Building brand for organic rau nhip specialty

Rau nhip, also known in Vietnamese as la bep and scientifically identified as Gnetum gnemon leaves, is a wild forest vegetable that grows naturally in many parts of Dong Nai province. It is a common ingredient in the cuisine of many ethnic minority communities. More than just a distinctive food, rau nhip is also rich in nutrients that are beneficial to health.

Thi Khui, Director of the Bu Lach Organic Cashew Cooperative (Tho Son commune), introduces the rau nhip specialty at a conference to evaluate and classify OCOP Products in 2025. Photo: Binh Nguyen

Gradually, rau nhip has become popular among consumers who prefer natural, safe foods. Recognizing the economic value of this vegetable from the forest, the Bu Lach Organic Cashew Cooperative (Tho Son commune) has built a linkage chain for growing organic rau nhip under cashew canopies, organizing preliminary processing, and distributing this forest specialty widely. The cooperative has also built a brand for this specialty by participating in the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) program, and this indigenous rau nhip specialty has earned a 3-star OCOP certification for Dong Nai province.

Profitable forest vegetable farming

Traditionally, ethnic minority people often went into the forest to gather wild rau nhip for cooking, making it a familiar daily dish, especially one that was indispensable on feast trays during festivals and Tet holidays of ethnic communities. Because this forest vegetable is easy to grow, hardy, and pest-resistant, many indigenous households in the northern part of Dong Nai province brought it home to plant in their gardens so it would always be readily available for use.

Although it is cultivated, garden-grown rau nhip is not very different from the wild variety because growers let it develop naturally like a forest plant. Previously, the family of Dieu Thi Glung, an M’nong ethnic resident in Tho Son commune, planted only a few rau nhip bushes for household consumption. But as more buyers began asking for this forest vegetable and traders started purchasing it in large quantities, her family gradually expanded the area under rau nhip beneath cashew and coffee trees. Rau nhip is very easy to grow. Seedlings planted in the rainy season mature on their own, while the roots continue to spread and produce new bushes. Throughout the growing process, farmers do not need to water, apply fertilizer, or use pesticides. Growers only need to spend time harvesting, simply waiting for young leaves to emerge before picking them for sale.

Dieu Thi Glung said that her family now has about 2.5 hectares of rau nhip intercropped in cashew and coffee gardens that are about seven years old. The older the plants get, the larger the clusters become and the greater the yield of tender leaves for harvest. Rau nhip can be harvested year-round. In the dry season, growers pick young leaves and shoots once a week. In the rainy season, the plants grow vigorously and continuously produce new shoots and young leaves, allowing twice-weekly harvests. On average, Glung now harvests more than 10 kg of rau nhip a day. At a purchase price of about 80,000 VND per kilogram, she can earn around 1 million VND a day. This vegetable is easy to harvest, so even children and elderly family members can help pick leaves to earn extra income.

The rau nhip specialty is increasingly favored by the market. Photo: Binh Nguyen

Because Glung’s family grows rau nhip on a large area, leaves are harvested for sale every day. Since the beginning of the year, Glung has saved about 40 million VND from selling rau nhip. Her family plans to use this money to buy a new motorbike. Glung said happily that whenever she needs money, she simply harvests rau nhip to sell, and there is always income. Because the local cooperative purchases rau nhip available, many households in the area feel secure expanding their cultivation of this forest vegetable.

Ha Thi Tam, a customer buying rau nhip in Bu Dang commune, said rau nhip has high nutritional value, making it a daily staple for local people throughout the year, and especially indispensable during holidays and festivals. In addition, it is often purchased as a specialty gift for relatives and friends. Rau nhip can be cooked in many delicious dishes, such as stir-fried plain or with meat, bone soup, fish soup, or hotpot - each with its own unique flavor. Therefore, during holidays and Tet, rau nhip can sometimes be sold at 150,000 VND per kilogram, but the supply still cannot meet demand. Since it is intercropped in gardens and fields without the use of fertilizers or pesticides, it is considered clean food and well-suited to current consumer trends.

 Building a brand for organic forest vegetables

According to ethnic minority people in Tho Son commune, rau nhip grows best under the canopy of perennial trees because the canopy helps retain soil moisture for the plant to grow well.

The Bu Lach Organic Cashew Cooperative has taken the lead locally in shifting toward clean and organic production. One advantage of cooperative members adopting organic farming is that ethnic minority farmers have long practiced simple cultivation, generally allowing crops to grow naturally with minimal care or fertilization. This feature also creates favorable conditions for intercropping rau nhip in clean cashew orchards to meet safety standards.

Currently, the Bu Lach Organic Cashew Cooperative supplies about 16 tons of rau nhip a year. The product is selling well through restaurant chains and safe food stores in many provinces and cities across the country. The price of rau nhip currently ranges from VND 60,000 to VND 80,000 per kilogram and at times has risen to VND 150,000 per kilogram, yet supply still falls short of demand.

Intercropping rau nhip in cashew gardens brings dual benefits. Many farmers have installed automatic irrigation systems to help vegetables grow well and improve cashew yields. Dieu Thi Nguynh, a S’tieng woman, has been growing rau nhip for about eight years. At first, her family planted only a few bushes for household use. After the cooperative began purchasing this vegetable at a high, stable price, she invested more care in this specialty crop, and as the garden aged, yields increased. According to Nguynh, growing rau nhip is "easy to grow and profitable to harvest"; growers only need to spend time picking leaves and can earn income every day. Because it is intercropped, her family’s actual rau nhip growing area is only about 2,000 square meters, but it still allows the family to put some money aside. Income from selling rau nhip is enough to cover daily living expenses and provide additional investment for production. Meanwhile, income from the cashew and coffee gardens is usually the family’s longer-term savings, helping its economic situation steadily improve.

Thi Khui, Director of the Bu Lach Organic Cashew Cooperative, said rau nhip is a signature dish that has long been closely associated with indigenous ethnic communities in the former Binh Phuoc province. It is a specialty rich in traditional cultural value, a clean food product that provides livelihoods for S’tieng and M’nong ethnic communities.

By intercropping rau nhip under cashew canopies, cooperative members increase their income while helping preserve cashew-growing areas, as cashew is a traditional specialty crop of the locality. Rau nhip is not only a delicious and distinctive dish but also a valuable medicinal plant with many health-supporting benefits, as it is rich in vitamins, fiber, and natural minerals, matching current consumer demand for clean food. Recognizing the high economic value of this forest vegetable, the cooperative has commercialized it, gradually turning rau nhip into a market-linked commodity.

The cooperative has also established standardized production processes, strictly controlled hygiene standards, ensured food safety, and invested in packaging and branding. In the future, the cooperative will continue to work with farmers to expand safe raw-material areas and widen distribution channels. It is also focused on building the brand of organic specialty vegetables with clear origin and traceability, targeting export markets, as this product also has export potential.

By Binh Nguyen – Translated by Minh Hong, Minho