From the Arabica coffee beans of Vietnam’s northwestern mountains, the Ara-Tay Coffee Cooperative in Muong Chanh commune has developed products with a distinctive flavor, including its Ara-Tay coffee, certified as a four-star product under Son La’s “One Commune, One Product (OCOP)” program.

Since the cooperative’s founding in 2020, director Cam Thi Mon has been committed to building a coffee brand tied to the land, the people, and the traditions of Son La and the northwestern region. She told VOV, “Nature and climate in Son La are ideal for growing Arabica coffee. We named the cooperative Ara-Tay Coffee — ‘Ara’ is short for Arabica, and ‘Tay’ refers to the Thai people, the caring hands of local women, and the northwest itself.”

Mon and other Thai ethnic women established the cooperative and have partnered with 300 farming households to form a strong production chain. Together, they have changed mindsets and methods, aiming for specialty, high-quality coffee that meets market demand and increases the value of Son La coffee.

Mon recalled that in the past, they grew, harvested, and processed coffee manually, so quality and prices didn’t meet market needs. Since establishing the cooperative, we’ve focused on specialty coffee, installed greenhouses, and required satellite farms to pick only ripe cherries, thus increasing incomes for households.

“Now coffee is the main crop, helping farmers improve their incomes, build better homes, send their children to school, and leave behind the hardship of growing maize or cassava,” according to Mon.

Coffee is preliminarily processed in plastic house. (Photo: baosonla.vn)

Exploiting another local strength – medicinal plants – Ha Thi Thuan of Tuong Ha commune invested in research and training to produce safe herbal health products in her hometown. Thuan told VOV, “I once had stage 2 cirrhosis and tried many treatments, including the ‘an xoa’ medicinal plant (Helicteres hirsuta Lour). After my health improved, I thought about using it to help my family and neighbors. That’s why I decided to make products from this plant.”

Starting with personal and family use, Ha Thi Thuan launched the Uyen Thuan Cooperative in 2019. By late 2020, its an xoa extract had earned a provincial four-star OCOP rating. The cooperative has since begun to produce other herbal products – blood tonic, an xoa tea, lemongrass essential oil, herbal shampoo, and herbal facial masks – three of which have a three-star OCOP rating.

“After making the products, I shared them with local people. Seeing their usefulness, I decided to market them. When Son La implemented the OCOP program, I registered and joined the product ranking process. Only quality products with a brand can reach many consumers,” said Thuan.

By connecting with online markets – direct sales and promotion on social media and e-commerce platforms – and with support from local authorities, Uyen Thuan Cooperative’s herbal products are now sold nationwide. The cooperative provides stable jobs and incomes for 12 members, 30 affiliated households, and dozens of local workers.

The project of producing herbal products from “an xoa” (Helicteres hirsuta Lour)trees wins top prize at the provincial startup competition in 2024. (Photo: baosonla.vn)

Ara-Tay Coffee and Uyen Thuan are just two of 30 women-led cooperatives and collaborative groups in Son La. The locality is also home to 600 women entrepreneurs with registered businesses. Since 2023, three women-led cooperatives or enterprises with standout start-up projects have been selected by the Vietnam Women’s Union to compete in the preliminary round of the national “Women Start-ups – Tapping Local Resources” contest.

To spread the women’s start-up movement, the Women’s Affairs Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in Son La is helping women improve their skills and apply technology to production. Between 2022 and 2025, Son La aims to help at least 400 women start or expand businesses, establish 20-25 collaborative groups, and 5-10 women-managed cooperatives linked to sustainable value chains.

These women-led cooperatives and their successful start-up projects tap into local potential, drive economic growth in mountain, border, and ethnic minority areas, and stand as a testament to the determination of women in the mountain region to overcome challenges and thrive.