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| Ms. Tra My (on the right) introducing the features of products made from star fruits to customers |
Strange yet rustic
Upon investigating the list of the ideas and projects participating in Thua Thien Hue’s Provincial Innovation Startup Competition in 2023, many are quite curious about personal hygiene cleaning products extracted from star fruits by Myy Nature. “Producing Myy Nature biological underwear laundry detergent for children from star fruits - A journey to sustainable development” is the full name of the startup project that Tra My Natural Products Company Limited launched in this year’s competition.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Tra My, the owner of this truly “creative” and “innovative” startup project, is probably catching everyone by surprise because she dares to recklessly use star fruits to make a set of biological household cleaning products, which no one seems to have thought of. It is certain that she is the first person to use star fruit enzymes to make biological detergents because before jumping into testing this project Ms. Tra My searched all data channels and surveyed the market domestically and internationally, yet the information regarding “star fruits” is completely found lacking. Perhaps the only known products are wine and jam made from star fruits.
To obtain products from star fruit enzymes, Ms. My inherited previous research results on soapberry enzymes and from guidelines for scientific and technical innovation topics for students. However, yearning for making a practical difference in life, Ms. Tra My thought of star fruits which rural people often use to eliminate fishy odors when cooking. In addition, consulting the concurring opinions of a number of experts and scientists, she was encouraged and urged to take a new direction from this fruit.
Before registering to participate in the 2023 Provincial Innovation Startup Competition, Ms. Tra My and her colleagues spent more than a year researching, testing and producing a detergent from star fruit enzyme that they were very satisfied with. Through testing customer tastes, Myy Nature laundry detergents from star fruit are well appreciated by even picky consumers who are pleased to use such products because of their outstanding advantages. While being on par with soapberries, products made from star fruits are very rustic, purely natural, more fragrant, owning a more pleasant scent and faster fermentation process, giving a more beautiful water color, etc. Actually, star fruits have been used to make wine exported to France, the US, or to make jam. The outstanding advantage is that it gives a pleasant scent, so when mixing star fruit enzyme with essential oils such as cajeput, lemongrass, grapefruit peel, etc., with the same flow rate as the soapberry enzyme, the product still retains the original scent of essential oils without being diluted or neutralized.
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| The process of mixing star fruit enzyme to produce the products |
With the mission of “creating a green life”
Myy Nature has launched an entire ecosystem of biological household cleaning products including hand sanitizer, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent made from star fruit enzymes and cosmetic lines, including shampoo and shower gel made from pure natural medicinal herbs. Each product line, such as the baby laundry detergent, has been researched by the company to add new features such as adding essential oils to help repel mosquitoes and kill bacteria; or the underwear detergent has antibacterial and antifungal properties; the dishwashing liquid has regular lines and lines for newborns, etc.
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| Star fruit enzymes beginning to form after the incubation period |
“That is just like gold”
As an "outsider" in the field of biochemistry, Ms. Tra My, shifted from being an English teacher to pursue the path of a businesswoman and producer. “Starting a business from “0 VND”, I borrowed 300 million VND 3 years ago to invest in machinery, factories, raw materials, and showrooms to sell products. Then, I poured every penny I earned into the “brainchild” that I built with my own hands. Gradually, the facility has more functions to serve, such as research, technology application, packaging, digital technology, etc., and especially to give us experience and creativity to produce product lines from star fruits,” confided Ms. Tra My.
Whenever seeing star fruits, Ms. My jokingly says: “That is just like gold!”. Ms. My admitted that star fruits had many advantages over other ingredients. There are raw material areas scattered all over Hue, so the price is very cheap, with each kg being only from 5,000 - 10,000 VND, sometimes even given for free because the star fruits have ripened and fallen. Meanwhile, soapberries, cost 40,000 VND per kg if purchased at a warehouse in the Northern provinces, excluding shipping fees, or 70,000 VND per kg if purchased on the market. According to Ms. My’s calculations, 20kg of star fruits, plus ingredients such as sugar, will produce 100 liters of enzyme. From 100 liters of this enzyme, plus biological ingredients, yields about 160 liters of product, according to the formula.
Compared to other cosmetic and biological cleaning product lines on the market, the price of Myy Nature’s products is not as high, maybe even lower than some domestic and foreign products made from pineapple, boron or tomato enzymes, rice yeast, etc., but the quality is highly appreciated by customers. “Recently, my product lines of cleaning products made from star fruits entered a number of restaurants and hotels in Hue, and they were pretty much in “love” with it!” happily boasted Ms. Tra My. This initial achievement further motivated her to pursue her passion of “rolling up her sleeves”, becoming a CEO, doing marketing and starting a startup to bring the ecosystem of Myy Nature biological household cleaning products abroad and develop her business in a sustainable fashion.
To develop further, in addition to linking with cooperatives to proactively have source raw materials, Myy Nature’s market strategy will focus on high-end niches that target women, mothers and babies since Myy Nature’s mission is to help women be confident about health and beauty care for themselves and their families. One more thing that Ms. Tra My yearns for is to turn her dream of reaping “fruitful” results out of “star fruits” is to find angel investors to help Myy Nature spread its products and the “rustic” value to knowledgeable customers who are interested in nature.