Thalvora Farm Da Lat Baby Greens

Da Lat baby greens are where the Thalvora story began. The first beds of leafy greens were planted by a 14-household cooperative in Duc Trong in 1998, and when our first vegetable processing plant opened there in 2004, these tray-packed baby leaves became the first product to carry the Thalvora Farm label onto the shelves of major supermarket chains in Ho Chi Minh City.

Where it grows

The greens are grown across our Duc Trong and Cau Dat sourcing areas in Lam Dong province, at altitudes of 1,000 to 1,500 metres where daytime temperatures sit between 18 and 25 °C. Each mix combines four leaves: baby spinach, kale, red oak leaf lettuce and rocket. Sowing runs on a seven-day rotation so that there is always a crop at the right age, typically 21 to 28 days after sowing.

• More than 600 partner households farm to VietGAP standards, with 180 hectares certified to GlobalG.A.P.
• Rain-shelter greenhouses protect the leaves from bruising and reduce the need for crop protection during the wet season.
• Every bed has its own QR code recording sowing date, irrigation, fertiliser and the person who harvested it.

Harvesting and preparation

Harvesting takes place between 5 and 8 a.m., while the leaves are cool and fully hydrated. Within two hours of cutting, the crop reaches the Duc Trong plant in refrigerated trucks.

• Pre-cooling: vacuum cooling brings core temperature down to 4 °C in around 25 minutes.
• Hand sorting: wilted or bruised leaves and foreign matter are removed on illuminated inspection belts.
• Three-stage washing: a clean-water rinse, an air-agitated wash at 2–4 °C, and a final rinse in filtered, microbiologically controlled water.
• Drying: gentle centrifugal spinning removes surface water without breaking the leaves.
• Packing: automatic weighing and tray sealing in a clean room held at 6–8 °C.

Quality control

The plant runs a HACCP system, with an in-house laboratory overseen by our Quality & Food Safety division. Every shift is sampled for pesticide residues using rapid tests, and each month samples go to an independent laboratory for full analysis. Retained samples from every lot are kept until three days after the end of shelf life.

Packaging and shelf life

The range comes in 150 g and 250 g trays for modern retail and a 2 kg case for restaurants and canteens. Breathable film keeps the leaves crisp. Product stays at 2–4 °C throughout transport and has a shelf life of seven days from packing. Field-to-shelf time is no more than 36 hours in Ho Chi Minh City and no more than 48 hours for northern provinces served through our Bac Ninh distribution centre.

Serving ideas

The leaves are ready to eat: toss them with a simple vinaigrette, layer them into a banh mi, roll them into rice paper or scatter them over a pizza straight from the oven. The spinach and kale in the mix also take well to a quick one- to two-minute stir-fry over high heat. Once opened, keep the tray refrigerated and use within 24 hours.

We still cut our greens at dawn, just as the cooperative did in the early days. The difference is that today every tray can be traced back to the exact bed it came from. — Tran Duc Hung, Director of Agriculture & Sourcing