While working as a lecturer at a junior college in 2022, Thu decided to quit the job to start a business. One day, when she walked through the aisles of a supermarket, she saw small items made of loofah and noted that the products were imported.

Vietnamese in the old days used dishwashing sponges made of loofah, but the products later disappeared from the market.

Thu decided to make them again, but instead of the simple loofah pieces created from old sponge gourds in the past, Thu created products which can be used in a convenient way. 

She said the products are friendly to the environment and easily exported because consumers desire natural things.  

Loofah, a natural material and safe for users, is durable, quick-drying, and can scrub without scratching people’s skin.

In order to have a stable supply of loofah, she connected with farmers in Duy Xuyen district in Quang Nam province. However, she could not find sponge gourds that provided high-quality fiber.

“You won’t have high-quality fiber if you just let the gourds get old,” she said. “I asked farmers to grow a lot of sponge gourd varieties before I found the best one. It took me one year and VND200 million to find the satisfactory gourd."

A high-quality sponge guard must be big, straight, thick, fibrous, bright in color, and not stung by bees or black or moldy.

Old gourds, after being collected, have to undergo different production stages - peeling, cleaning, drying, flattening and sewing. 

From simple dishwashing pieces, Thu has developed many products used for the toilet, bathroom, and interior decor, such as bath sponges, soap bags, table lamps, foot massage slippers and shoe insoles. The products are handmade and priced at VND20,000-400,000.

Her workshop employs six local workers who receive VND6 million a month. Every month, Thu provides 10,000 products made of loofah which can bring revenue of VND200 million.

Her products are mostly sold on e-commerce platforms, and distributed to sale agents, hotels and souvenir shops. In August, she exported the first consignment of 4,000 products to South Korea.

Dieu Thuy