Many types of leaves in Vietnam are considered as waste products, often discarded or ‘as cheap as giving’ if sold. But going abroad they are very valuable and sold at immense prices.
Bamboo leaves
Bat degree bamboo, also known as the tree, is a wild tree, grown in abundance in the highlands and deltas. In the past, the people who planted bamboo were only used trees and the leaves were discarded. But in the past few years, fresh and dried bamboo leaves have become an export commodity, providing a positive income for the people. On the internet market and online sales groups, many small businesses openly buy bamboo leaves with unlimited quantity and the price is not cheap. They buy and sell to traders exporting to Taiwan for 10,000 VND / kg of fresh bamboo leaves and 40,000 VND / kg of dried bamboo leaves. 
Bamboo leaves are bought and exported to Taiwan Bamboo leaves are larger in size than normal bamboo leaves. They are cleaned by natural methods, do not use chemicals, so they are exported abroad to make cake wrapping materials, food packages … Banana leave In Vietnam, bananas are a popular plant, grown in rural areas. People often grow bananas for fruit or sell, while banana leaves and banana stalks are often discarded, if sold, it is also very cheap. The purchase price of a beautiful banana leaf is only 8,000-10,000 VND / kg (the price of a leaf that has left the leaf bones). Banana leaves are used to wrap traditional cakes such as banh chung, banh Tet, or spring rolls, sticky rice packages, … However, the number of banana leaves used for these things is quite modest. Recently, some units also buy beautiful banana leaves in the garden for 4,000 VND / kg for export to the US market. Banana leaves used for export must be those with 30cm wide width, unbroken leaves. And only banana leaves can be used and exported. Banana leaves are quite crunchy, so you must know how to choose the right age, pick them to dry in the sun just enough to wither so that the leaves are soft without losing the green color. 
Banana leaves have become an expensive commodity in Japan. In the rest, in most of the big banana growing areas in our country, when the branches are pruned, the banana leaves are harvested, farmers often have to cut the leaves to feed the cows and fish. Even if there is too much, they have to dry and burn the fields and gardens. Recently, the picture of a fresh banana leaf being sold on Amazon Japan for 2,280 yen, equivalent to nearly 500,000 VND, surprised many Vietnamese. If you buy more, the cheaper the price. Buy 3 leaves, the price is only about 760,000 VND and if you buy 5 banana leaves, the price is only 1,168,000 VND. However, this price is also extremely expensive. Lotus leaf In our country, lotus is a popular plant, grown in all regions from the North to the South. This plant not only gives beautiful flowers to tea and decorate, but lotus seeds and lotus roots are also exploited to make ingredients for attractive dishes. 
Dried lotus leaves can sell up to 400,000 VND / kg Notably, lotus leaf is also used to do many different things. In addition to wrapping sticky rice, wrapping rice … fresh lotus leaves, dried lotus are also used to make tea every day. In the market, 1kg of chopped fresh lotus leaves costs up to 70,000 VND, dried lotus leaves cost 110,000-200,000 VND / kg. There are even organic food stores that sell dried lotus leaves for up to 400,000 VND / kg. According to the shop owners, the reason why lotus leaves are quite expensive and are popular with women is because they have many effects in beauty, especially weight loss and treatment. Seeing the value of tea made from lotus leaves, Ngo Khanh Huy (39 years old, living TT.My An, H.Thap Muoi, Dong Thap) came up with a startup idea from his native lotus tree. According to Thanh Nien newspaper, the lotus leaf tea products of Mr. Huy have affirmed the brand, not only for domestic consumption but also to Thailand, Cambodia, China … “In the past, lotus leaves were almost empty. brings economic value, because farmers often just take flowers, mirrors and look. But for me, lotus leaf is a special ingredient to make tea with its own flavor, ”Huy said in this newspaper. In Phu Tho commune, Tam Nong district, Dong Thap province, seeing that selling lotus mirrors has low profits, many farmers have turned to growing lotus and selling fresh leaves to process lotus leaf tea, giving good income. Perilla leaves Perilla is a spice vegetable that is easy to grow, easy to buy in Vietnam, and even given away for free. If sold, perilla leaves are also very cheap, only from 1,000-2,000 VND a bunch. In addition to making seasoning leaves, perilla is also considered by many Vietnamese as a remedy for colds and flu. 
Perilla leaves exported to Japan cost 700 VND / leaf. However, a company in Bac Ninh grows perilla and exports to Japan for 700 VND / leaf, earning billions of VND per year. For the Japanese, perilla is an essential spice vegetable and is very important. This vegetable is used by the Japanese to reduce the fishy smell of seafood, is the most important ingredient of the umeboshi plum melon (a pickle dish very popular in Japanese cuisine) or is wrapped around sushi. In Japan, perilla leaves are not sold in bundles like in Vietnam, but sold by leaves. In addition to selling fresh leaves in supermarkets and markets, perilla leaves are dried and packed for domestic sale or abroad. Japanese online sites sell perilla vegetables with prices ranging from VND 107,000 to VND200,000 / pack. Lemon leaves Lemon leaves are very familiar to Vietnamese people, often used to sprinkle on boiled chicken as a condiment. Vietnamese people usually pay more attention to lemons than lemon leaves. Vietnamese farmers rarely consider lemon leaves as a source of income. In many places, lemon leaves are not sold or are sold at “as cheap as giving”. In the city market, lemon leaves are very cheap, only 1,000-2,000 VND / bundle. 
Lemon leaves sell for almost 7 USD / 1 oz on Amazon. In foreign countries, the price of lemon leaves is quite high. At the Amazon online store, lemon leaves are again for sale for about $ 7/1 oz, equivalent to 25g. Thus, 100g of lemon leaves cost about 28 USD (635,000 VND), 1kg will cost about 6.35 million VND. Lemon leaves are widely used in many Western dishes. Realizing huge profits from this ordinary leaf, from a few years ago, lemon leaves were collected by a number of companies with the quantity of tens of tons for export to the European market, earning millions of USD. Lemon leaves exported to the European market come in 2 forms, spices are packaged with galangal products, chili peppers and lemongrass. In the normal form, it only encapsulates the lime leaves into small bags and is completely frozen. Vietnamese lemon leaves are favored by the European market because they are more fragrant and richer than lemon leaves from other countries. Hanh Nguyen (Synthetic)
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