At Muong Long Medicinal Plants and Herbs Conservation and Development Centre. (Photo: TH Group)
Hanoi (VNA) - To produce the line of TH true HERBAL tea bags, TH Group has established a raw material area beneath the forest canopy, ensuring that the best and cleanest ingredients reach the hands of consumers.
Muong Long commune in Ky Son district, the central province of Nghe An is situated at an altitude of nearly 1,500m above sea level. This area is a valley surrounded by mountains belonging to the Truong Son range, near the Vietnam-Laos borderline, with a tropical monsoon climate.
Therefore, nature has bestowed upon Muong Long a cool climate unaffected by the hot winds from Laos. The majority of local population are H'Mong ethnic people.
Few people know that Muong Long is a "paradise" for hundreds of valuable medicinal herbs of Vietnam.
After taking over around 136ha of land and the Muong Long Medicinal Plants and Herbs Conservation and Development Centre, the TH Herbals JSC, part of TH Group, has invested in the conservation, farming and processing of medicinal herbs.
In this remote highland area in western Nghe An, engineers tirelessly engage in daily research, extraction and conservation of precious medicinal plants.
Labour Heroine Thai Huong, Founder and Chairwoman of TH Group Strategic Council (Photo: TH Group)
"I want to build a strategy to submit to the Government, under which land under the forest canopy will be used to cultivate endemic medicinal herbs on a large scale for supply to the global market. The company will combine both technological and governance sciences to create valuable products at the most affordable cost. Throughout this extended process, I am very happy to work with local people to efficiently protect and tap medicinal herbs under the forest canopy, helping them escape poverty sustainably and move toward enriching their lives" said Labour Hero Thai Huong, Founder and Chairwoman of TH Group Strategic Council
The centre is an integral part of the overall project on conserving and developing high-quality medicinal herbs linked with sustainable development. This aligns with the local policy of promoting medicinal plants as a key strength of economic development of Ky Son district in particular, and Nghe An province as a whole.
Right at the centre, TH Herbals set up an area for extracting and processing various herbal plants harvested from the natural environment and cultivated in the buffer zone under the forest canopy.
As one of the pioneering units in the production and procurement of clean medicinal herbs in the area, the entire process at the centre from production to processing and storage pays attention to cleanliness and environment protection. It lays a groundwork for TH Herbals to create clean, safe, and effective herbal products.
Lau Chia Long, Director of the centre, said ingredients grown and purchased by the centre are essential components to produce herbal tea bags such as lingzhi mushroom, Giao Co Lam (Ganoderma), Lac Tien (passion flower), and Tia To (shiso).
Naturally harvested medicinal herbs all come with technical guidelines while grown herbal varieties follow a tightly controlled process, from soil preparation to care, harvest and pre-processing at the workshop.
In production activities, TH Herbals always gives priority to generating jobs to local workers. From farmers who traditionally work in the fields, labourers are recruited and trained in modern cultivation techniques and production skills in the workshop, making it easier for them to improve their capability and easily adapt to modern production requirements.
At present, the centre has more than 20 staff members, including many local women, agricultural engineers, and pharmacists.
Long added that since the centre was established, local residents have partnered with the company to build a semi-natural medicinal herb cultivation area in the outskirts of the Muong Long forest – a watershed protective forest to form a sustainable medicinal area. He affirmed that growing medicinal plants not only improves the lives of ethnic groups but also links with forest protection.
At 6am when the village was still enveloped in the morning mist, staff of the centre already began their work. Some cut the grass, others cultivated the soil, and some cared for medicinal plants.
At each stage, those involved in harvesting and cultivating medicinal herbs performed their tasks skillfully.
Muong Long is naturally rich in valuable herbs. What we are essentially doing is bringing the herbs back to their place of origin. Our herbs follow the Global GAP standard and are progressing toward meeting the organic standards set by Europe and the US, said Thai Huong.
After being harvested, the medicinal plants are transported to the workshop for washing and pre-processing. Workers must wear personal protective equipment, gloves, and undergo sanitation before entering the workshop.
May-July each year marks a peak period to produce and procure medicinal herbs from local residents. Nguyen Duc Khang, an agricultural engineer from the centre, said medicinal herbs will be finely chopped, ensuring food safety and hygiene standards before being transported to the drying room.
Drying is crucial to ensure quality and prolonged preservation. TH Herbals has invested in large-capacity drying machines with a rapid drying speed, saving time and ensuring hygiene.
In addition to preserving, breeding and growing various herbal plants for processing, the centre also purchases medicinal herbs from households in Muong Long commune.
According to Long, the majority of herbs brought by local residents are giao co lam (Jiaogulan) and lingzhi mushroom. "During the harvest season, people can collect up to 50kg of giao co lam or 80kg of lingzhi mushroom daily from nature to sell to the centre”, he said.
During the peak season, the staff of the centre have to work overtime to facilitate the procurement, pre-processing, and packaging of medicinal herbs from local residents.
Now with the factory, travelling is more convenient, and prices are reasonable, said Lau Y Si, a resident from Muong Long commune.
Talking about ensuring input quality, Long said each year, the centre holds training courses for local residents on how to conserve and breed medicinal herbs in the allocated forest area, avoiding overexploitation.
Once the herbs meet the standards, centre staff continue to guide how to harvest and identify quality products. Additionally, when local residents bring their products to the centre, experts will check and appraise the product quality before procurement.
Lau Y Si, a resident of Muong Long commune, enthusiastically brought 86kg of lingzhi mushrooms which were recently collected under the forest canopy, to the centre.
After procurement, lingzhi mushrooms are classified based on size and characteristics. Later, they are washed multiple times to ensure cleanliness and safety. The mushrooms are sliced before being placed in the drying cabinet.
Products, after pre-processing and packaging, are immediately stored in the warehouse. The storage facility ensures standard temperature and humidity. Products are labeled with specific information, including clear address on origin.
According to Khang, the products processed at the centre are only stored for a short period before being transported for processing into tea bags, ensuring excellent quality.
It could be said that the raw material area and processing workshop are an indispensable chain to help TH true HERBAL tea bags be made from the cleanest and highest-quality ingredients.
In addition, TH true HERBAL tea bag products are manufactured in a plant certified with ISO 22000:2018 for the production of dried tea, processing and packaging of tea bags, on the most advanced and fully automated packaging line imported from Italy. The products are packed in filter paper bags that meet European quality standards for food production and processing, ensuring safety for consumer health. Therefore, the pride of the centre’s staff is multiplied when holding in their hands the products made from clean ingredients by themselves. Lingzhi tea, chrysanthemum-passion flower tea, ginger tea, ginseng tea, and other herbal products and essential oils are precious quintessences that the people of Muong Long and TH Herbals want to bring to consumers.
From the strategic orientation and broad vision of a diverse and valuable herbal source, TH Group has been a pioneer in economic development under the forest canopy in two forms: conserving - harvesting natural herbs and cultivating organic herbs under the forest canopy in Ky Son, Nghe An.
Additionally, TH Group also plans to expand herb cultivation under the forest canopy in the northwestern mountainous provinces of Son La, Ha Giang, Lai Chau, and the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak, Kon Tum and Lam Dong. Various natural ingredients are being studied for making nutritional beverages and clean food, leading the trend toward healthy nutrition for community health and realising the aspiration to develop national products from medicinal herbs.
Line of TH true HERBAL tea bags (Photo: TH Group)
On September 26, TH Group introduced TH true HERBAL tea bags which are the result of unique creativity, combining various medicinal herbs known for properties beneficial to health, specifically:
- TH true HERBAL Jiaogulan -Lingzhi herbal tea.
- TH true HERBAL Sticky Adenosma -Chrysanthemum herbal tea.
- TH true HERBAL Shiso-Ginger herbal tea.
- TH true HERBAL Passion Flower- Lotus Heart herbal tea.
Some of the tea ingredients are collected arvested and cultivated in Muong Long. Other herbs are sourced from various regions, ensuring clean production criteria./.
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[TH true Herbal: key to unlock Muong Long herbal treasure]
[Thai Huong: Spreading love of forests to make Vietnam bloom]
[Following Nghe An border residents into forests to pick up “heaven’s gifts”]
[Medicinal herbs – cash cow for central border region]
