We are sharing an interview with A. Odonchimeg, a household food producer known to the public as Mongolian Jang Geum. We hope this interview will inspire and instill pride in our readers, as her every action, driven by her desire to help others and overcome every challenge with valuable conviction, sets an example for others.

Why did you start this business?

Everyone has different interests, ways of making money, and businesses they run. Of course, for every person, income is important to support their family. For me, my childhood dream and my profession were completely different. I am a geological engineer by profession. An event that changed my life happened while I was in school. My first child suffered a very severe brain and spinal cord injury after an unfortunate fall onto the stone floor of a delivery room. While a sick child might be treated and discharged from the hospital after six or seven months, a child with cerebral palsy requires much longer, and expensive, treatment. Because of this, a family with a child with a severe disability lives at the lowest level of society, facing a very difficult life.

I had two reasons for starting this household business.

The first was that at the time, I was a 20-year-old student with a sick child on my back and no money in my pocket. I needed a lot of money. Since I had become a mother to a sick child, I had to take on all the risks that came with it myself. I didn't want to borrow money from anyone or put my parents, siblings, or friends at financial risk. The trip I took with my child to the Shargaljuut hot springs in Bayankhongor had a big influence on my decision. The reason is that one of the main things many people there needed was food. Specifically, people who were bathing in the mineral water needed good soup. At that time, I would buy a sheep for 4,500 MNT, collect and clean glass jam jars, and make and sell broth. After that, I started making and selling bread, pastries, and dairy products. Becoming friends with the local herding women was a huge motivation for me to learn how to make dairy products. I learned the traditional way Mongolian women cook for their families, right there over the fire.

Second, after losing my child, I was completely consumed by the dream of helping others like him and building a sanatorium with professional equipment. I tried very hard to raise the capital for the building but was unsuccessful. I went to many organizations with the blueprints and submitted applications to the government 15 times, but I was not supported. Eventually, as I got older, I was truly defeated by this dream. In the end, I decided to work hard to make money myself and use that money to help others. For the last 15 years, I have been dedicating 30% of my business profits to good deeds. To date, I have collected, repaired, and refurbished over 3,800 wheelchairs and donated them to children with cerebral palsy. Most recently, two days ago, I built and gifted my 73rd home to a young couple starting a family. Previously, I had always built homes for single mothers and fathers with children with cerebral palsy, or for orphans. This is the first time I have built a home for a young family. Helping others, especially children, and seeing the joy in their eyes is the most wonderful feeling for me.

What makes your business unique from others?

In a globalized society, the most essential thing for a person is food. Today in Mongolia, truly organic and eco-friendly food is rare. The food I make contains no seasonings and is made with pure, natural, and organic ingredients. Most importantly, I believe my food resonates with people because I strictly adhere to the traditional Mongolian methods of our great culinary culture.

In your opinion, what is the meaning of the food we eat, beyond nutrition? From a cultural perspective?

Of course, food is the most vital nutrient for human life. If a person eats correctly, they are healthy; if they eat incorrectly, they get sick. Today, over 70% of the world's population suffers from various illnesses due to poor eating habits. On the other hand, food is a huge culture that represents a nation. I believe the culinary culture of Mongolians is a great culture that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. I say this because Mongolian food is made from pure natural sources, namely the meat of the five kinds of livestock. The special thing about Mongolian livestock is that they are raised on pure natural grass and water, without any chemical fertilizers or supplements.

How many types of products do you produce? Which one do you want to highlight?

People come here to buy Jang Geum's brand products and eat Jang Geum's homemade food. But all the food and brands I make are dishes that every Mongolian mother knows, that every woman makes, and can make at home. I am currently producing 32 types of food, and my favorite product is Yakling Massage Ice Cream. Its main ingredients are 100% yak curd and pure honey, with added berries, sea buckthorn, blueberries, and nuts.

Why do you highlight the Yakling ice cream? Can you share its origin story?

Children with disabilities have many challenges, such as speech, vision, motor, and mental impairments. Children with speech difficulties need to do regular special tongue exercises. For example, they do various exercises like touching the tip of their tongue to their nose and chin 50 times a day or practicing tongue twisters. Many mothers came to me, asking what to do since they couldn't get their children to do the exercises regularly. From that time on, I started thinking about how to facilitate tongue exercises through food, and after many trials, I began producing Yakling Ice Cream. One serving of Yakling Ice Cream requires 75-80 licks. Because it is a healthy and delicious treat, I believe it has become a solution for children to do their tongue exercises regularly. This ice cream is suitable for everyone to eat, as this tongue exercise is very beneficial for a person’s health, including their uvula, throat, palate, double chin, and teeth.

Do you have time for yourself with all this work? How do you spend your free time?

I take Mondays and Tuesdays off. On those days, I go to Emelt to pick up the ingredients for the following week's food. After that, in my remaining small amount of time, I love to sew with my old sewing machine. When I sew, I make 108 bibs at a time. I have sewn my fourth set of 108 bibs, and after embroidering owls and foxes on them, I have gifted them to new mothers. Even in my free time, I just want to do things that are helpful to others.

How does your family support and help your business

Household production is very difficult and monotonous work. You do the same thing over and over, all day, from morning to night. The person who supports me the most in getting this work done is my husband. He helps with many tasks that a woman can't do alone, like slaughtering sheep and preparing water and firewood. All of our children have their own jobs and lives, but they come and help on the weekends.

We know you celebrate your birthday in a unique way. Why do you organize the Yak Festival?

Before I came to the city, I organized the Yak Festival for 15 consecutive years. This festival includes various events such as yak races, a ceremony to select the best yak bull, a celebration for twin calves, a yak milk and dairy product exhibition, a milk-yield competition, and children's song and poetry contests related to yaks. The main purpose is to introduce the benefits of yaks to the public and support the herders who raise them. The reason I'm highlighting the yak is that it's a type of livestock just like a wild animal. For instance, it grazes on medicinal herbs on mountain tops where no human has set foot and drinks cool spring water from mountain streams. Its meat is high in protein, and its milk has a very high calcium content. There is even a study by Japanese scientists on this topic. That's why I wish Mongolians would regularly consume yak meat, milk, and dairy products instead of eating meat from fed animals and taking various supplements.

If you were to compare yourself to an animal, which one would you choose? Why?

I would compare myself to an owl. This is because owls are extremely alert animals that never blink. They always see and fly at night. The reason I compare myself to this bird is that I always make my food products at night and work for many hours. To have products on the counter the next morning, Jang Geum has to be producing while people are sleeping. The products I make during the day sell out during the day, so if I don't work at night, the Jang Geum counter will be empty the next day. People come from all over the country, so I can't have an empty counter.

What is investment to you?

I feel like when people in society hear "investment," they only see it as money. To me, I understand investment as sincere and honest hard work. Young people often look down on the work they do. Not everyone can be a minister, a director, a big engineer, or a CEO. But we can be content with what we have and approach everything with sincerity and honest labor. I want to say that this is the biggest investment you can make in yourself.

Can you share your future goals

As I mentioned earlier, when I was young, I dreamed of building a sanatorium for children with cerebral palsy that met international standards. Now that I am almost 60, my big goal is not to look far into the future but to dedicate the rest of my life to the next generation, so that our traditional Mongolian food culture is passed down and doesn't disappear with our generation. If it were possible, I would like to have my own 15-20 minute cooking show on public television.

How do you get through difficult and discouraging times?

Of course, I have many moments like that. There are many times when I feel bored and want to give up on a job that I have to do over and over for many hours every day. At those times, the thought that my work will help someone get a home or a wheelchair gives me the strength to be more responsible and persistent. I don't want to spend the money I earned with so much hardship by going to a monastery and having a ceremony every year for Tsagaan Sar. Instead, I want to help and support my fellow citizens who do hard labor at the landfill by buying 200 sheep heads, scorching and boiling them, and giving the meat to them. When you help others, you feel a joy that you can't get from anything else. In those moments of bringing joy to others, I forget all my problems and hardships.

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