The Rise of “O Huyen,” the Durian Entrepreneur: From City to Countryside, Building a Company to Empower Farmers and Overcome Price Fluctuations

A recent livestream selling agricultural products by TikToker Hang Du Muc on July 7 has sparked widespread interest among the online community. After impressing viewers by selling 12 tons of durians in just 5 minutes, the livestream gained further attention as many people started calling for order cancellations. This unexpected turn of events was triggered by one of the participating farmers, Nguyen Thai Huyen, also known as “O Huyen Sau Rieng” (O Huyen the Durian).

Specifically, O Huyen drew a wave of complaints on social media for talking excessively, overshadowing the host, Hang Du Muc, and making inappropriate remarks towards Quang Linh Vlog, who co-hosted the livestream with Hang Du Muc, putting him in an awkward position.

FoodMap Asia, an agricultural technology company specializing in procurement, promotion, and distribution of agricultural products from farmers to consumers, was the supplier of durians for this livestream. Their founder, Pham Ngoc Anh Tung, explained that O Huyen represented one of the durian farmers in Dak Lak who provided durians for the livestream. He added that during similar livestreams featuring agricultural products, FoodMap Asia also invites farmers or locals to interact with the audience.

O Huyen herself is a TikToker with over 104,000 followers. Her content revolves around her experiences in growing durians, and most of her videos attract more than 100,000 views, with some reaching nearly 1 million.

Born in 1988 in Ha Tinh, Huyen was determined to pursue higher education to escape poverty. After graduating with a degree in Business Administration and a second degree in Commercial Law, she landed a job at a Chinese agricultural import-export company. Within just 6 months, she rose to the position of Deputy Director of Business, responsible for raw material procurement.

“This was also the catalyst for my foray into the durian import-export business,” Huyen shared.

Despite her promising career path, Huyen decided to switch gears and venture into private business, but unfortunately faced failure. “When success came too quickly, coupled with the arrogance of youth, I became complacent. Of course, what goes up must come down, and I went bankrupt. At 24 years old, I was lost and fell into depression for a long period,” Huyen confided to the Tạp chí Đời sống & Pháp luật magazine.

With the support of her family, Huyen moved to Binh Phuoc to work on a farm with her parents and secured a government job for stability. Driven by the pressure of providing for her family, she was determined to start over by building a brand for naturally ripened durians from Binh Phuoc, even resorting to high-interest loans to fund her endeavors. To ensure the quality of her products, Huyen took on the roles of both technical specialist in the raw material region and direct seller.

In the years 2017-2018, success smiled on Huyen once again as she established a chain of durian specialty stores in Hanoi. Her export business also flourished with orders from China. However, misfortune struck again when her shipments were stuck at the border, prices plummeted, and the exported batches were found to have pesticide and fungus residue issues. Meanwhile, her durian chain in Hanoi was neglected, leading to her second bankruptcy.

Recognizing her shortcomings in management skills and strategic vision, Huyen moved to Ho Chi Minh City to make a living by selling durians and pursuing an MBA.

“During the day, I attended classes, and in the evenings, I sold durians to support the livelihood of my mother and me. I juggled studying, paying off interest, and repaying debts, and there were times when I felt like giving up… But somehow, I found the strength to persevere, and I am forever grateful for those challenging years that molded me into the O Huyen I am today,” she shared in an interview with Dan Viet newspaper in May 2024.

After experiencing bankruptcy twice, Huyen resolved to start over yet again. She “left the city for the forest” and chose Dak Lak as her new base. There, she developed a durian production model that embraced organic practices, avoiding the use of chemicals and additives to induce ripening, and instead relying on organic fertilizers and a balanced ecosystem within the orchard. To enhance the quality of her products, she even traveled to countries like Thailand to learn from their farming expertise.

“The climate and soil conditions in Dak Lak are highly favorable for durian trees, yielding excellent fruit. So, I expanded my small orchard of a few thousand square meters to 1 hectare, then 2 hectares, and now to dozens of hectares,” Huyen shared.

In each subsequent crop, Huyen’s company procures thousands of tons of durians, filling hundreds of containers, and delivering Vietnamese durians to international consumers.