"Elevating" traditional rice paper

(QBĐT) - With the desire to "elevate" traditional rice paper products, Mr. Pham The Quyen in Quan Hau town ( Quang Ninh ) boldly invested in modern machinery in the production process. After nearly 3 years of establishment, the Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper brand is favored by many customers inside and outside the province because of its delicious and unique flavor.

Rice paper with QR code

Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper production facility is located in the industrial cluster of Quan Hau town. With an area of 1,600 square meters, the cake making facility is systematically planned with separate areas, such as: Drying area, production area, warehouse...

Every day, at 4am, the facility lights up and everyone starts a new day's work. All production stages from milling flour, mixing flour, making rice paper, steaming, and baking are done by machine. With modern production technology, the facility produces more than 10,000 rice papers every day.

Before "falling in love" with the baking profession, Mr. Quyen had worked as a carpenter for nearly 30 years. Due to changes in the market economy , customer demand was decreasing, so he decided to change careers. Thinking and doing, in early 2021, after researching the market and labor resources, he decided to rent land to open a rice paper factory. With the capital accumulated after many years of working, Mr. Quyen invested in building a factory and purchasing equipment for production with a budget of more than 2.1 billion VND.

Rounding the cake before packaging and supplying it to the market.

According to Mr. Quyen, in the early days of operation, the facility encountered many difficulties. As an inexperienced person, he had to learn and work at the same time. If a batch of cakes did not meet the standards, he would learn from the experience and make another batch. There were times when he had to do it over and over again to get a perfect batch of cakes. In addition, when the production workshop gradually stabilized, it encountered difficulties in consumption due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic.

But with constant efforts, Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper production facility has overcome difficulties and gradually gained a foothold in the market. “Although made with modern machinery and processes, the rice paper at my family’s production facility still retains its delicious flavor and characteristic aroma. The secret lies in the selection of ingredients and the mixing formula before making the rice paper. The best rice paper is baked after a week. Especially, rice paper that is dried in the sun will be more fragrant and crispy when baked,” Mr. Quyen shared.

To improve the quality and promote Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper products to consumers in and outside the province, the facility has completed all procedures for registering packaging, labels, traceability stamps, etc. and is currently in the process of completing barcode registration procedures. “Previously, I thought that as long as the product was of good quality, it would be accepted by consumers. But the closer I got to the market, the more I realized that in addition to maintaining quality, I needed to make changes in appearance to make the product more eye-catching and professional. The product has a QR code, so customers can use their phones to trace the origin. When customers feel secure about the quality, they will definitely trust it,” said Mr. Quyen.

Aiming at the big market

For sustainable and efficient production, Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper production facility always puts product quality first to ensure the brand and reputation of the product. The production process is completely done by machine, so the products are not only more beautiful in design but also ensure food safety.

Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper products are increasingly trusted by people inside and outside the province.

Currently, the facility is maintaining the production of two types of rice paper: coconut rice paper and sesame rice paper. With a wholesale price of 1,800-2,000 VND/piece (depending on the type of rice paper), each year, the facility sells more than 1 million rice papers to the market, bringing in a stable income of more than 2 billion VND. Not only providing income for the family, the facility also creates regular jobs for 10 workers in the area with an average income of 4.5 million VND/person/month.

In order to expand the market, not only focusing on improving product quality, Mr. Quyen also focuses on marketing and approaching consumer tastes. The facility also actively participates in fairs and agricultural product consumption connection points to promote products and find customers.

“Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper production facility is one of the small-scale handicraft models that is highly appreciated by the locality for its effectiveness in generating income and creating jobs for workers. The local government has created conditions for the facility to participate in the program “One Commune One Product” and at the same time, supported in the implementation process. In the coming time, the town will continue to accompany and create conditions for the facility to participate in programs to introduce and connect product consumption organized by authorities at all levels,” said Vice Chairman of Quan Hau Town People’s Committee Bui Thi Thu Tham.

Approaching the digital technology trend, in addition to selling in traditional ways, Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper production facility has also actively promoted products on online platforms, approaching e-commerce channels with the goal of bringing products to domestic and foreign consumers. Not only having a stable customer base in the province, Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper production facility has also built a team of collaborators in many provinces and cities across the country. In which, the majority are concentrated in the provinces and cities: Quang Tri, Hanoi, Tuyen Quang...

“After Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper products are recognized as 3-star OCOP products, I will continue to expand the production scale using modern closed technology to improve product quality, targeting large markets such as supermarkets and clean agricultural product stores. Along with that, in the future, I plan to connect with tourism companies to organize product sales at tourism product display points in the province and connect tours to visit the agricultural product production process right at the facility so that Trang Ngoc Linh rice paper products will be known to more and more customers,” Mr. Quyen shared.

Lan Chi

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