

Ms. Vy is a pioneer in implementing the new model locally and has achieved very positive initial results.

From practice to startup idea

Ms. Vy was born and raised in Long Khanh, in a farming family. Her parents gardened with many types of fruit trees, especially grapefruit. From there, she understood the hardships of farmers who had to spend a lot of effort and money to invest in fruit gardens, but when the harvest season came, traders often forced down prices, leading to unstable product output. Sometimes, the products could not be sold, causing the fruit to fall, spoil, and cause waste. Cherishing the efforts of farmers, Ms. Vy always felt the urge to think of ways to help her family, as well as her neighbors.

Deputy Secretary of the Xuan An Ward Youth Union (Long Khanh City) PHAM VU THANH QUYEN commented that despite her young age, Ms. Do Nguyen Ha Vy has had a very good career development orientation, especially the dried grapefruit model has great potential to develop and spread more widely in the future. The ward Youth Union is gradually supporting Ms. Vy in orienting the next effective model development; at the same time, hoping that Ms. Vy will make more efforts to create her own brand, bringing Long Khanh dried grapefruit products further and further.

During her time in Ho Chi Minh City studying international business at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Ms. Vy (currently a 2nd year student) spent time learning and researching the good uses of grapefruit. Moreover, today's consumer trends are very fond of local products, because they ensure the following criteria: clear origin, clean and safe products, high nutritional quality...

From understanding the practical needs, Ms. Vy decided to choose the direction of starting a business with a model of making dried grapefruit to take advantage of the abundant raw materials available locally to invest in developing the family economy, and to purchase grapefruit directly from the garden for farmers without having to go through intermediaries, in order to help stabilize the output of the products of the people.

“The shelf life of fresh grapefruit is very short. If the product is not consumed in time, its quality will gradually decrease or even spoil. From there, I came up with a plan to dry grapefruit to preserve it for a long time, while also increasing the quality and value of the product,” Vy shared.

When officially starting the new model, Ms. Vy received support from the surrounding grapefruit growers, attention and favorable conditions from local departments, branches and organizations. In particular, she received great support and encouragement from her family.

Ms. Do Thi Phuong Thao (Vy's sister) said that when Vy shared her idea of ​​starting a business with a new model of making dried grapefruit, her family was very supportive. Since then, family members have always accompanied and helped Vy in many aspects such as: collecting locally available raw materials; supporting capital to purchase equipment and machinery for business investment; guiding effective start-up...

“I have many years of experience in drying fruits to create finished products for the market. When Vy talked about the idea of ​​starting a new business model, I gave her basic instructions so that she could visualize how to make the product beautiful in appearance and ensure quality when delivering to consumers. However, the important part is that Vy has made many efforts to overcome difficulties to achieve success through the business path she has chosen,” Ms. Thao confided.

Ms. LE THI THU TAM (owner of a grapefruit garden in Hamlet 18 Gia Dinh, Bao Quang Commune, Long Khanh City) shared: “My family has been involved in growing grapefruit for many years, so we have experienced many ups and downs over time. In the past, the products were often forced down by traders, leading to unstable income for farmers. There were even times when the products were unsold and traders did not buy them, leading to grapefruits falling all over the garden, causing waste. Since Ms. Do Nguyen Ha Vy bought grapefruits to make dried grapefruit products, farmers have had more income, and we are very excited.”

Efforts to create the brand "Long Khanh Dried Grapefruit"

Ms. Vy has chosen a sustainable path by applying modern technology and investing in good machinery to make dried grapefruit to create clean, high-quality products for consumers. After purchasing grapefruit from farmers, she cleans it, then cuts it into thin slices and puts it in the dryer for many hours to dry. After that, Ms. Vy packages each finished product to supply to the market. Her products are currently sold on many channels, especially on e-commerce platforms, which is very convenient and effective.

“Dried grapefruit is made from 100% natural ingredients and does not contain preservatives or additives, so the product is absolutely clean and safe for consumers. Dried grapefruit products are mixed with warm water to drink regularly to help lose weight, good for the health of consumers, especially the elderly” - Ms. Vy shared.

Deputy Secretary of the Youth Union of Xuan An Ward (Long Khanh City) Pham Vu Thanh Quyen (left cover) and the delegation visited the dried grapefruit model of Ms. Do Nguyen Ha Vy.

Ms. Vy added that after about a year of implementing the dried grapefruit model, it has brought many positive results. The model continues to have many good developments and has a lot of potential in the future. Therefore, her plan in the coming time is to maintain a sustainable direction by creating clean, good quality products that meet food safety and hygiene standards to serve consumers. Her dried grapefruit has been granted a product inspection certificate and a product label certificate by the authorities. She is taking the next steps such as registering products that meet OCOP standards (One Commune One Product Program) so that the Long Khanh dried grapefruit brand can reach further.

At the same time, Ms. Vy also plans to invest in expanding production scale, expanding many product sales channels to increase family income and create stable jobs for local people.

“I am trying to build the Long Khanh dried grapefruit brand to develop more and more in the coming time. However, in order for the implementation to be smooth, it is necessary for the government and local departments, branches and organizations to pay attention and support in all aspects, especially creating conditions to access preferential capital sources... Only then will the dried grapefruit model achieve the desired results,” Ms. Vy confided.

An Nhon

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202504/khoi-nghiep-tu-buoi-say-62a6a23/