Gen Z entrepreneur builds VietGAP tea brand

Born and raised among the lush tea hills of Go Cui hamlet, Nhu Khe Commune, young entrepreneur Nguyen Quoc Toan has turned his hometown’s signature crop into a promising startup venture. After graduating from Tuyen Quang College in June 2025, the Gen Z entrepreneur chose to return home rather than pursue a stable job in the city, determined to develop clean, high-quality tea products with a sustainable market orientation.

Toan’s journey began while he was still a student, experimenting with online sales and posting videos on TikTok to promote local tea products. Through those early experiences, he realized that tea could generate far greater value if produced professionally and marketed effectively.

Back in his hometown, Toan invested in building a VietGAP-certified tea production model. He secured bank loans to expand his family’s small processing workshop, purchasing roasting, rolling, screening and vacuum-packing machines. At the same time, he introduced stricter cultivation methods, prioritizing biological products, safe pest control and careful record-keeping to ensure product traceability and quality standards.

Beyond production, Toan has actively embraced digital platforms to expand his market. Through TikTok videos and regular livestream sessions, he shares authentic stories about tea cultivation, harvesting and processing directly from the tea hills, helping consumers better understand the value of clean tea products. Thanks to this transparent approach, his tea products have quickly gained consumer trust, generating an average of 70–80 orders per day, with peak periods exceeding 200 orders daily.

Recognizing that sustainable development requires community participation, Toan has also encouraged local farmers to shift from traditional cultivation methods to VietGAP standards. To date, he has partnered with 11 households to establish a 10-hectare VietGAP tea-growing area. Fresh tea leaves that meet quality standards are purchased at prices two to three times higher than the market average, helping local farmers secure more stable incomes and reduce dependence on middlemen.

Currently, Toan’s family produces two flagship tea lines: traditional hooked tea and premium hooked tea. He is also working toward achieving OCOP certification to further enhance the value and competitiveness of the products in the market.

More than a personal startup story, Nguyen Quoc Toan’s journey reflects a new direction for rural entrepreneurship in Vietnam, where young people are returning to their hometowns, combining agriculture with digital transformation and building sustainable value from local specialties.

Nguyen Phuong