Telling the story of OCOP products.

More than just local specialties, OCOP products also carry inspiring entrepreneurial stories of young people eager to preserve and elevate local identity. From traditional crafts to unique cultural values, they have breathed life into each product, transforming them into "ambassadors" telling stories about their homeland and people on their journey to the global market.

Combining tradition and modernity

Born in Linh Chieu noodle village, Trieu Son commune, Trieu Phong district, a traditional craft village over 100 years old, in 2015, Nguyen Dang Ton Canh, along with two friends, Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Phuoc Anh, decided to give up their dream jobs in big cities to return to their hometown and build a brand of clean noodles.

Mr. Canh shared that his great-grandmother was one of the founders of this traditional noodle-making village. Thanks to noodle making, the villagers have a stable income, and their children receive a good education. However, with the increasingly high demands of life, traditional noodle making is gradually revealing shortcomings, especially regarding food safety and hygiene. Therefore, Mr. Canh and his colleagues decided to establish Van Linh Clean Noodles, a brand of clean noodles that are not only delicious but also absolutely safe for consumers.

After a long period of research, Van Linh Clean Noodles has launched Nhat Linh brand dried fresh noodles with many outstanding advantages - Photo: LA

According to Mr. Canh, the distinguishing feature of Van Linh clean rice noodles is the ingredients used in their production. The rice is selected from rice fields that produce rice according to organic and VietGAP standards of Quang Tri Trading Corporation.

The production process of Van Linh vermicelli is a combination of traditional methods and modern technology, from grinding the flour and coating the dough to creating chewy, soft vermicelli noodles that meet food safety and hygiene standards. The closed production process ensures consistent high product quality while also protecting the environment. After a long period of dedicated promotion, Van Linh clean vermicelli is now available in most supermarkets and clean food stores in the Central region, from Nghe An to Quang Nam.

Every day, approximately 500-700 kg of fresh rice noodles under the Van Linh Clean Rice Noodle brand are sold to the market. Notably, Van Linh Clean Rice Noodles has been certified OCOP 3-star and produced according to HACCP standards, further reassuring customers.

Following the success of Van Linh fresh rice noodles, in early 2023, Canh's team began researching the production of dried fresh rice noodles. Sharing his thoughts on this new idea, Canh said that in the past, whenever they didn't sell enough, he saw his parents dry the fresh rice noodles in the sun until they were completely dry and then store them to eat gradually.

Dried rice noodles can be stored for a long time, but they still retain the characteristics of fresh noodles when cooked. This gave him the idea to dry fresh rice noodles to overcome the limitations of fresh noodles, such as difficulty in transporting them over long distances and short shelf life.

After a period of research and dozens of failed batches of rice noodles were discarded, at the end of 2023, Mr. Canh's team confidently launched Nhat Linh brand dried fresh rice noodles, which are easy to use and have a shelf life of up to 12 months. Currently, about 5,000 boxes of Nhat Linh dried fresh rice noodles are released to the market each month. The product is also in the process of competing for the OCOP product award and has the potential to achieve a 4-star provincial standard.

“The combination of tradition and modernity has opened up a new direction for the Linh Chieu noodle-making village. Previously, the village's fresh noodles were only supplied to neighboring localities, but now they have reached beyond the province, building consumer trust thanks to superior product quality and innovative production,” Mr. Canh affirmed.

Preserving the fragrance of soapberry

Having joined the OCOP program in 2018, Nhien Thao Quang Tri Co., Ltd. now has 5 products that have achieved 4-star OCOP certification: herbal soapberry extract, soapberry floor cleaner, grapefruit oil hair spray, soapberry tea bags, and herbal mouthwash. A special feature of these OCOP products is that they not only create high-quality products from natural ingredients but also build strong links with ethnic minority communities in the area.

Ms. Tran Thi My Dung, Director of Nhien Thao Quang Tri Co., Ltd., said that to have thick, smooth, and shiny hair, she had her grandmother and mother boil soapberry water to wash her hair since she was a child. Growing up surrounded by the scent of soapberry, after graduating from university and securing a stable job, she had the idea of ​​processing natural herbs into convenient products for consumers.

Starting in 2014 with a product of herbal shampoo in tea bags, by 2017 she had invested in building a factory and machinery, establishing Nhien Thao Quang Tri Co., Ltd. to produce concentrated herbal shampoo. According to Ms. Dung, like the herbal shampoo in tea bags, the concentrated herbal shampoo also possesses the fragrant aroma of herbal soap, grapefruit peel, basil... familiar wildflowers and herbs. The product not only retains traditional values ​​but also offers a convenient and time-saving solution for modern women.

Ms. Tran Thi My Dung (second from the right) instructs ethnic minority people on how to properly harvest soapberry - Photo: LA

Beyond just product quality, with a mission to "aim for natural, safe products that contribute to sustainable development," and to create jobs for women in mountainous areas, Nhien Thao has implemented a cooperation program to purchase natural ingredients such as soapberry, soapnut, pomelo, lemon, kumquat, etc., from approximately 300 ethnic minority households.

These are traditional ingredients that play a crucial role in the company's health and beauty products. Accordingly, Nhien Thao is committed to purchasing these ingredients at stable prices, higher than market prices, while also providing technical support and guidance to farmers on sustainable harvesting and preservation methods to ensure ingredient quality.

According to Ms. Dung, collaborating with local communities not only provides high-quality raw materials but also helps Nhien Thao fulfill its social responsibility. Through cooperative programs, the company encourages local people to plant new trees and protect native species, preventing the depletion of natural resources.

The forests of soapberry and acacia trees are now not only a source of livelihood for the local people but also a "nursery" for preserving the local ecosystem. Nhien Thao also collaborates with NGOs and local authorities to implement environmental education programs, helping people better understand the value of sustainable development.

To date, after more than 6 years since its inception, the products of Nhien Thao Quang Tri Co., Ltd. have gained the trust of consumers and are distributed throughout the country. On average, the company brings to market more than 5,000 bottles of soapberry shampoo and around 10,000 products of grapefruit, lime, and orange essential oils, and soapberry floor cleaner each month.

"My wish is that when people use Nhiên Thảo's shampoo and essential oil products, they not only preserve memories, taking them back to their childhood, back to the embrace of their grandmothers and mothers, but also carry the aspiration to build an ecosystem that helps women in mountainous areas have stable jobs," Ms. Dung shared.

Enhancing the value of agricultural products.

According to Mr. Tu Linh Vu, CEO of Tu Phong One-Member Limited Company, peanuts are one of the main crops in localities such as Cam Lo, Gio Linh, Vinh Linh, and Trieu Phong, with an annual cultivated area of ​​over 3,000 hectares. The largest area is in Cam Lo district, with 1,000-1,200 hectares and an annual yield of 1,500-2,000 tons of commercial peanuts.

However, peanut consumption is mostly handled by traders and processing businesses, resulting in unstable and fluctuating prices; no organization or enterprise has signed contracts to guarantee product purchase or produce peanut-based products. Faced with this situation, after years of researching the peanut oil production experience of domestic factories, in 2016, he decided to build a factory to produce peanut oil and peanut by-products under the brand Super Green, which is pressed pure from peanuts grown in his hometown of Cam Lo.

Production process according to ISO 22000 - 2018 standards at Tu Phong Co., Ltd. - Photo: LA

One of Tu Phong's strengths is its close relationship with peanut farmers. Currently, the company has 30 hectares of land producing peanuts according to VietGAP standards in partnership with the Quat Xa Agricultural Cooperative in Cam Thanh commune. The annual harvest yields approximately 120 tons of peanut kernels, producing about 40 tons of finished products and generating revenue of around 6 billion VND.

According to Mr. Vu, grown in this sunny and windy region, the peanuts here have a high oil content and are rich in nutrients. The product's superiority lies in being made from 100% high-quality local peanuts, pressed from 2.5 kg of peanut kernels to produce 1 liter of oil, and importantly, the product does not use any artificial colors or additives. Furthermore, peanut oil is cholesterol-free and has a high antioxidant content, helping to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer, and slowing down aging, as certified by relevant authorities. In addition, leveraging modern machinery, the company also supports the purchase and processing of peanuts according to the needs of local residents.

Mr. Vu stated that currently, the company's products, such as pure peanut oil, pure sesame oil, peanut butter, and gac oil, have proudly received OCOP 3-star to 4-star provincial certifications. Although Super Green branded products have a higher selling price compared to similar products on the market, they are still favored by consumers.

Besides organic produce stores, Super Green peanut oil is also available on the shelves of major supermarket chains such as Co.op Mart and Aeon Mall. “In the future, the company will continue to expand the factory's scale, improve production lines to increase processing capacity, research ways to improve product quality, and produce new products.”

"At the same time, we are expanding linkages and signing product purchase contracts with farmers in a sustainable manner, aiming to work alongside farmers to focus on producing high-quality products," Mr. Vu said.

Le An

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/ke-chuyen-san-pham-ocop-191189.htm