The miner started his career with tea trees.

While most young people turn to big cities to seek career opportunities, engineer Nguyen Hong Kien chose to return to the mountainous region of Duc Luong to start a business with tea trees. With his passion, courage and innovative thinking, he has gradually built the Kien Thai Nguyen Tea brand, not only contributing to reviving the flavor of his hometown tea but also contributing to opening a sustainable direction for the local economy.

Mining engineer Nguyen Hong Kien is passionate about producing clean tea.

Born in 1993 in the poor countryside of Duc Luong, Kien's childhood dream, like most of his friends', was to live and work in a bustling city. Therefore, Kien worked hard to study and entered the University of Mining and Geology to become a future engineer.

But after a period of living and studying in the noisy city, one time when he returned to his hometown, walking among the long tea hills, inhaling the fragrant scent of young tea buds, Kien suddenly realized: This is where he belongs, and tea is not only the identity and soul of Duc Luong land, but also a crop with great potential.

Learning more about tea, he realized that people in his hometown make tea in the way their ancestors passed down, fragmented, small-scale, and ineffective.

Therefore, after graduating, he returned to his hometown to start a business with traditional tea trees. The goal is not only to produce high-quality tea products but also to build a brand with sustainable value, associated with local identity, connecting tradition and modernity.

At the beginning, he encountered many difficulties due to limited capital, the market was unfamiliar with the new brand, and local people still maintained small-scale production habits and lacked market orientation.

But with the spirit of "dare to think, dare to do", Kien did not back down. He mobilized people to cooperate with him to gradually build the brand of his hometown tea by establishing the Kien Thai Nguyen Tea Cooperative.

At the same time, he spent time learning from famous tea regions, researching modern planting, care, and drying techniques. He boldly applied VietGAP standards to the entire raw material area to ensure product quality.

Traveling a lot and learning a lot, he gradually accumulated knowledge about tea production, then directly instructed people in the commune on clean production processes, proper harvesting techniques, and transferred manual tea drying skills...

Gradually, people began to change their way of thinking, working, trusting and accompanying the cooperative.

With a spacious factory area, Kien Thai Nguyen Tea Cooperative processes tea using modern technology.

With the motto "Preserving the soul of Vietnamese tea, enhancing traditional values", Kien Thai Nguyen Tea Cooperative not only focuses on the quality of raw materials but also pays special attention to the processing process.

Tea products are a combination of traditional roasting and drying techniques with modern technology, both preserving the natural flavor and ensuring food hygiene and safety.

Each tea bud is carefully selected from the green tea hills at the foot of Hong and Bong mountains - where there are hundreds of ancient tea trees that are hundreds of years old. Drinking cool spring water, enjoying the pure air, the tea leaves here have a unique flavor that cannot be found anywhere else: light astringency, deep sweetness, and elegant aroma.

Up to now, the cooperative has cooperated with local people to create a raw material area of about 10 hectares. With 3 main products: Moc Cau tea, Shrimp tea and Dinh tea.

Not only investing deeply in product quality, the cooperative also focuses on packaging, elegant design, environmentally friendly, suitable for high-end gift needs and daily consumption.

Along with a systematic communication strategy and flexibility in market access, the Kien Thai Nguyen Tea brand has gradually established a foothold in the hearts of consumers inside and outside the province. On average, each year, the cooperative sells 5-7 tons of dry tea, and the selling price has gradually increased according to product quality.

Currently, the cooperative is providing stable jobs for dozens of local workers, mainly union members and young people. Many young people here have found their passion and future with the tea trees of their homeland.

Not only developing the cooperative’s own products, the young director also regularly organizes free training courses for local people on techniques for caring for, harvesting, and drying tea. He directly guides people on how to approach the market and build personal brands for production households.

After being guided by Kien, many local households have boldly converted from small-scale farming models to chain-based production links, increasing income and reducing risks. As a result, the once fragmented Duc Luong tea area is now transforming into a high-quality, branded tea area.

From a small dream in the countryside, Tra Kien Thai Nguyen today has grown to become a prestigious Thai Nguyen tea brand, affirming its quality with sustainable values.

That journey is not only the story of a brave young man, but also a living testament to the aspiration to rise up from the countryside.

The success of Tra Kien Thai Nguyen today is the result of a persistent journey, from personal passion to action for the community.

Nguyen Hong Kien did not choose the easy path, but the right path - where traditional values are respected, where innovation is nurtured and where young people can play a leading role in rural development.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202507/chang-ky-mo-khoi-nghiep-voi-cay-tra-8f21237/