Journey to turn rustic cakes into OCOP products

The rustic cake brings the opportunity to start a business

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Tien Anh almond cake production line.

Almond cake is just a rustic cake, but for Ms. Trang Thuy it became a chance to start a business right after she graduated from grade 12. In 1993, at her nephew's wedding, the peanut almond cake she made herself unexpectedly received many compliments. From that moment, the passion for starting a business burned within her. With no capital, no experience, only love for her hometown cake, she borrowed money from relatives to start making a few kilos of cake to sell at the market.

At first, she only made 1-2 kg of cakes per day, but thanks to the special flavor, customers came by word of mouth, and the production of cakes quickly increased to 5-6 kg/day. With many orders, she hired more workers in the neighborhood, making cakes in the morning, and at noon she was busy taking the bus to deliver cakes all over Cho Moi Island.

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Almond baking process.

The product’s popularity in the market also meant that the competitive pressure was increasing. Many establishments started making similar cakes, which made her hesitate many times, even thinking about quitting the job to learn sewing. But her love for the rustic cake kept her staying.

In 1996, she married Mr. Tran Le Hung, her life partner and also a valuable partner in the journey of starting a business from the country cake. After the wedding, life was poor, the couple traveled together to sell cakes throughout An Giang and Dong Thap. The couple registered the trademark "Nhat Anh almond cake" and filed a product quality declaration. After having the trademark, the couple sold about 10 kg of cake every day. During holidays and Tet, grocery stores and markets ordered 20-30 kg of cake, the couple had to mobilize the whole neighborhood to work all night and day to deliver on time. Although it was hard, the support of the market gave her more motivation to continue her career.

Keeping the brand in the midst of the counterfeit storm

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Tien Anh almond cake is a 4-star OCOP product.

When the brand “Nhat Anh almond cake” was developing, it was suddenly “imitated” from packaging to color, cheaper price but poor quality. Consumers mistakenly bought fake, poor quality imitation products, so they lost trust, causing her orders to drop seriously.

Ms. Thuy said that in order to protect the reputation of her cake brand, in 1999 she discussed with her husband to borrow money to register the exclusive trademark "Nhat Anh almond cake" but it was not accepted because the name was the same as a previously registered unit. Not discouraged, she decided to change the brand, naming the brand "Tien Anh almond cake" after her son, and at the same time changing the color of the letters on the packaging from red to blue.

When the packaging was changed, many consumers thought it was a copy of her old brand, so the product was difficult to sell. Once again, Thuy and her husband were in trouble because all their capital was invested in the factory. Not giving up, she and her husband persevered in marketing and promoting the product. Each box of cake on the market had to be labeled "Old Nhat Anh almond cake", Thuy shared.

After 5 years on the market, the Tien Anh almond cake brand has been accepted by the market, marking an important turning point in the journey of preserving the brand amidst the "storm" of fake and counterfeit goods.

Countryside cakes "transformed" thanks to technology

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Tien Anh almond cake product won an award at the contest of typical OCOP products in the Mekong Delta region.

Not stopping at producing handmade cakes, in 2009, Ms. Thuy decided to invest heavily. She borrowed from the bank to buy land to build a factory, equipped with packaging machines and modern ovens purchased from Ho Chi Minh City. Her goal was to improve the quality of production, making almond cakes a high-end Tet gift, suitable for the domestic market.

Also during this period, Ms. Thuy came up with the idea of producing apricot-shaped almond cakes to sell during Tet. After many times of research and creating special cutting molds, apricot-shaped almond cakes were born, the cakes expanded evenly, beautifully, and the cakes were made more hygienically than those kneaded by hand. Apricot-shaped almond cakes appeared on the Tet market and quickly "sold out".

The thorough investment helped the product quickly dominate the market, with almost no competitors in the segment. In 2015, she established Tien Anh Company Limited, marking the transition from a small-scale establishment to professional production. The apricot-shaped almond cake was then registered by Ms. Thuy for industrial design and useful solutions at the Department of Science and Technology of An Giang province. In 2015, Tien Anh almond cake was recognized as a typical national product. By 2019, the sandwich product line continued to be honored at the national level, becoming a springboard to participate in the OCOP program "One Commune One Product". In 2020, her "brainchild" officially achieved 4-star OCOP standards at the An Giang provincial level, opening up opportunities to reach out across the country.

Currently, Ms. Thuy's company is creating stable jobs for about 20 local workers with an average income of 5 million VND/month. During the Tet season, the number of seasonal workers doubles. She and her husband are making efforts to upgrade the product to the National 5-star OCOP, while promoting the export of Tien Anh almond cakes to the Japanese and Australian markets - two demanding but potential markets for this OCOP product. At the "2025 Mekong Delta OCOP Forum" organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in An Giang at the end of September 2025, Ms. Thuy's almond cake product won the prize in the contest for typical OCOP products in the Mekong Delta.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/hanh-trinh-dua-banh-que-thanh-san-pham-ocop-20251003063845895.htm