Bac Ninh farmers earn billions thanks to products made from loofah

Loofah fibers seem to have little economic value, but Mr. Ta Quy Ton, in Nguyet Duc commune, Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province, has turned them into useful household products, exported to the US, Japan, Korea and European countries, bringing high economic value.

Working at a large bank in Hanoi with a stable income, in 2019, Mr. Ta Quy Ton quit his job and “left the city to return to the village”, surprising many people. Mr. Ton said that at first, many people did not support this decision because his job was the dream of many people, while growing squash for fiber was still quite unfamiliar to local people, so it posed many risks.

During his time studying and working in Australia, Mr. Ton noticed that many large hotels here used loofah products to make bath sponges, back scrubbers and other household products in the kitchen. However, the supply of these products was unstable; meanwhile, in Vietnam, there are many loofahs grown, and loofahs are mainly used to wash dishes or not used at all. Therefore, Mr. Ton came up with the idea of ​​making products from loofah for export.

In early 2019, Mr. Ton rented 2 hectares of land in the locality to grow luffa for fiber. However, at first he had a lot of difficulty finding the luffa variety that produced the best fiber. At first, he thought that just growing the normal luffa variety would yield fiber, so he took many luffa varieties to grow. However, these luffa varieties produced small fruits, the fiber was not smooth and soft, so the fiber quality was very poor. Not discouraged, he went online to research and found a luffa variety with large, straight fruit, and when ripe, the fiber was thick and smooth, very suitable for growing in Thuan Thanh land.

To create products such as bath sponges, back scrubbers, shoe insoles and household products… from loofah, Mr. Ton has built a product processing area with many types of machinery such as sewing machines, presses, and cutting machines. All loofah products are made by hand by Mr. Ton, so each product has its own uniqueness.

According to Mr. Ton, to make the products, the loofah must be old and dry, then the skin and seeds are removed and only the loofah fiber is kept. Depending on each product, the loofah fiber is rolled thick or thin. With the criteria of environmentally friendly products, no bleach or preservatives are used during production.

To create products with beautiful designs and adhesion, Mr. Ton uses sewing methods with thread, jute and fabric instead of using glue, thus still ensuring aesthetic beauty and rusticity.

“Luffa fibers must be thick, white and smooth to be usable. When choosing the right variety, care must also be taken to ensure that the luffa fruit is large, long, even, and free of worms, so that the product is beautiful and favored by customers. In particular, luffa is grown without pesticides, so users can rest assured,” said Mr. Ton.

Currently, Mr. Ton mainly supplies products made from loofah in the US, Japan, Korea and some European countries, with 15 product lines, mainly kitchen and bathroom products and personal items such as insoles and indoor shoes, with an average price of 4-9 USD/product.

Mr. Ton said that he always put product quality first, so in the first year of starting the business, the products were mainly for “sale”. The uniqueness of natural loofah products has “conquered” demanding foreign markets. Up to now, on average, he exports 3-5 orders to foreign markets each month with a value of 30,000-40,000 USD/month.