Mr. Be Thanh Tue, a Tay ethnic, in village 1, Ea Tir commune, Ea H'leo district (Dak Lak), has been involved in the work of processing natural essential oils for nearly 7 years.
Mr. Tue said that in 2018, the movement of growing lemongrass for essential oil developed strongly in the locality. Because this is a remote commune, the land is arid, making it difficult to grow long-term industrial crops.
Seeing an opportunity to start a business, Mr. Tue started with lemongrass. At that time, Mr. Tue only had 10 million VND in his pocket. So, at first, he bought crude essential oil and imported it back to wholesalers to enjoy the difference.
After a period of buying and selling, he realized that selling crude essential oils did not yield high profits. He started processing crude essential oils into many other products such as: room fragrance oils, essential oils for incense, essential oils for hanging in cars, etc.
In addition to lemongrass essential oil products, Mr. Tue also researches and develops orange, musk, cajeput essential oils...
Mr. Tue retails at 650,000 VND/liter of lemongrass essential oil, 500,000 VND/liter of Java citronella essential oil... In addition to wholesale, Mr. Tue also maintains the purchase and sale of large quantities to export partners abroad.
Mr. Tue said that thanks to diversifying his essential oil products, he has reached many customers; the selling price is also higher than wholesale. Mr. Tue is currently purchasing essential oils from 10 households in the area.
Also determining that the development of essential oils will open up new markets for Doi seeds, from 2024, Mr. Hoang Xuan Thanh, in Cao Thang village, Ea Kao commune, Buon Ma Thuot city (Dak Lak), has launched Doi essential oil on the market.
According to Mr. Thanh, he has been attached to the Doi tree for 20 years and has provided seedlings to many people across the country. He shared that Doi seeds have a fragrant smell, spicy taste, warm properties, and are widely used in oriental medicine. However, in the Doi seed market, raw seeds are mainly sold as spices, so the output is quite limited.
Meanwhile, growing the Doi tree brings many values such as: Shade, wind protection; tree trunks are used as wood; Doi seeds can also be sold at prices ranging from 40-80 thousand VND/kg.
“We have processed Doi seeds into essential oils to serve the needs of spices, massage, room fumigation, motion sickness support... I am also completing the process of requesting competent authorities to evaluate and recognize Doi essential oil products according to OCOP standards” - Mr. Thanh informed.
Ms. Tran Thi Xuan, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Ea Kao Commune (Buon Ma Thuot City) said that local people have been planting doi trees since 2017. Up to now, the whole commune has more than 10,000 hectares of doi trees, mainly intercropped.
However, in the area, only Mr. Thanh's family makes Doi essential oil. This contributes to diversifying products and creating more outlets for Doi seeds.
"The locality is supporting Mr. Thanh's household to complete the procedures for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Lak province to evaluate and recognize OCOP products for Doi essential oil," Ms. Xuan shared.
