Người Việt Nam đầu tiên sản xuất rượu từ... cây ca cao
(Dan Viet) Despite being a crossroads with the manufacturing industry, processing cocoa products but doctors - excellent physician Dang Tuong Kham is the first Vietnamese to produce alcohol products from trees This and the company run by him are also evaluated by the International Cocoa Association (ICCO) as a "model model" of Vietnamese cocoa.
At the age of 83, the doctor - the elite physician Dang Tuong Kham is still running the company specializing in the production of products from cocoa trees such as chocolate, wine, milk, candy ... with value up to tens of billions of VND.
Remarkably, Mr. Kham is a handyman to the production and processing industry of cocoa products but is the first Vietnamese to produce alcohol products from this tree and his business is run. Also assessed by the International Cocoa Association (ICCO) as a "model model" of Vietnamese cocoa.
The idea of "industrial village" and 1,000ha of cocoa
Being a doctor - an excellent physician of Military Region 7, after his retirement, Mr. Dang Tuong Kham chose to "hide" in Tan Phu area - a remote district of Dong Nai province, bordering Lam Dong province. because the climate is quite cool and mild. However, he was a soldier - an active party member so he did not want his old age to pass quietly, so he decided to start working in the economy even though the profession of doctors also helped him to have enough. to feed the family. "I retired with two empty hands, thinking that I am a soldier who cannot" fight "on the economic front is ... useless" - Mr. Kham recalls.
And the field he chooses to "fight" on the economic front is cocoa. He said: When I was a doctor working at Military Zone 7, at this time in Dak Lua region (belonging to Tan Phu district, Dong Nai), there was a connection with the Soviet Union to grow cocoa, so he studied this plant. At that time, he had the idea why cocoa trees only took seeds without taking advantage of other ingredients such as water, fruit flesh ... But then the idea was still the idea. After returning to this land to settle, he saw the cocoa tree and the original idea reappeared. He decided to start from here.
Having had his direction, Dr. Dang Truong Kham started to work on the job even though he had many difficulties at first, even protesting from his family. "That year (2006) I borrowed and pledged accumulated assets after many years of working as a physician ... about VND 30 billion. I invest in farmers in Dong Nai, Binh Thuan and Lam Dong provinces to borrow 50% of the value of seedlings. Everyone doubts about the ability to recover capital ... ”- Mr. Khâm recalls.
However, still determined to do, his cocoa "industrial village" project formed with about 1,000ha of cocoa distributed in the provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Thuan and Lam Dong. "At that time, I had the idea of" industrial village "to think about establishing a centralized industrial tree village with professional and technical guidance. But when I presented this idea to ask for a policy, many departments did not trust, so I paid my own money. Now that initial idea gradually becomes a reality when many regions appear that large model field model ”- Mr. Kham excited.
After acquiring the material area, he began organizing the procurement of products for farmers. However, difficulties come when the price of cocoa keeps on falling along with unmanageable management so the area of raw materials is getting smaller. By 2010, the price dropped to the peak, so the area of cocoa "industrial village" that he invested 50% of the value of seedlings was only 326ha.
Survival is now, he is determined to retain this area with many "daring" policies such as: Signing the contract to ensure the lowest purchasing for farmers for 4,000 VND / kg of fruit (if the market price increases it is still up for farmers); started to research the production of cocoa products such as wine, candy, milk ... to take advantage of 100% of cocoa components such as water, fruit meat, shells ...
However, in order to do this, Mr. Kham had to look to the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) to borrow 10 billion dong to serve the consumption of products for farmers and serve the research target. , production line of cocoa by-products from "waste" such as shells, water ...
Made in Vietnam cocoa products
As a doctor, research and extract of cocoa fruit products does not make it difficult for the old doctor. Therefore, only a few months of research, the products produced from the "waste products" of cocoa fruit were born such as wine, heavy wine, syrup ...
Cocoa pods are also studied as fertilizer. He said: If you only get seeds and raw materials, cocoa will bring very low value, but if you make them, it will bring about 60-100% more value than raw export.
In order to cite this rate, he said: One ton of cocoa beans produces nearly 1 ton of water, for many people this is a waste, but every 1 kg of water I produce is about 20 bottles of wine (750ml). Each bottle of wine is being consumed by tourism markets (Nha Trang, Da Lat, Phan Thiet, Phu Quoc ...) for 150,000 VND / bottle.
However, according to Mr. Kham, if producing cocoa products from cocoa trees, the value will increase by about 500-600%; while producing cosmetics will benefit thousands of%. He is also researching the production of these products ... Looking into the eyes of the old doctor, we see his determination and desire. But, as he said, he was just afraid he didn't have much time to fulfill that dream.
Currently, the company founded by Dr. Dang Tuong Kham (Trong Duc Company) is a well-known enterprise at home and abroad in the field of producing cocoa fruit products with a variety of products such as flour. cocoa, cocoa milk, wine, spirits, confectionery ... The work of the company has also been handed over to his son, Dang Tuong Khanh, but all directing and management work is related to decision making. The company is still regularly consulted by him.
He said: “Although my child is able to run well, he still respects me, so I often ask for advice. I did not give much advice but often reminded my children that doing agriculture without being bold and proactive will be difficult to succeed, especially focusing on processing ”- Mr. Kham said.
It is known that at present, his company has been approved by the Dong Nai People's Committee to build a cocoa processing factory with a capacity of about 40 tons of grain / month, and is also committed by Agribank to provide loans for development. , ensure the material area. It is expected that from now to 2018, the company's material area will expand to about 5,000 hectares with fermented cocoa production of about 6,000 tons and about 2 million bottles of cocoa liquor per year.
“I hope that Vietnamese cocoa will gradually become famous worldwide with high quality processed products, not a country that exports cocoa beans. However, first of all to do that, the farmer must also live with this plant. Therefore, we ensure that we will keep prices for farmers and at the same time, the investment of 50% of the previous value of seedlings that farmers owe the company is also decided to delete them all ”- Mr. Kham shared .
Source: danviet.vn