๐“๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฆ๐š: ๐‘๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐“๐ซ๐š๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐“๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐„๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ

In a cozy kitchen, dough was mixed with water and kneaded into a soft, smooth texture. A group of girls crafted it into intricate designs, shaping the beloved Bhutanese snack, Khabzay. Nearby, two boys fried the dough pieces in hot oil until they turned golden and crispy. The delicious aroma filled the air, enticing neighbors and passersby alike.

For Tshering Dema, Khabzay was more than a treatโ€”it was her inspiration. Starting her entrepreneurial journey by selling vegetables, Tshering worked tirelessly until she turned 22. However, as markets like Kaja Throm grew and competition intensified, she realized she needed to adapt. With a deep understanding of Bhutanese culture, she saw a rising demand for traditional products at home and abroad.

In 2023, during the Druk Tshongrig Gatoen (DTG) festival, she introduced a range of products including dried local cheese, dried coriander, and children’s snacks. However, recognizing the evolving needs of the Bhutanese market and the country’s ongoing development, she conducted thorough research and ultimately shifted her business focus to “khabzay,โ€ a pastry deeply tied to Bhutanese rituals and celebrations.

โ€œ๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’๐‘œ๐‘๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘—๐‘œ๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘ ๐‘œ ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘’๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘›๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘–๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘ก๐‘ ,โ€ ๐‘‡๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ค. โ€œ๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐ผ ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ค โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘š๐‘ข๐‘โ„Ž ๐ตโ„Ž๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ , ๐ผ ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ค ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”.โ€

Driven by her passion for tradition and religious devotion, Tshering viewed her business as a mission to preserve Bhutanese heritage. She prioritized cleanliness and discipline in her production process, ensuring her products reflected her values.

However, her journey was not without challenges. Limited resources and strict regulations tested her resolve. โ€œ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ๐‘  ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐ผ ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ก ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ข๐‘,โ€ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘. โ€œ๐ต๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐ผ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘๐‘๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘›โ€™๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ฆ. ๐ผ๐‘“ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘‘, ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘™๐‘’.โ€

A breakthrough came when the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Employment (MOICE) recognized her dedication and provided free machinery to boost her production. โ€œ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘’,โ€ Tshering said with gratitude. โ€œ๐ผ๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘“๐‘“๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก, ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘˜ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘—๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”.โ€

Today, Tsheringโ€™s Khabzay enterprise is thriving. Her products reach all 20 dzongkhags in Bhutan and have even made their way to markets in Singapore. With dreams of expanding her exports further, Tshering hopes to share Bhutanese traditions with a global audience.

Adapting to changing times, Tshering embraced social media to market her products. Initially relying on WeChat and door-to-door sales, she later gained social media marketing skills through MyBiz, which transformed her business. โ€œ๐ฟ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘  ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐น๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘˜ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐ผ๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘š ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘’-๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘”๐‘’๐‘Ÿ,โ€ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘‘. โ€œ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ค, ๐ผ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘  ๐ผ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘๐‘™๐‘’.โ€

To aspiring entrepreneurs, Tshering offers simple but powerful advice: โ€œ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘ . ๐ต๐‘’๐‘™๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘“ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘, ๐‘›๐‘œ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘๐‘–๐‘” ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘Ž๐‘™.โ€

Looking ahead, Tshering dreams of reclaiming her original vegetable market space and turning it into a clean, organized hub to showcase her products. This vision reflects her journey from humble beginnings to becoming a champion of Bhutanese tradition and entrepreneurship.

Through her dedication and resilience, Tshering Dema has not only preserved a cherished cultural tradition but also inspired Bhutanโ€™s youth to pursue their dreams with determination. Her story is a testament to the power of passion, hard work, and support in turning dreams into reality.

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