Cosmetics from dragon fruit peel

The project "Cosmetics made from dragon fruit peel" by Ms. Doan Thi Kieu Van has been recognized with a series of awards. Notably, the first prize in the "Women's creative start-up and green transformation" contest in 2024 organized by the Women's Union of Binh Thuan province (now the Women's Union of Lam Dong province);

Encouragement prize in the Central region final round of the "Women's Creative Startup and Green Transformation" contest organized by the Vietnam Women's Union in 2024; "Vietnamese Women Confident in Doing Business " award in 2024.

Concerns with farmers

Graduated with a degree in chemistry, Ms. Doan Thi Kieu Van has nearly 10 years of experience working in the field of cosmetics research and development at a Thai corporation.

Chế mỹ phẩm từ vỏ thanh long- Ảnh 1. — “Cosmetics project made from dragon fruit peel” won first prize in the “Women's creative startups and green transformation” contest in 2024

During this time, she often cooperated with Japanese partners and realized their ability to utilize agricultural waste very effectively: from orange seeds, watermelon rinds to lychee seeds, all can be extracted into high-value products.

Meanwhile, dragon fruit, a major export fruit of Vietnam, has repeatedly fallen into the situation of "good harvest but low price". This makes her worried and wants to find a new direction to increase the value of this familiar agricultural product of farmers.

Ms. Kieu Van said: "Since my student days, thanks to the guidance of my teacher, I have approached the idea of utilizing agricultural products. Besides, the consumption of dragon fruit is difficult, many fruits have to be discarded, so the teacher and students together researched to find ways to exploit it.

However, it was not until 2021, when I re-read a document, that I realized my business direction. I asked myself why I didn't make cosmetics from dragon fruit peels?".

At first, the owner of the "cosmetics made from dragon fruit peel" project was only interested in the dragon fruit pulp. However, the pulp of the dragon fruit has a high sugar content, causing the product to ferment, which is not suitable for the skin.

Not giving up, she continued to spend a lot of time researching and extracting beneficial ingredients from dragon fruit peel, searching for suitable nutrients to develop safe and effective beauty care products.

Chế mỹ phẩm từ vỏ thanh long- Ảnh 2. — Ms. Doan Thi Kieu Van (middle) tries to start a business from dragon fruit peels.

After a long time of testing and improving, in 2023, Ms. Kieu Van succeeded with her first product, a facial mask. She established Vtcos Cosmetics Company Limited to develop the BIOQ cosmetic brand from dragon fruit peel.

Thorns on the road to entrepreneurship

Starting her entrepreneurial journey, Ms. Kieu Van had to face many difficulties. At that time, her two children were still young and she had a stable job, but she decided to change direction and start a business.

This decision brought her life into a challenging phase, with worries not only about work but also about organizing family life.

In the early days of starting a business, she had little management experience. From someone who was only familiar with the research department, she now has to take on many roles at the same time: product research, design, production management, market research...

Everything was new, requiring her to learn little by little. That busyness made her have little time for her family, leading to conflicts in her married life.

Chế mỹ phẩm từ vỏ thanh long- Ảnh 3. — Project products

"My husband was worried about me and didn't want me to suffer and work hard, so he often backed out. At that time, he also asked me to commit that if I didn't succeed after 2 years, I would have to stop. Because of my passion, I still accepted to try," Kieu Van shared.

Difficulties piled up when capital flow encountered problems. Because of the desire to upgrade the product, she decided to invest nearly 500 million VND to buy a machine to extract juice from dragon fruit peel.

"I thought investing in machinery would help sell products better, but the reality was different. Because I didn't calculate the capital flow carefully, the company fell into a state of capital shortage. In the end, I had to borrow money to pay off the bank loan. Later, I realized that: To increase production, we need to focus on marketing and the market, not just investing in machinery," she recalled.

Despite many obstacles, Ms. Van Kieu did not give up. On the contrary, she considered the difficulties as valuable lessons, as opportunities for her to become more mature. She continued to persevere in finding solutions, persistently moving forward, with the belief that effort and perseverance would help her achieve success.

After about a year of effort, the project began to show signs of improvement. Revenue gradually stabilized, the product received positive feedback from customers. The project made its mark with many awards. More importantly, she proved her determination.

From being worried and distrustful, her husband gradually became a companion on her entrepreneurial journey. Currently, Ms. Kieu Van's company has cooperated with a dragon fruit cooperative and 4 dragon fruit growing households, forming a stable source of raw materials, contributing to increasing the value of this typical local agricultural product.

Chế mỹ phẩm từ vỏ thanh long- Ảnh 4. — Project products

Elevate your product through each startup competition

Ms. Kieu Van's entrepreneurial journey does not stop at creating products, but also involves growing through each playground and each competition. Participating in entrepreneurial programs organized by the Women's Union at all levels, she received practical support from courses and training classes on finance and business management.

The training sessions helped her realize that starting a business is not just about money, but more importantly, improving capacity and courage in business.

"For me, each startup competition is an opportunity to gain experience and learn. There, I learn how to introduce products, present projects to judges and investors, practice fundraising skills, and see more clearly the core values of the product as well as the shortcomings in the business plan.

Every time I come into contact with many other projects, I learn new and interesting things, and importantly, I find friends who are starting a business together, willing to share experiences, and support market connections," Ms. Van shared.

Besides expanding the domestic market, she is gradually completing documents to export products to two markets: Hungary and Saudi Arabia. Partners in places that are still quite unfamiliar with Vietnamese dragon fruit are interested in approaching the product.

"It was a great joy that I could not have expected," she confided. That joy is also present in every customer's feedback. Monthly revenue has increased steadily, and old customers continue to trust her products.

Every time she receives positive feedback from users and is recognized for her efforts, she feels more confident on her entrepreneurial journey.

Sharing her plans for the future, Ms. Kieu Van said that she cherishes building a standard factory so that her products can conquer foreign markets. Not stopping there, she also wants to expand her line of hair care products, especially products for postpartum women.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/che-my-pham-tu-vo-thanh-long-20250827174351078.htm