More than 40km from the center of Hanoi , Quang Phu Cau incense village (Ung Hoa district) has become a tourist attraction attracting a lot of attention from domestic and foreign tourists. This place is not only famous for its uniquely arranged incense sticks but also for being a hundred-year-old village, home to artisans like Ms. Nguyen Thu Phuong, owner of Tu Bi Huong production facility, one of those who are making efforts to maintain and develop the traditional incense stick craft village.
Became involved with incense making Since childhood, Ms. Phuong has had more than 13 years of experience in producing and making incense bundles to supply the domestic market and export abroad.
Ms. Phuong said: “The first people to introduce and teach me how to make incense were my parents. Since I was a child, my parents went to the mountains to find ingredients to make incense. At first, my parents mainly traded ingredients to make incense. Then, my mother decided to learn the traditional incense making profession. Since I was a child, I often followed my mother to learn how to make incense. The incense making profession has attracted me more and more and is also the reason why I have followed this profession since then until now.”
Ms. Phuong’s Tu Bi Huong production facility produces an average of about one ton of raw materials for making incense every month. Previously, her facility mainly produced by hand, but in recent years, thanks to investment in new machines and technology, efficiency and productivity have increased, meeting domestic demand and exporting to countries such as India, Malaysia, etc.
In particular, Ms. Phuong's business is also the first unit in Quang Phu Cau incense village to have 8 products achieving 4-star OCOP certification.
She proudly shared: “In 2021, I was instructed by a customer to bring products to compete in the OCOP program. At that time, I brought four products: cinnamon incense, agarwood incense, herbal incense, and soapberry incense. I brought each product for testing to prove to the judges that the incense was safe and did not contain toxic substances. After participating in the OCOP competition, some newspapers came to learn about the traditional products of my hometown. After a while, many people in Vietnam and international tourists learned about the unique traditional products of my hometown. I think the most important thing is the trust of customers in my brand.”
To achieve the current results, Ms. Phuong and her family had to go through many difficulties. Specifically, when she started her business at a young age, her biggest difficulty at that time was the lack of experience, capital and human resources. She shared: "Choosing young people means they have little experience and often get discouraged quickly, but for older people, we have to convince them and respect their skills."
Production and business activities did not always go smoothly. Ms. Phuong recalled: “In the first 6 years, after getting married, I set up a incense factory and exported to India, Malaysia and some other countries. At that time, I did not have a firm grasp of the situation. international market, so there were times when the products were out of stock, sometimes the products were delayed, or there were times when the price of raw materials increased, there was a shortage of workers... With a passion for traditional crafts, I tried to maintain and learn more ways to mix diverse flavors such as: cinnamon, incense, Chinese medicine, canarium,...".
In the context of increasingly strong digital transformation, Ms. Phuong's family business model has also changed to adapt to the market and customer needs.
Ms. Phuong not only brings her products closer to customers through direct channels (agents, supermarkets, stores), but also through e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, ... to bring closer experiences to customers.
Ms. Phuong is a representative of young artisans in Cau Bau village, with a passion for making incense sticks. She and many other artisans in the village are still creating quality incense sticks day and night to bring to customers.
For Ms. Phuong, serving customers is a source of happiness and pride. Combining economic development with craft village tourism, Quang Phu Cau incense village is increasingly attracting the attention of domestic and foreign tourists.
As bamboo ages, new shoots grow. Artisans like Ms. Phuong hope that future generations will continue to cherish, preserve and develop the traditional beauty of their hometown's craft villages.
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