About one year ago, Nguyen Thi Tuong Thao, returned to her hometown in Lam Dong with two bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and economics and started a business.

Thao set up a TikTok channel named ‘Mon la vuon nha’ (Specialties from home garden), made clips, posted information, and sold farm produce via the channel.

Thao’s short videos about local farm produce attracted millions of views. She closed nearly 1,000 deals after 15 minutes on the first livestream session. 

Later, Thao worked with a cooperative to develop business: farmers are in charge of making produce, while she is responsible for advertising and livestreaming to sell the produce. The sales via social networks helped the cooperative’s revenue increase by billions of VND a month.

TikToker Nong Cam Quynh is also running four TikTok channels that sell special farm produce from Tuyen Quang province, including kudzu, bamboo shoots, apricots, black beans and sausages. Sometimes she can sell 100 tons of bacon and 3 tons of wild apricots within a month.

Quynh is now the owner of four TikTok channels, including two well-known channels – ‘Nong san Tuyen Quang’ (Tuyen Quang farm produce) and ‘Nong san cua Quynh’ (Quynh’s farm produce).

Making short videos to advertise farm produce and livestreaming to sell the product on TikTok platform have become a growing tendency among youth. TikTokers are joining hands with farmers to sell farm produce on TikTok Shop, a new e-commerce market in Vietnam.

Most recently, a lot of famous TikTokers, including Tho Nong San, farmer Thao Nguyen, Kieu Chinh Tra, Toan in Thai Nguyen and Farm Produce of the Northwestern Region, together with farmers, have organized livestreams to introduce produce under a program called OCOP (one commune, one product).

Just within one morning, 32 livestream sessions were organized, attracting 552,000 viewers and bringing turnover of VND340 million.

In early August, content creators on TikTok platform helped advertise and spread information about the OCOPs of Lam Dong to consumers throughout the country. The livestreams attracted 20 million views, with over 535,000 clicks to watch the live sessions.

On a livestream on TikTok in late June, 50 tons of litchis were sold after four hours of livestreaming, as well as a large amount of buffalo meat, Chu noodles and OCOP products of Bac Giang.

Teaching farmers 

Not only advertising and selling farm produce, TikToker Tran Phuong Dung in HCMC has been traveling to many cities and provinces to teach farmers to livestream to sell produce on TikTok platform.

“We want to show farmers on livestream so that they can tell about the process of creating products. If so, people will better understand local soil, people and culture,” Dung said, adding that this is selling products by feelings. 

“Farmers all are eager to learn. Some of them can close deals right at the first session,” Dung said.

After every training course on livestreaming, Dung sets up a chat group on which farmers can contact each other and exchange information.

Vietnam has a lot of good specialties and OCOP products, but they still have not been popularized. Free lessons on livestreaming will help farmers sell their products on online markets.

TikTok, as the strategic partner of the National Target Program on Building New Rural Areas, has launched initiatives in order to promote rural trade, creating a momentum for agricultural restructuring.

Under this project, TikTok will help improve the livelihood of 20,000 farmers, members of handicraft villages, and small enterprises throughout the country.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan stressed that farmers need to better approach the domestic market through e-commerce channels and sell products online via online platforms. 

Bac Giang has been praised for its success in connecting farmers and the market, attracting content creators on social networks from different regions to promote the consumption of its litchis.

Tam An