Vietnamese firms make use of lotus for more than just ornamental plant
Vietnamese firms make use of lotus for more than just ornamental plant
With lotus effectively considered Vietnam’s national flower, many local businesses have conducted extensive R&D activities to introduce new products made of the pink, aromatic plant.
There are now milk, herbal drinks, wine, and teas made of lotus flowers, while lotus seeds and roots are also turned into delicious foods
As popularity of lotus products continues to increase, so does the plant’s value, bringing higher income and quality of life to those who farm it.
In early February, Nam Huy Dong Thap Co. Ltd., based in the southern province of Dong Thap, shipped a combined total of eight metric tons of lotus products to South Korea and Singapore.
The East Asian market is fond of the company’s dried lotus roots and Singapore, dried lotus seeds, company director Huynh Van Hiep told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
“Our partners said consumers in their countries are fond of lotus products because of the plant’s health benefits and high nutritional value,” Huy said.
While it used to be common for lotus growers to destroy their crops in favor of growing paddies, Huy said demand for lotus will soar and farmers will no longer have to make the switch.
“I believe that Vietnamese-made lotus products will continue spreading to other foreign markets, thus benefiting people at all levels of production, including the growers.”
Nam Huy Dong Thap Co. now has a countrywide distribution chain starting from its home province and Ho Chi Minh City in the south, then moving to Da Nang, Hue and Quang Binh in the central region, and finally to Hanoi in the north.
The company churned out over 100 metric tons of dried lotus seeds for the market last year, all of which were sourced from Thap Muoi, a district in Dong Thap known as the ‘kingdom of lotus flowers.’
“Dried lotus seeds and roots are popular with both foreign and domestic consumers as they are new, delicious, and nutritious,” Huy said.
In the meantime, Ramsa Co., another Dong Thap-based firm, focuses on developing lotus milk, branded as Zen, tapping into the plant’s richness of vitamin B3.
“Some big supermarkets are offering to source Zen in large quantities under the condition that it can be preserved in 30 days at room temperature,” director Pham Van Chac told Tuoi Tre.
“Right now the product can only be cold-stored, so we are researching ways to meet that requirement.”
In addition to milk, lotus can be brewed into alcohol and Dong Thap Muoi Company has been doing it for years.
Instead of using rice as per traditional methods, the Thap Muoi-based firm ferments and distills lotus seeds, then buries the alcohol underground for 12 months before the bottling process, according to director Le Tan Phong.
The company also makes tea, milk, and other beverages from lotus seeds, which all help consumers sleep better, Phong said.
Supply issues
Because of the growing demand for lotus products, companies are becoming concerned that materials will soon fall short of supply.
“People used to see lotus only as an ornamental plant, but now that they know it is true value the available supply may become scarce,” said Phong of Dong Thap Muoi Co.
“In order to have a stable supply of lotus seeds, we have plans to sign exclusivity contracts with farmers to buy all of their crops.”
Dong Thap Muoi Co. needs some 70 metric tons of lotus seeds in 2016, whereas Nam Huy Dong Thap plans to source up to 300 metric tons of the raw material.
It will not be easy for the companies to find enough materials since lotus crops in Thap Muoi have dwindled.
“There used to be up to 2,000 hectares of lotus crops in the district, but the current figure is less than 400 hectares,” said Vo Van Dung, a local agriculture development official.
Local farmers rushed to replace their lotus crops with paddies when prices dropped a few years back, mostly because Taiwan, the main buying market, declined purchases.
“Now that many Vietnamese firms are hunting for lotus, farmers are considering growing the flower again,” Dung said.
