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Home / About Ulstraw
About UlstrawA company for Vietnamese farmers.
Ulstraw is on a mission to change the world starting from one rice straw, transforming abundant agricultural waste into efficient, environmentally friendly fuel.
Our vision
Transform rice straw into clean fuel.
We progressively transform straw into an efficient and eco-friendly new form of fuel, while building extra income for farmers in rural Vietnam.
By purchasing leftover straw and prioritizing manual work near the fields, Ulstraw turns a pollution problem into a circular business model for products people can use every day.
- Company
- ULSTRAW JSC
- Founded
- 11 June 2024
- Based in
- Dan Ne, Quy Loc, Thanh Hoa, Vietnam
- Type
- Social enterprise
Founder, Chairman & CEO: Nguyen Xuan Tai
Our story
From a competition project to a company.
Ulstraw began as Nam Tural, a project built on one idea: the rice straw Vietnamese farmers burn after every harvest is a resource, not waste. In 2023 the project won Social Business Creation at HEC Montréal, and on 11 June 2024 the team founded ULSTRAW JSC in Thanh Hoa, beside the fields that supply its straw.
The name says what we believe: “Ul” for ultra. Ulstraw is “super straw”.
- Mar 2023Nam Tural, the project that became Ulstraw, enters Social Business Creation at HEC Montréal.
- 3 Oct 2023Wins the final after four rounds, ahead of 156 projects and more than 500 contestants worldwide.
- 11 Jun 2024ULSTRAW JSC is founded in Thanh Hoa, beside the fields that supply its straw.
- 9 Jul 2024Wins the Kawai Business startup competition.
- 2024 - 2026Featured on VTV1, VTV2, VTV9 and VTC16, and across the Vietnamese business press.
Why rice straw
A resource that was going up in smoke.
After every harvest, Vietnam's fields are left with straw that has nowhere to go, and much of it is burned in the open: smoke for nearby villages, nothing for the farmer.
Straw is fibrous, light and quick to catch fire, and it grows back every season. That makes it a better starting point for a firelighter than wood, which takes decades to replace.
What we make
Three products from one straw.
02
Protective packaging
Shock-absorbing straw packaging as an alternative to foam and plastic fillers.
Available on request →03
Straw pellets
Straw-based biomass pellets.
Available on request →How it's made
Two ingredients, no open flame.
Made from just two ingredients: rice straw and fully refined paraffin wax - no chemical accelerants. Each slab is pre-scored, so you snap off only the pieces you need. In our workshop the wax is melted with electric induction heating, with no open flame.
01
Harvest
Rice straw is purchased from farmers after harvest instead of being burned.
02
Dry & sort
The straw is dried and sorted near the fields to keep transport light.
03
Press
The fibre is mixed with fully refined paraffin wax and pressed into pre-scored slabs.
04
Light
Each piece burns steadily long enough to start wood, charcoal, or pellets.
Farmers and community
Built to address waste pollution.
We buy leftover straw directly from farmers around our workshop and hire local people part-time, choosing hand work over machines wherever it keeps more jobs in the village. Every box sold turns a burned byproduct into household income.
Our products help protect forests, and every purchase contributes to farmer livelihoods.
10,000
Products sold - each figure is per 10,000
9,000
Kg CO2 emissions reduced
1,600
Hours of work created for farmers
190M
VND income generated for farmers
Recognition
Awards
- Global Champion - Social Business Creation 2023 (HEC Montréal)
- Winner - Kawai Business startup competition 2024
Television
- VTV1 - Net Zero
- VTV1 - Sự lựa chọn
- VTV2 - Khát vọng Xanh
- VTV9 - Toàn cảnh
- VTC16 - Nông nghiệp Xanh
As seen in
Báo Đầu tư · Nhịp Cầu Đầu tư · Báo điện tử VTV · Báo Giao thông · Báo Dân trí · Báo Công Thương · VnBusiness · Báo Tiền Phong · VOV · Cafebiz · VIR
Work with us
Change the world, starting from one rice straw.
Ulstraw supplies eco firelighters made from Vietnamese rice straw to retail chains, distributors and brands - as wholesale, private label or ODM programmes, shipped FOB Vietnam.