11 products to utilize the medicinal value of agricultural products

11 products were born from the pharmaceutical startup project on agricultural products

Ms. Tham is the owner of 11 tea products extracted from vegetables and fruits with beneficial health properties including squash, Gymnema, green tea, brown rice, ginger, lotus heart, Limnophila aromatica, lemon basil, cloves, chrysanthemums, lettuce, prickly pear.

It was fate that brought the pharmacist to herbal tea, stemming from nearly 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Over time, she realizes agricultural products with beneficial health properties have great development opportunities, but they have not been utilized to their fullest value. “The market has not been able to fully exploit agricultural products, only in fresh, raw form with short shelf life. As a pharmacist, I think I can help Vietnamese agricultural products reach its full potential. And the idea of producing herbal tea was born" Ms. Tham shared about her idea.

Confident with this start-up idea, Ms. Tham started researching in 2019, with focus on studying the market needs and performing a series of product tests. In 2020, for the first time, 4 tea products from perilla, lettuce, honey ginger and clove were launched, under the brand name of Hygie & Panacee Company Limited. Each of the tea product utilizes the unique medicinal values of each type of agricultural product.

Compared to other brands of tea available on the market, Hygie & Panacee products are instant tea, a technology applied in the pharmaceutical industry, which helps to keep water freshness; dissolve tea leaves quickly; and retain the taste of the original agricultural products.

On July 8, Can Tho City People's Committee approved the evaluation and ranking results of the products under the city's OCOP program in 2022. Ms. Tham's products including 5 instant tea products extracted from: cloves, honey ginger, lemongrass ginger, fish lettuce, and Limnophila aromatica are recognized as 4-star OCOP products.

On average, her business produces and supplies 1 ton of instant tea to the market monthly, produced according to available orders. 100 sales agents nationwide and e-commerce platforms are the main market of this business.

Lessons on starting an agricultural business

Starting a business at the age of 40 would be considered a risk by most people. But for Ms. Tham, when she sees an opportunity, she seizes it and return to the right profession; she is decisive and thorough in each decision. “Starting a business this late means I have the advantage of maturity and experience, I cannot stop at difficulties, I have to solve them. I have a stronger will and a more resilient mind. I did not know how much capital is enough for a start-up. Most of the production steps in my project are done manually. I prioritized investing in the most important machinery and equipment", Ms. Tham excitedly shared her start-up secret.

According to Ms. Tham, to have a successful start-up, you have to find and exploit new values, products must be polished, and prices must be suitable for many consumers to be able reach further. Moreover, there must be a good market to develop widely and become an essential product in everyday life.

One of her luckiest aspect on the journey to start a business according to Ms. Tham is product promotion. Her products once participated in a regional specialty fair held in Hanoi, and many customers did not enjoy them.

“My products are herbal tea with a sweet taste, so it is not popular. Visitors at the fair complained a lot. I was shocked to hear the comments. Luckily, I met some young people at the fair, whom accepted to attempt and distribute my products in the Northern market", said Tham excitedly.

Starting from this opportunity, 80% of the sales made by Hygie & Panacee currently concentrate in Hanoi market. The company's capacity can only meet domestic demand presently. Ms. Tham is cherishing a plan to expand its capacity, build a new factory, and raise standards to set a goal of exporting to international markets by 2023.

“If you want to export, you must have internal resources, meet international standards, and then negotiate to export.

The start-up project "Production of herbal teas utilizing medicinal values from agricultural products" won the first prize at the Dong Thap province 2021 start-up and innovation contest, and it came in second at the Mekong Delta region 2021 start-up contest.

In addition, the project has also just entered the semi-finals of the South East Asian Start up Wheel startup ecosystem connection program; it is one of the 100 most excellent projects, among over 2,000 projects from 32 countries around the world.