Vietnamese engineer turns rice straw into firelighters for US, Canadian markets

After each harvest, fields in Quy Loc Commune, Thanh Hoa Province are often covered with piles of rice straw that farmers later burn to clear their fields and prepare for the next crop.

But for Nguyen Xuan Tai, the discarded straw presented an opportunity to start a business.

A graduate of Hanoi University of Industry, Tai spent five years working as a design engineer for companies in Hanoi.

Although he had a stable job in his field, an introduction to an unfamiliar product prompted him to take a different path.

In 2018, through a British friend, Tai learned about bio-firelighters, products used to start fires in many Western countries, where outdoor barbecues and fireplaces are common.

Seeing demand in overseas markets and the abundant supply of agricultural by-products in his hometown, he began exploring the idea of producing the firelighters.

In the early days, Tai experimented with sawdust, rice husks, peanut shells, and other agricultural waste. The results, however, were not as expected.

After numerous trials, he found that dry rice straw could be a suitable raw material.

“Once, when I returned to my hometown, I saw huge amounts of straw being burned after harvest. It was wasteful and polluted the environment," Tai said.

"I thought that if I could use this material to make bio-firelighters, I could both create a product for the market and provide farmers with an additional source of income."

He immediately began working on the idea. However, getting the product into demanding markets such as the U.S. and Canada was not easy.

Tai designed the production line, built a workshop in Thanh Hoa, and established Ulstraw JSC. 

The company’s name combines the English words 'ultra' and 'straw,' referring to products made from straw.

An export product

According to Tai, the product is made mainly from dry rice straw and candle wax. The two ingredients are mixed according to a formula he developed before being processed into small blocks used to start fires.

The production process begins with the purchase of dry straw from local farmers. The straw is shredded, mixed with candle wax, and then pressed into shape.

The finished products are then packaged for sale.

Tai and his partners chose Amazon as a distribution channel to reach overseas consumers, particularly in colder countries such as the U.S., Canada, and several European countries.

According to Tai, the product attracted customer interest when the company began advertising on the platform.

At one point, the company sold as many as 400 boxes of eco-firelighter in a single day. Thousands of products have since been sold through Amazon.

Tai recalled that many local people were surprised when he began buying straw for production. But after seeing his products being sold overseas, they began to recognize the value of his idea.

Despite strong consumer interest in the U.S. and Canada, however, sales volumes remain modest, according to Tai.

“This is a product that my partners and I developed ourselves, without going through any program or receiving support from authorities," he said.

"Therefore, the product is currently distributed mainly through Amazon.

"This also makes it difficult to expand the market and promote the product."

Tai said he and his partners have invested around VND1 billion (US$38,000) in the project to date.

Each box of firelighters sells for around $13-14, with production costs accounting for 30-40 percent of the selling price, according to Tai.

Turning agricultural waste into a livelihood

Tai hopes to expand the business in his hometown.

He plans to establish a cooperative and build a production plant locally to increase production, seek larger partners, and create a stable market for farmers’ straw.

If the plan becomes a reality, straw left after harvest could be reused instead of being burned or left to decompose in the fields. Buying straw will also give farmers an additional source of income, Tai said.

Nguyen Van Hieu, chairman of the Quy Loc Commune administration, described Tai’s straw-based firelighter business as a new approach for the locality.

“The local administration has visited the production site and worked with Tai. We are ready to support him with land for building a workshop and expanding the model,” Hieu said.

According to Hieu, the Ministry of Science and Technology also plans to send a delegation to visit the business and assess its effectiveness to determine how it could support Tai in expanding the market.

“We understand that Tai’s products are currently sold mainly through Amazon, with the U.S. and Canada as the main markets," Hieu said.

"The local administration will support him in expanding the market, particularly by introducing the product at tourist destinations that offer outdoor activities, campfires, and barbecues. 

"This will help assess the product’s effectiveness in practice."

Winning innovation awards in Canada

In late 2023, the initiative developed by Tai and his partners won the global first prize at the Social Business Creation competition in Montreal, Canada.

The competition is a global training and competition program for social business innovation initiated by HEC Montréal. 

The prize was worth around C$38,500 ($27,000).

In 2024, the Ulstraw team won the championship at Vietnam’s Kawai Startup Competition.