Not only being retailed, crystallized ginger and candied turmeric of Hien Luong Pagoda are also sold wholesale with big orders
Markets on the occasion of Tet are full of diversified kinds of crystallized ginger at different prices. Among them, some do not ensure the food safety. Recognizing that issue, Buddhist nun Lien Nha – the abbess of Hien Luong Pagoda in Phong Dien commune, Phong Dien district and Buddhists in the pagoda have for three years made crystallized ginger by themselves to cater for the need of the people at Tet holiday.
“We realize that it is very dangerous for people to use unsafe products, so we decided to make the products by ourselves to serve people at Tet, helping people have safe, good-quality products at a low cost,” said nun Lien Nha.
Part of the profit from the sold products will be used to present to the needy people and poor labors so that they can enjoy a warmer holiday.
To ensure the quality of the crystallized ginger, nun Lien Nha and her associates directly buy the whole ginger farms of the local people in Phu Le (Quang Dien), Huong Can (Huong Tra), etc., harvest, and process the ginger by themselves. All of the processing steps are recorded and shared on social networks for everybody to boost the trust in the safe food. Because their crystallized ginger is handmade, it does not look as eye-catching as others on the market. However, for its quality guarantee, most of Hien Luong local people choose to buy this kind of crystallized ginger at the price of VND 70,000/kg to use at Tet.
Mrs.Ninh, 48 years old, a local in Hien Luong village asserted: “I always set my mind at rest when I buy the crystallized ginger from Hien Luong Pagoda. The ginger tastes aromatic in each bite. For its delicious flavor and long life, I always buy this kind of crystallized ginger from the pagoda to use at Tet.”
So far, nearly five quintals of crystallized ginger have been sold. Not only being retailed to local people, the crystallized ginger of Hien Luong pagoda is also wholesaled to many customers in Ha Noi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh city, Dong Nai, etc.
Besides crystallized ginger, nun Lien Nha and the Buddhists in Hien Luong Pagoda also made many high-quality kinds of food such as candied turmeric, sweetened coconut, vegetable pickles, Lầu cakes, vegan meat rolls and pies, etc. All of them are hand-made and chemical-free products, sold at reasonable prices, so more and more people go for them.
Story and photo: Nhu Quynh