Morning in Nam Muoi village, Nam Chay commune, Lao Cai province is still damp with mist. In the courtyard, bundles of freshly harvested bamboo shoots lie gleaming white, crisp, and thick. Ms. Hoang Thi Vy, a 39-year-old Tay ethnic woman, swiftly notes down weights in her ledger. Around her, voices echo as farmers bring in shoots to sell; she greets each with a smile, weighs and records their produce, pays them on the spot, and gives detailed tips for their next harvest.

Everything runs neatly and rhythmically—just like the way she has carefully helped shape a new rhythm of life for her community.

From a girl with a passion for trading

Born into a Tay family with a medical background, Vy was originally trained in pharmacy. But since childhood, she had a passion for trading. In grade eight, she followed her grandmother to the local market to sell bamboo shoots. Watching farmers haul heavy baskets of shoots from the hills only to sell them at extremely low prices because there was no market outlet planted a seed in her mind: “How can I help people who grow bamboo shoots live better lives?”

After graduating in 2008, she began trading seriously in 2011, collecting shoots from nearby households—a small but vital link between the bamboo forests and the market stalls. Over time, she realised the biggest problem: prices were too low, profits too thin, so few farmers cared to invest time or proper technique in their bamboo groves.

A seed planted at a village meeting

In July 2024, a village loudspeaker announced a community meeting in Nam Muoi.

That day, Vy met Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuyet, Value chain and market systems Lead at CRED Tourism & Agriculture Consulting (CRED TAC) Company, for the first time. Ms. Thuyet introduced a project on bamboo shoot value chain development in Lao Cai, implemented by CRED TAC with support from Australia’s GREAT Program. The project aimed to improve cultivation, harvesting, and processing techniques, while also promoting the establishment of cooperatives to stabilise purchasing and link to markets.

At that meeting, a list of local growers and traders was drawn up. Though Vy’s family didn’t grow bamboo shoots, her years of trading experience made her the perfect “connector” between producers and buyers.

Subsequent meetings led to the foundation of the Dan Thang Bamboo Cooperative, and two months later, the Nam Muoi Bamboo Shoot Collective Group was established. The management board included five women, with Ms. Vy elected as team leader. Since then, technical training sessions have been held every 2–3 months, with follow-up meetings in between to address issues and share progress.

The journey of a team leader in empowering the collective group

Within the bamboo shoot value chain, the Nam Muoi Collective Group operates at the grassroots level—working most closely with growers. It manages production, technical guidance, and purchasing for local households.

As team leader, Ms. Vy not only attends technical training sessions conducted by CRED TAC but also relays and demonstrates those lessons directly in the fields. She works alongside growers, demonstrating how to prepare soil to select, harvest, preserve and process shoots to meet the cooperative’s standards.

She and project staff use village meetings to clearly communicate project objectives, technical standards, and purchasing protocols. Following these sessions, she provides continuous, hands-on monitoring by reminding households of harvest schedules, inspecting field work, and guiding on-site processing. She also maintains an open support channel via phone and Zalo. Crucially, during harvest season, she manages daily collection, ensuring the volume, quality, and delivery deadlines align with the Dan Thang Cooperative’s plan.

This diligent engagement has transformed village dynamics. Meetings are now more interactive and well-attended, with questions shifting toward practical application. Initial shyness has been replaced by farmers actively sharing tips and gathering for demonstrations on techniques like trimming, thinning, gentle harvesting, and secure bundling. Good practices have thus moved from theory to widespread, hands-on adoption across Nam Muoi.

The collective group also serves as the village collection point. They receive both fresh and pre-processed shoots, performing rapid quality assurance and sorting, and maintaining traceability records for every household. They ensure that farmers are weighed, recorded, and paid on the spot daily. Beyond collection, they act as the cooperative’s information link, reporting volumes and seasonal fluctuations to facilitate timely adjustments in transport, storage, and sales. The result is a secure selling point for farmers and a steady stream of standardised product for the cooperative, leading to cost savings and reduced waste.

As input volumes grew, the cooperative required faster, more standardised processing methods. To meet this demand and boost capacity, the project introduced innovated bamboo shoot boiling pots to Nam Muoi collective group. This “modern equipment” has been offering tangible benefits: lower heat consumption, reduced boiling time, and minimal smoke irritation. The result is visible in the final product—the fragrant steam and uniformly crisp, white shoots promise a consistently high-quality batch.

Tangible changes after one year

Every afternoon during the bamboo shoot season is a lively rush of growers bringing their harvest to be weighed and paid for on the spot. Whether they sell boiled or fresh shoots, every grower has a route to market, eliminating the need to rely on distant sales or fear losses.

White, perfectly bundled bamboo shoots queue up to be weighed and logged, with the record book growing into a veritable farm diary. According to Ms. Vy, the most obvious difference is the transformed look of the shoots—clearly recognisable: “They are now thick, vibrant, and with minimal bruising.” While technique creates the shoot’s flavor and equipment ensures quality consistency, the reliable market is the source of lasting smiles of the growers. This demonstrates how a business model is successfully brought to life, day after day, by the women of Nam Muoi.

Numbers tell the story too: the innovated boiling pot has cut boiling time by more than 50%. This year, the collective group processed around 16 tons of semi-processed bamboo shoots, and total output—including both raw and processed—reached 30–40 tons, up 33–50% from the previous year.

But perhaps the greatest change is the feeling that “everything gets sold.” “No shoot is left behind,” the women say happily. With stable buyers, they now talk about expanding plantation area, weeding, tending older groves, and improving techniques. Even small details—like how to pack or handle knives properly—reflect growing care and confidence.

The model’s expansion can be seen at the doorstep of every household. Participation has jumped from about 70% to an estimated 90–95%, with almost every home now featuring a bamboo plot. This quantitative success is mirrored by the women’s growing confidence. The four-woman management board is perpetually busy—coordinating weighing, checking plots for immature shoots, and managing processing logistics. Their voices sound more confident; their steps more assured. “Women are much more eager to work now,” one says—and that simple sentence captures the essence of empowerment: a community taking ownership of its livelihood.

The story has just begun

From a girl who loved trading to the respected leader of the Nam Muoi Bamboo Shoot Collective Group, Ms. Hoang Thi Vy has come a long way—rebuilding community trust, connecting technique, equipment, and markets, and creating space for women to lead within the bamboo value chain.

Yet for her, this is only the beginning. There are still more groves to tend properly, more households to join, more investments needed in processing and capital, and new women leaders to nurture.

As the cooperative truck leaves the courtyard carrying freshly boiled shoots, the faint scent lingers in the cool air. Ms. Vy closes her ledger, looks over the piles of white bamboo shoots waiting for the next trip, and smiles. Her story the story of the Nam Muoi Bamboo shoot Collective Group is just beginning.