Start a business from OCOP products

(GLO)- The OCOP program has become a "launching pad" in the startup journey of many entities, contributing to bringing Gia Lai province's typical agricultural products to the market.

Promoting agricultural entrepreneurship

Nowadays, many young people choose the agricultural sector to start a business. To “fuel” the start-up activities, local authorities have had many practical support policies through the development of OCOP products.

Realizing the value of macadamia nuts in Hai Yang land (Dak Doa district), in 2019, Ms. Mai Thi Nhung (village 1) boldly built a raw material area, gradually improving the quality of dried and cracked macadamia products to build OCOP products. In addition to her family's 1 hectare of macadamia, Ms. Nhung also cooperated with 6 households in the area with a total area of 6 hectares.

“I produce dried cracked macadamia nuts in a closed process to strictly manage product quality. However, my Kon Kong macadamia branded products still face many limitations when accessing the market.

To go the long way, I focused on researching, learning and investing in machinery and equipment to process macadamia nuts to meet standards in order to register to participate in the OCOP Program. As a result, Kon Kong dried and cracked macadamia nuts have achieved 3-star OCOP certification at the district level in 2024" - Ms. Nhung said.

Khởi nghiệp từ sản phẩm OCOP — The OCOP program became a launching pad in the startup journey of Ms. Mai Thi Nhung, Hai Yang commune, Dak Doa district. **Photo: Tran Dung**

Also with the desire to build a product brand from local strengths and participate in the OCOP Program, Mr. Nguyen Vu Phu Truong (village 5, An Phu commune, Pleiku city) has achieved initial success with perilla tea products. In early 2023, Mr. Truong built a startup idea to process perilla tea products according to VietGAP standards.

To have raw materials for processing, Mr. Truong cooperated with 6 households growing perilla in the village with an area of nearly 9 sao following VietGAP standards. By the end of 2023, the perilla tea product with the Truong Phu brand will be recognized as a 3-star OCOP at the provincial level.

Mr. Truong excitedly said: “When I was recognized as a 3-star OCOP at the provincial level, my perilla tea product quickly reached the market. From the success of the perilla tea product, I researched and processed many other tea products from herbs. All herbal tea products are processed into powder form, packaged in filter bags.

With a selling price of nearly 1.3 million VND/kg, each month, I export about 20-25 kg to the market, including teas such as: ginseng, perilla, passionflower... In the coming time, I will complete some more herbal tea products to build OCOP products. Along with that, building a sustainable medicinal material area".

In order to find her own way on the path of entrepreneurship, Ms. Pham Thi Binh (Ia Ve commune, Chu Prong district) always wondered how to increase the value of crops through processing. In 2018, she started choosing lemongrass to process lemongrass leaf tea products under the Nam Phuc brand.

She said: In Ia Ve commune, people grow a lot of lemongrass but only harvest the stems, the leaves are discarded. Meanwhile, the essential oil in lemongrass leaves is very good for health. Seeing the waste, I dried lemongrass leaves to make a drink. To create a delicious flavor for this tea, I added stevia, green-heart black beans, ginger, soursop...

“Participating in the OCOP Program will help improve the quality of products and gain customer trust. I received enthusiastic support from the relevant authorities. Therefore, I quickly completed the documents and the product achieved the provincial 3-star OCOP certification in 2021,” Ms. Binh shared.

Promoting local potential and advantages

In recent years, the agricultural startup movement in the province has increasingly developed and deepened. Along with that, the OCOP Program has become a "lever" to help startup products reach further, contributing to improving the quality and value of products, increasing the income of rural people.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Cuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology: In 3 years (2021-2024), the province has allocated nearly 46.3 billion VND to carry out innovative startup activities.

From this funding source, departments, branches and localities have organized a number of specific activities such as: organizing creative startup idea competitions, innovative startup festivals, youth startup festivals, women's startup festivals and programs to promote and connect the consumption of OCOP agricultural products for cooperatives in ethnic minority areas.

In fact, many young people after graduating from university have returned to their hometowns, taking advantage of local resources to start a business. This trend is blowing a “new wind” into agriculture and rural areas with many creative and effective models… However, starting a business is not just a story of passion, entrepreneurs must master science and technology, production processes and be creative in connecting to build brands, promote products…

Therefore, linking agricultural startups with the OCOP Program is essential to promote agricultural startups, quickly transforming the province's agriculture in a modern direction.

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Youth Union Do Duc Thanh commented: Agricultural startups have become a trend and a vibrant movement in the community, receiving special attention from agencies and social organizations. In the period of 2021-2024, the Provincial Youth Union has supported 112 creative startup ideas, including many startup ideas in agriculture.

Through start-up activities, many typical products of the province are invested in, exploited and processed into OCOP products, meeting market demand. This is the driving force to promote the development of the province's rural economy .

Mr. Tran Van Van - Deputy Chief of the Provincial New Rural Area Coordination Office - said: From 2020 to now, many businesses, cooperatives and households have invested in exploiting and processing typical products such as: coffee, pepper, dried bamboo shoots, sun-dried beef, macadamia nuts, rice, medicinal herbs, honey, cashew nuts... creating products recognized as 3-4 star OCOP.

In particular, OCOP products are not only diverse in types but also affirm their quality and brand in the market. By the end of 2024, the whole province will have 430 products recognized as 3-4 star OCOP (including 70 4-star products and 360 3-star products).

“According to the assessment, the province’s OCOP products are very diverse. The entities have focused on investing in improving quality and design to reach the market. In addition, the local government also pays attention to supporting the entities in testing, packaging, labeling, especially promoting trade promotion activities and product advertising, contributing to promoting the production and consumption of typical agricultural products in rural areas in a sustainable manner.

In the coming time, the province will continue to promote, guide and support businesses, cooperatives and households to build OCOP products to contribute to improving production and business efficiency," Mr. Van added.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/khoi-nghiep-tu-san-pham-ocop-post306061.html