Not yet bring market advantage

Established in late 2021 with the goal of selling clean, OCOP-certified vegetable products to consumers in and outside the province, however, Lang Gap Xanh Company Limited (Lam Thao District, Phu Tho Province) is still struggling to find outlets for its products. According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Vung, Deputy Director of Lang Gap Xanh Company Limited: “Many customers currently do not know what OCOP certification is, why OCOP-certified vegetable products are more expensive than similar products. Therefore, although they are displayed on the shelves and look attractive, the consumption of the products is still very modest”.

Currently, Thai Nguyen province has 129 OCOP products, of which tea products account for nearly 90%, but only one product meets the national 5-star standard. That shows that the development of OCOP products that meet national standards is still facing many difficulties. For example, at Cao Son Tea Cooperative in Binh Son Commune, Song Cong City (Thai Nguyen), there are 5 tea products certified with 3-star and 4-star OCOP. In the 2021-2022 period, the Cooperative was supported by the city with more than 1 billion VND to implement a project linking planting, processing and consuming VietGAP tea with experiential tourism . Through the project, the Cooperative has built 8 hectares of safe tea, increasing the total area of ​​safe raw material areas of the unit to 50 hectares. However, the Cooperative's tea products are still not able to be exported, which is also one of the difficulties for the products to meet the national 5-star standard. “To achieve 5 OCOP stars, we must invest in more modern factories, machinery, and equipment, but the most difficult thing is output. We hope that the authorities at all levels will step in to support policies, access preferential loans, and support the cooperative to produce organic tea,” said Mr. Pham Van Tien, Director of Tra Cao Son Cooperative.

According to Mr. Pham Van Sy, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thai Nguyen province, to become an OCOP product, the subjects need to meet a number of conditions such as continuous production, participation of many households, high economic value, contributing to increasing income for people and having regional characteristics. Therefore, to build an OCOP product, localities must rely on reality, determine which products are key and have been planned in the production area or not. However, not all localities and subjects have enough conditions and capacity to do so. In addition, due to the increasingly narrowing area of ​​agricultural land in the province, developing products that meet OCOP standards in terms of area and ability to supply the market in large, stable and long-term quantities will be very difficult.

Yen Chau mango in Yen Chau district (Son La) is one of the typical OCOP products of the province. In the photo: Farmers in Yen Chau district wrap mangoes to ensure quality and appearance. Photo: THANH THUY

Focus on quality, promotion

With a factory of more than 1,000m2 , Anh Thu rice paper production facility in Tan Lam Huong commune, Thach Ha district (Ha Tinh) is one of the production facilities invested in modern machinery systems in the locality. Previously, at the end of 2018, after completing the trademark registration, each year the facility produced a large quantity of rice paper and raw vegetable rice paper, which were favored by customers. By 2020, Anh Thu rice paper was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product of Ha Tinh. According to Ms. Le Hoai Thu, the owner of the production facility, to find an outlet for the product, one of the market development channels is online sales. "I hope the local government will support the integration of the experience program into tourism activities so that visitors can visit and enjoy the province's OCOP products right at the production facility. Thereby, helping to promote and consume the product better," Ms. Le Hoai Thu expressed.

In Thanh Hoa province, in recent times, a number of OCOP products have also had positive developments, helping to increase income for rural workers. According to Mr. Hoang Viet Chon, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Hoa province, of the 236 products recognized as OCOP in the locality, more than 80% of the products have been sold to supermarkets, restaurants, e-commerce systems, etc. Revenue and profit have increased year by year. “Implementing the program "One Commune One Product", the province has determined that the focus is on quality, building reputation, not quantity. Many OCOP products are the result of developing production, exploiting local raw material areas, traditional labor, and especially collective brands and geographical indications that have been built for many years. These products are well consumed, contributing to increasing people's income," Mr. Hoang Viet Chon affirmed.

In Quang Ninh province, one of the leading localities of the "One Commune One Product" Program, to open up product outlets, the province has organized many trade promotion fairs, displaying products with full information on quality as well as production processes to create trust for consumers. Along with that, OCOP producers are also very active in putting their products on websites and some e-commerce platforms. The experience of Quang Ninh province is: Standardizing and improving the quality of specialty products in each rural area and each locality; focusing on promoting and connecting markets; supporting the improvement of production capacity of households as well as enterprises and cooperatives. These are also issues that need to be done well so that OCOP products nationwide can reach far.

DINH TRUNG