Digital technology empowers traditional herbal products in Tuyen Quang

Thanks to efforts to revive and promote indigenous medical knowledge combined with digital technology, herbal products in the province are steadily gaining market recognition, expanding sales channels, and spreading the value of traditional medicine beyond local communities.

Nam Dam Community Cooperative (formerly in Quan Ba district), established in 2009, is considered a model for building the province’s first herbal village. Drawing on the Dao ethnic community’s traditional remedies, the cooperative has developed a 30-hectare herbal cultivation area with over 100 medicinal plant species, including rehmannia, codonopsis, honeysuckle, and red angelica. This enables the cooperative to secure seed sources and improve economic value for local households.

The director of Nam Dam Community Cooperative introduces the medicinal properties of herbs to foreign tourists.

From small-scale, mostly household consumption, Nam Dam’s herbal products have diversified into a wide range, including artichoke extract, codonopsis extract, tendon and bone-strengthening tonic, ginger tea, and remedies for sinusitis. Since 2023, the cooperative has actively promoted products on e-commerce and social media platforms such as Shopee, TikTok, and Facebook, expanding its market reach, with online sales accounting for roughly 30% of total output.

Across the province, many herbal production cooperatives have embraced technology to manage and trace their products. A notable example is Nguyen Thi Thai Herbal Production Cooperative (Bac Quang commune), where the entire production process is digitalized using the VNPT Green cultivation management platform. From planting, care, harvesting, processing to packaging, every stage is recorded digitally and linked to a unique QR code for each product, enabling consumers to verify origin and quality.

Beyond traceability, some companies, such as Tue Tam Herbal Co., Ltd., are developing “digital herbal products” and expanding distribution via social media platforms and livestream sales while training staff for online marketing. This strategy helps increase revenue and brand visibility.

According to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, the rapid growth of e-commerce has created highly effective distribution channels for local agricultural products and herbal goods. By combining indigenous knowledge with modern technology, the province not only enhances product value but also lays the foundation for the sustainable development of its herbal industry in the years ahead.

Nguyen Dat