"In Son La in general, Muong La in particular, there are already natural raw materials available. I want to bring natural products to consumers... In 2022, I have the idea of ​​establishing a cooperative to produce medicinal teas to meet the needs of people using medicinal herbs to improve their health," said Ms. Luong Thi Chuong, Director of the Mountain Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, Muong La district, Son La.

With that idea, passion and enthusiasm, Ms. Luong Thi Chuong has created new products from the abundant natural resources of the locality, including "hawthorn tea"...

Cooperatives invest in factories, equipment systems and machinery to produce products.

According to Ms. Chuong: "I had the idea of ​​making hawthorn tea because I saw that the raw materials were available and that hawthorn fruits were very friendly to the people. Then I saw that people had a good harvest but low prices, and good prices but bad harvest... I also researched how to make the hawthorn fruits mature, and each year I also wanted to help people have a stable source of income."

From fresh and delicious hawthorn berries grown and harvested on the highlands of Muong La, members of the cooperative have sliced ​​and dried them to retain their flavor and nutrients; processed them through the stages of drying, grinding and packaging...

Ms. Tong Thi Tich, a member of the Mountain Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, Muong La district, shared: "Choosing ripe hawthorn berries is the best, they will have a fragrant, sweet and sour taste... Such ingredients will meet the standards for making tea, and when dried in the sun, they will have a red-yellow color."

Products are processed by the cooperative from herbs and natural ingredients available locally.

In addition to Hawthorn Tea, which is a typical rural industrial product at the provincial level in 2023, the Mountain Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, Muong La district, also researches formulas and processes for processing other herbal teas, along with shampoo and shower gel products from medicinal plants....

Ms. Quàng Thị Phương, a member of the cooperative, said that to produce herbal shampoo, the cooperative used 20 different herbs, such as soapberry, soapberry, lemon, ginger, lemongrass, polygonum multiflorum... to prevent hair loss, treat dandruff, treat itching, have a natural fragrance, and are safe.

"After washing the ingredients, I will put them in a pot to distill. After about a day, I will drain all the water; after 1 day, I will distill the water again so that when the water is dry, I will have a concentrated shampoo product..." - Ms. Phuong said.

Along with investing in building factories and equipment, the Mountain Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, Muong La District, also cooperates with 100 medicinal herb growing households in the area to purchase raw materials, ensuring seasonal production. On average, each year, the Cooperative purchases from the people 5-10 tons of hawthorn, bitter melon, papaya flowers, spoon, ginseng, lingzhi...

Investing in the exploitation and processing of medicinal herbs creates new products, creates more jobs for people, and promotes the advantages of available natural resources...

Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of It Ong town, Muong La district said: "Cooperatives like this have purchased agricultural products to turn into medicinal products for consumers, bringing efficiency to the people. Initially, the cooperative has created jobs for workers, with an income of 5 - 7 million VND/month, quite high and stable revenue...".

To bring more than 30 existing products closer to consumers, the Mountain Medicinal Herbs Cooperative has actively promoted its products on social networking platforms; participated in conferences, seminars, and trade fairs; built stores to sell and introduce products in Son La city; consigned products at tourist destinations inside and outside the province such as: Moc Chau, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Hanoi, Ninh Binh...

However, the Director of the Cooperative also expressed concerns and difficulties; wishing to be supported with loans to invest in purchasing specialized processing machinery and equipment to provide the market with products that meet higher standards of quality and design.

Mountain Medicinal Herbs Cooperative introduces and promotes products through many distribution and sales channels.

"The local government supports and helps the cooperative a lot, such as evaluating documents to produce OCOP products, promotional programs, consulting... The cooperative wants to build, expand and produce in one direction, needs low-interest capital and can maintain it for a long time" - Ms. Luong Thi Chuong said.

Investing in the exploitation and processing of medicinal herbs not only creates new products and creates more jobs for people, but also helps promote the advantages of available natural resources, as well as partly solves the problem of "good harvest, low price" of Son La farmers. Thereby, contributing to promoting socio-economic development in this mountainous locality with many difficulties.

According to: vov.vn