Tra Cuon Tet Cake: A specialty that "crosses the bamboo fence" and reaches far into the market

In Vinh Long , Tra Cuon banh tet craft village (Vinh Kim commune) is increasingly attracting more consumers inside and outside the province, affirming its reputation thanks to production facilities constantly improving quality and design.

From a traditional dish closely associated with the culinary culture of the people of the South, the profession of making banh tet here has created a stable livelihood for hundreds of families, contributing to the sustainable development of the rural economy .

Creating livelihoods

Tra Cuon Banh Tet village was formed from the need to make cakes to serve the holidays, New Year, and weddings of local people.

In 2011, the craft village was officially recognized by the People's Committee of Tra Vinh province (old) under Decision No. 2085/QD-UBND, opening a new direction for a hometown specialty.

One of the typical households in the craft village is the family of Mrs. Mai Thi Hoang Loan, residing in Tra Cuon hamlet, with the brand name Ba Loan banh tet.

Starting her business in 2007, Ms. Lan only wrapped about 20-30 banh tet loaves a day, mainly traditional, single-color cakes. Over time, understanding the increasingly diverse tastes and preferences of consumers, she began to improve the product, creating more colorful, multi-filled cakes.

Ms. Mai Thi Hoang Loan, owner of Ba Loan banh tet production facility, Tra Cuon banh tet craft village, is making banh tet filling. (Photo: Thanh Hoa/VNA)

By 2011, she was one of the first people in the craft village to experiment with wrapping 3-color banh tet and banh tet using purple sticky rice, and the product was quickly accepted by the market.

Up to now, her facility supplies the market with 50-80 banh tet loaves every day, creating jobs for 4 regular workers. During Tet, the facility's output skyrockets to 2,000 loaves per day, and she has to mobilize more than 30 seasonal workers to make the cakes.

Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thao’s Anh Thu banh tet establishment also started in 2007, making only about 20 loaves to sell in 2-3 days. Up to now, his family makes 60-70 loaves/day, and also produces more according to customer orders. Especially during Tet, each day his establishment mobilizes over 30 workers to produce enough to supply the market.

Banh tet of Anh Thu and Ba Loan establishments were both recognized as 3-star OCOP products (One Commune One Product Program) since 2019; received support of 50 million VND/establishment to build a product display store.

According to long-time bakers here, the secret to the unique flavor of Tra Cuon banh tet lies in choosing sticky rice, richly marinated pork belly, and fatty salted eggs.

In particular, the cake uses natural coloring ingredients such as purple leaves, perilla leaves, gac fruit... absolutely no industrial coloring, ensuring food hygiene and safety.

The cake is cooked for 9-10 hours using firewood or an electric oven, keeping its chewiness and characteristic flavor. Banh tet production facilities in Tra Cuon currently pay great attention to product design, investing in vacuum machines and sticking eye-catching labels.

The meticulousness in each production stage has contributed to creating the specialty brand of Tra Cuon banh tet, favored by many consumers in and outside the province. In 2024, more than 75% of the cakes will be consumed outside the province; of which, the most is the Ho Chi Minh City market.

Tra Cuon craft village currently has 7 establishments producing banh tet, supplying the market with about 255,500 loaves of cake annually. With the selling price ranging from 50,000-100,000 VND/loaf depending on the type, the average income of each establishment is about 1.6 billion VND/year.

The craft village provides regular jobs for nearly 100 local workers, with an average income of about 5.9 million VND/month. During the peak of Tet, the number of seasonal workers skyrockets.

Elevating local specialties

After 6 years of implementation, the OCOP Program has shown remarkable effectiveness. The value of many local specialties has been increasingly enhanced, and the consumption market has become more stable. Thereby, it helps to solve employment, reduce poverty, increase income for rural people, and contribute to the successful implementation of the new rural construction program in localities in the province.

Three-color banh tet of Anh Thu production facility, Tra Cuon banh tet craft village. (Photo: Thanh Hoa/VNA)

To date, Vinh Long province has 1,083 products recognized as achieving OCOP 3 stars or higher, from 625 entities. In recent times, along with annual budget allocation, localities have also mobilized many resources, taking advantage of programs and projects implemented in the area to support businesses, business households, and cooperatives to invest in expanding production scale, improving product quality, finding distribution channels, and expanding domestic and foreign markets.

Facilities participating in the OCOP Program are facilitated to access policies such as financial support for packaging design, product labels and product story building; renting or building new stores to sell OCOP products; purchasing machinery and equipment, production lines; supporting procedures and funding for entities to upgrade their star rating.

At the same time, participate in courses and training on product promotion activities at fairs organized by ministries, central agencies and provinces nationwide.

Mr. Chieu Thanh Phong, Vice Chairman of Vinh Kim Commune People's Committee, said that up to now, Tra Cuon Banh Tet village has 11 products recognized as OCOP; of which, 3 products meet 4-star standards, the rest are 3-star.

Many supporting products are labeled with QR codes for traceability, packaging investment, and gradually approaching supermarket systems and international markets. Cakes are also diversified to meet the tastes and demands of consumers, such as banh la bo mot (rice cake with fat filling), banh tet chuoi (rice cake with banana leaves), banh tet tu quy (rice cake with four seasons), banh tet with three colors.

After achieving OCOP standards, the reputation of the craft village has been significantly enhanced. The products are trusted by customers and are preferred for use or as gifts. Thanks to that, Tra Cuon banh tet is increasingly expanding its consumer market.

Mr. Chieu Thanh Phong shared that although Tra Cuon banh tet is very famous and recognized as a specialty by consumers in and outside the province, there is currently no official certification label associated with its origin. This causes the situation of impersonation and counterfeiting of brands to occur frequently, significantly affecting the reputation and true value of the craft village.

Faced with this situation, the locality has registered the “Tra Cuon” certification trademark for its banh tet products. The application has been approved by the Department of Intellectual Property.

Mr. Phong recommended that the authorities promptly support the completion of certification procedures, while creating conditions for establishments to access preferential policies on capital, technology and trade promotion.

Mr. Phong also proposed increasing investment in equipment such as electric ovens, vacuum machines, cold storage, etc. to improve production capacity, ensure food safety and protect the environment.

In addition, support production facilities to upgrade products from 3-star OCOP to 4-star, creating competitive advantages and clearer brand identification in the market.

With the support of local authorities and the dedication of the villagers, Tra Cuon banh tet - a dish that preserves the "countryside soul" of the Southern people is gradually "overcoming" the bamboo fences of the village, reaching far on the journey to become a prestigious specialty brand not only of Vinh Long but also of the Mekong Delta region.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/banh-tet-tra-cuon-dac-san-vuot-luy-tre-lang-vuon-xa-thi-truong-post1054204.vnp