Hung Ha: Taking OCOP products to a wider audience.

Việt Nam•29/09/2024

Implementing the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program, Hung Ha district focuses on developing products that are characteristic, advantageous, and branded by each locality, creating conditions to enhance value, increase sales for businesses, and expand consumption markets. To further elevate the brand of OCOP products, the district strengthens promotion and trade facilitation to help OCOP products reach a wider market.

During the Lunar New Year holiday, Ngoan Tran's banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cake) facility made nearly 15,000 banh chung to serve customers.

In early 2024, the Chi Hoa Commune Agricultural Service Cooperative received good news when its Bac Thom 7 rice product was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product by the Hung Ha District People's Committee. This is a favorable condition for the cooperative to continue enhancing the product's brand and meeting market demands.

Mr. Mai Xuan Dinh, Director of the Cooperative, shared: The cooperative has planned over 60 hectares of rice cultivation in the fields of three villages: Van Dai, Vi Giang, and Sanh, with over 300 participating households. The cooperative has invested over 200 million VND in rice dryers, milling machines, vacuum packaging machines, etc., to implement the product branding process. In the spring of 2024, the cooperative harvested over 360 tons of fresh rice, of which 180 tons were sold through partnerships with companies. Currently, the cooperative has connected with e-commerce platforms to sell products for farmers, gradually conquering customers inside and outside the province.

Located within the local rice production planning area for the development of OCOP (One Commune One Product) products, Ms. Nguyen Thi Toan from Van Dai village has actively applied science and technology to production to improve product quality and meet the set criteria. She shared: "We are very happy that Chi Hoa rice has been recognized as a 3-star OCOP product. To ensure the rice grains are translucent, soft, fragrant, firm, and large, we must pay attention to providing nutrients and preventing and controlling pests and diseases during the rice cultivation process. Therefore, I have used organic fertilizers and pesticides according to the recommendations of specialized agencies and absolutely do not use herbicides. In the spring of 2024, with more than one acre of rice fields, my family harvested nearly 3 tons of rice; with the cooperative guaranteeing the purchase of our product, we feel secure in our production."

For generations, making banh chung (Vietnamese sticky rice cakes) has been a hereditary craft in Le Street, Khanh My Hamlet, Phuc Khanh Commune. Inheriting a love for the green banh chung, Ms. Tran Thi Ngoan was determined to build her own brand for her hometown's product. After a long period of planning, she officially started in 2014. Combining family experience with training in Thai Nguyen and Ha Giang provinces, she created a product with its own distinctive flavor. As a result, in January 2024, Ngoan Tran's green banh chung was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product by Hung Ha District.

Ms. Ngoan said: "Making a delicious banh chung (Vietnamese sticky rice cake) requires many meticulous steps. The banana leaves must be fresh, green, and intact; the rice must be soaked and thoroughly washed; the beans must be cooked until soft and then molded; the meat must be sliced horizontally and marinated with spices... In addition, the person making the cake needs to know how to combine and mix the ingredients to create a harmonious and balanced cake. At the same time, I have also gradually built barcodes and created websites to introduce the products to e-commerce platforms. With the strict standards I set for myself, after 10 years from the initial idea to implementation, my business now supplies tens of thousands of products to the market each year."

According to the OCOP program implementation plan for the 2022-2025 period, Hung Ha district aims to have 30 products meeting OCOP standards, including 10 products recognized with 4 stars and 5 products recognized with 5 stars. Therefore, the issuance of a support mechanism of 100 million VND per product for communes and towns in developing OCOP products, along with rewards for entities and localities with products recognized as OCOP products, is expected to become a lever to encourage and stimulate production, increasing the quantity, quality, variety, and value of products, contributing to maintaining and developing traditional local products to a new level.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Hieu, Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, said: To date, the entire district has 24 products recognized as OCOP products. To promote the development of OCOP products in the district, we focus on directing localities to strengthen the application of information technology and digital transformation to build dossiers and manage OCOP product data, digitize the process of receiving dossiers, scoring, and classifying products; build a traceability system along the value chain, aiming to connect the OCOP program database system; develop e-commerce for OCOP products through e-commerce platforms, online sales channels, and direct interactive sales, especially for small-scale products and local specialties.

With efforts to improve product quality, diversify designs, and enhance promotion, OCOP producers in Hung Ha are having more opportunities to bring their products further afield, thereby contributing to meeting consumer demand.