A group of third-year students from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Department of Sociology, Can Tho University, wanted to decode these signals.
Rustic Vam Xang is quiet.
Coming to Vam Xang Rustic in Phong Dien, Can Tho City, imagine a melody with deep, rustic and strangely charming notes. Behind that "funny" beauty of homegrown plants is a long, but "secret" journey of cultivation by Mr. Ngo Binh Tri - the person who created this habitat.
A corner of Rustic Vam Sang.
Student Vo Thi Bich Tran wants to “decode” Vam Xang Rustic. First notes: Vam Xang fruit garden is famous for the story of Mr. Nam Lien, father-in-law of Mr. Ngo Binh Tri. In the early stages, the main source of income was from visiting the garden like many other gardens. Realizing early on that it was a beaten path, easy to copy and difficult to have a long-term competitive advantage, Mr. Binh Tri decided to develop a model of adjacent resort tourism .
Saying you love your homeland, with memories of rivers, healthy trees, sweet fruits all year round... So what can you do to create a different, lasting impression? Vam Xang Rustic becomes special thanks to this way of thinking of Mr. Binh Tri. And the answer is that the entire resort is built from recycled materials: old houses, old wood, old trees, each brick, plank carries the mark of time and the story of the people of the river delta, the rustic character of Phong Dien. It is this way of construction that has created a funny identity for Vam Xang Rustic. Not flashy, not pretentious. Everything is very real, very real. Here, true values speak for themselves. Bich Tran recounted: “Unlike many places that invest in grandiose concrete and massive media, Mr. Tri chose to communicate with his own character. That character comes from sincerity, dedication in service and preservation of local culture. The staff at Vam Xang Rustic know how to honor the spirit of the South, the friendly, gentle, honest and generous character of the West.”
According to Bich Tran, the success of Vam Xang Rustic also had its periods of facing difficulties, overcoming challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic was an unforgettable milestone. Many tourist destinations struggled and stopped playing, but Mr. Binh Tri did not give up. "If you do it right and do it right, how can you die?", he was confident.
After the pandemic, he continued to expand the scale, building more rooms and a health care area according to the "Western" analysis - disease prevention and treatment according to traditional Eastern medicine methods. "To bring a deeper experience to vacationers instead of unnecessary costly investments, I value the quality of service of the staff, the smiles of the staff and the smiles of the guests. The thoughtfulness, cozy space and subtle improvements in the way of improving the quality of service are the philosophy of this resort," said Mr. Binh Tri. Bich Tran took the time to learn and comment: From service to experience, from people to care and relaxation content - everything is specialized. Doing well from the inside, guest satisfaction will spread very quickly to the outside through word of mouth, many people know about the resort and that is also a way to isolate a stream of tourists with the same interests; word of mouth promotion, only costs effort and no money.
Currently, on TikTok and Facebook platforms, many vacationers update images and information about Vam Xang Rustic. Many overseas Vietnamese who have been away from home for a long time want to find old memories and have booked a year-long vacation, then they want to bring their relatives from Europe to enjoy the warm sunshine here to avoid the cold winter.
“Community tourism teaches me to start from maintaining local identity, caring for community welfare, preserving and promoting the Southern character - doing what you can. Being straightforward, honest and rustic - instead of borrowing or mixing from other places. The next is the role and participation of the local community” - Mr. Binh Tri considers that to be the core value of Vam Xang Rustic.
The local community plays a very important role in spreading the message. People do not simply participate, but they also contribute to creating memorable experiences for tourists, from small actions such as children politely greeting guests with “hello” or exchanging a few friendly words, to hospitality and sincerity in contact... It is this close interaction that makes tourists feel warm, loved and ready to recommend to others. “In the future, we will expand the scale from 20 rooms to nearly 40 rooms, while improving the quality of rooms and accompanying services to suit the personalized needs of customers, especially international guests,” said Mr. Binh Tri.
Bich Tran's team of 5 classmates spent the evening listening to Mr. Ngo Binh Tri, owner of Vam Xang Rustic, who used his Master's degree in construction to create this "homegrown" vibrant space, share: "The soul of the development of this resort is the habitat placed on a natural foundation, innovated from recycled materials, highlighting indigenous cultural values. Many people praise it for its sophistication, depth, and gentleness from the areca rows, medicinal gardens, vegetable beds to the food and language, making this place not only a stopover, but also a place where visitors can truly live and fully experience the beauty of Western culture."
And Bich Tran saw with her own eyes what Mr. Binh Tri called "soul" - Imagine the definition that writer Son Nam quoted in the World Encyclopedia, volume 163, chapter 14, page 1214: "Traveling is finding coolness for hot souls, finding optimism for souls that are just starting to become pessimistic".
The mark of a miracle doctor
Lam Ngoc Dieu, a Teamwork member with Bich Tran, came to Start Up inspired by Greek mythology.
Hygie (symbolizing health and cleanliness) and Panacee (symbolizing the healing of all diseases) are the names of the two daughters of the god of medicine Asclepius. Hygie & Panacee is the name of an instant tea brand originating from Vietnam, founded by Pharmacist Doan Thi Hong Tham, symbolizing the combination of modern medicine and traditional medicine, while expressing the desire to make health care products from natural medicinal herbs. To date, the company has developed 14 types of instant tea from vegetables and tubers, of which 5 products have achieved 4-star OCOP according to the national target program.
“A lesson about survival, about a new journey with many personalized products according to market needs, about advertising, sales… in my opinion, public relations plays the most important role of all” - Pharmacist Doan Thi Hong Tham said.
Growing up from the startup program, having won the runner-up prize in the green startup competition organized by the BSA Center, Pharmacist Tham said: Starting an innovative business has never been easy, but every time there is difficulty, I think about building a brand from the heart, pursuing the goal of creating social value, leading a small number to make the green economic force stronger and more confident... Hygie & Panacee is a testament to the goal of exploiting the value of medicinal herbs to create products that are good for health, from vegetables, lotus, guava, chrysanthemum and many new items from indigenous resources.
Starting a business means facing the reality that no one knows you, no one knows how good this product is. Buying vegetables, tubers, and medicinal products to make products for sale, people doubt how vegetables can be used to make tea? Vegetables and tubers that do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, how can they survive? Regarding agricultural products, green and clean agriculture... consumers say "let's review and see how it goes"... That is a long story with many prejudices, even too many concerns. Pharmacist Tham advises the Hygie & Panacee team to be patient in researching, penetrating domestic and foreign markets, connecting supply and demand. And fortunately, 2 years ago at Thaifex Anuga Asia, Pharmacist Tham created a surprise when tea was made from fish mint, perilla, ginger... The story of Hygie & Panacee has spread right in Thailand.
Lam Ngoc Dieu imagines how thorny the entrepreneurial journey of a pharmacist with over 15 years of experience, who was successful with Eugica lozenges, is.
“People say, starting a business requires courage, accepting risks and being persistent… because the biggest challenge is not only about the goods going out and the money coming in, the main thing is to have a place in the minds of consumers. To do that, you must be patient in increasing the customer experience and answering the question of benefits after the experience. Hygie & Panacee developing herbal tea from agricultural products is difficult, green products are even more difficult when consumers are often easy-going with foreign products, big branded products, but very cautious with domestic products, suspicious of small businesses,” Pharmacist Tham said about the hurdles in the market. Making a very good product, a very good story, but not deep enough, not wide enough, not in line with the concerns, it is difficult to create consumer trust. To overcome the barrier, Hygie & Panacee focuses on real needs, producing safe, convenient and healthy products. Focusing on production capacity as the market expands instead of advertising too much and beyond imagination.
Currently, Hygie & Panacee is a member of the Green Startup Club supported by BSA and for the first time the business has been voted High Quality Vietnamese Goods this year. Pharmacist Doan Thi Hong Tham, CEO of Hygie & Panacee Company, was very happy when talking about this. "Hygie & Panacee always adheres to the truth, creating new values" - Pharmacist Tham added: The products all have their own stories, very real. When overweight people want to lose fat and counterfeit products are on the market, they buy products out of fear. There are many products on the market that sell well because they play on customers' fears. But doing business on customers' fears will not last. The main thing is to find solutions for customers. Lotus guava tea meets this need, but does not deify it. Pharmacist Tham shared: “Hygie & Pancee focuses on discovering that lotus leaves have fat-reducing properties, guava leaves have sugar-reducing properties, celery has detoxifying properties… combining these properties together to create a product that can safely reduce weight and fat.”
“Currently, many cooperatives cooperate to supply raw materials for Hygie & Panacee. Hygie & Panacee's mission is to sell medicinal tea, but it is to guide growers to improve their livelihoods from medicinal plants, cultivated according to green processes, safe for the environment. Farmers understand the importance of close cooperation with businesses, doing things with heart, not doing business on consumers' fears," shared Pharmacist Tham.
Social networks detect mixed genuine and fake goods, what is the lesson of progress, retreat, and overcoming of Hygie & Panacee? Lam Ngoc Dieu received an answer from Pharmacist Tham: “A lesson about survival, about a new journey with many personalized products according to market demand, about advertising, sales... in my opinion, public relations plays a more important role than anything else. It is the interaction axes that will lead partners who are farmers to understand the need for clean raw materials of the business, the core values that the business needs suppliers to ensure when making products. For users, it is the commitment of the business, the way people have enough freedom to try, experience, and trace the origin. Honesty, trust and the way to focus on developing new and different products, touching the interests of customers. From there, it spreads to the community, not doing business on the fear of customers. That is the way to overcome the storm of "two daughters of the god of medicine Asclepius".
CHAU LAN
Lesson 2: PROFIT IS ABOVE ALL?
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/chuyen-doi-va-goc-nhin-sinh-vien-bai-1-giai-ma-tin-hieu-khac-biet-a190076.html
![[Photo] Hanoi: Authorities work hard to overcome the effects of heavy rain](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/8/26/380f98ee36a34e62a9b7894b020112a8)
![[Photo] Multi-colored cultural space at the Exhibition "80 years of the journey of Independence - Freedom - Happiness"](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/8/26/fe69de34803e4ac1bf88ce49813d95d8)
Comment (0)